Did a weekend run to Spearfish to meet Meghan and grab some things for the trailer, tools, and a few other things from storage. I found most of what I wanted to grab, plus a few extra things that do not need to freeze any more than what they have already.

This post is going to be a little different; I am going to mix it up a bit and just talk about some observations. I had no time to stop and did no touristy things; it was not a “vacation-style” trip. It was drive 745 miles, take care of a few things, go to a pub for a pint with Meghan, and back to our rooms for sleep. Got up at 5:00 AM and packed my stuff in the truck. We left about 6:15 and I drove another 745 miles to get back to the house. Not enough time for a pleasure trip or enough to post about.

Definitely this is not the most ideal time to travel that highway…but where is the adventure in staying home? We also needed to get a few things done in the storage unit. We had talked about this trip for a couple of weeks and the weather happened to look good in Spearfish. However, had I done my due diligence and checked the whole route perhaps I might have known about this brief snowstorm I ran into out in the middle of nowhere (it was actually near Presho, South Dakota):

It is not much snow, but you had to slow down for about 25-30 minutes. Now that may not seem like much time, but you have been going 70-80 MPH for the previous 7 hours of the trip and now you are having to slow down (many others did not). I saw a 30’ travel trailer flipped in the median – glad I wasn’t towing mine (which I had considered).

It got a bit worse than this picture farther down the road…then it stopped and the road cleared off pretty quickly. The closer I got to Rapid City the warmer it got and it was upper 40s or so. Not tropical warm, but I just came from horrendous winds and mid-20s so it was very cold when you had to get out for fuel. This was a good change.

And, speaking of those winds.

FFS…really?! The wind has to blow every time I drive east/west, and most of those times it is always a headwind no matter which way I drive. This trip was no exception. Horrendous gas mileage – best I got was 13 MPG. rest of the time it was around 10-11 MPG. That gets expensive fast and is making me consider making some life changes – like my truck and trailer.

I mentioned it before and getting rid of them is something I do consider but I am not excited about doing. I like the freedom my trailer brings me. I would probably have to go with a van if I made that change.

I could get a conversion van, or get a car and just hotel it and dine out. I said before that I do like many things about my trailer – my own cooking, bed & bathroom, comfortable…many pluses. It may be best to just buy a newer used vehicle I can tow with. It is a lot to consider with the prices these days, but I do have to think about it a little for now, and in 1500 miles I had time for that.

I always find a picture or two to take anywhere I am, and this trip was no exception. This sign in Iowa was a bit of a surprise:

I pulled into the station but the price was for some weird gasoline blend that I don’t know much about. I ended uo getting gas for $2.17/gallon. Still not a bad price.

After the snow the sky cleared off late as I got closer to Rapid City, there was a vivid orange sunset over Interstate 90 westbound and Badlands, National Park:

I-90 is one of the worst highways I have seen for signs littering the highway. It is absolutely ridiculous. US65 through Springfield, MO – in fact, MOST highways heading through southern Missouri to St. Louis, The Ozarks, Branson, or any of the lakes – are as bad as going through South Dakota. Not a badge to wear with honor, either. You’re effing up the scenery so quit it.

Apparently this is the time of year when the signs are all repainted and/or new ones put up. The ubiquitous Wall Drug signs along the roads have been gone through and are new. I saw new signs for other business as well. One sign I saw was for a self-service junkyard called “Ewe Pullet” (“You Pull It”). Cringeworthy Midwest sign humor. Unless you grew up around farm animals you may not know that a ewe is a female sheep. However, you probably DON’T know that a “pullet” is a breed of small chickens. Horribly bad…and I love a good pun. “Good” being the key word there.

This is a new promotional artwork for a Rapid City brewery. The fire trucks were scattered all up and down the highway like all the signs. Apparently, they have moved many of them into one spot to create this:

Not sure if it is done or not. I was too occupied driving to look too close – it is a busy piece.

This building on the left is what the offices and quarters look like for the launch crews of a Minuteman Missile launch site. The building on the right I am not sure what it is and the sign in front looks like a tourist sign but I cannot tell for sure; I will stop there next trip through since it is right near Badlands NP. This group of buildings may have been decommissioned and this is a historic area. I do not know for sure but there are other Minuteman Missile sites in the area and this may be part of that National Park Service complex. If you do a tour it is pretty scary stuff.

At least it SHOULD be.

And finally, this building is on the grounds of a seasonal tourist place. It is supposed to be a Pony Express stop from the route. There looks to be a small cabin and a barn with fencing to keep out those ferocious winds and snow. They do tours if you are interested. The Pony express had a short yet lively history before Mark Zuckerberg Sr. invented the telegraph and now look at where we are.

Fifteen hundred miles is a lot of time to think about a lot of stuff. The sound system in my truck sucks and is not good to listen to. My hearing difficulties definitely do not help. I have talked before that I usually just drive and ponder life on my road trips. It is very frustrating so I usually drive with no music, podcasts or anything. My truck is also kind of noisy inside so that is not helping either.

When I was driving back yesterday I looked over to the side of the highway and saw something in a tree. It was a porcupine! Just like my groundhog here at the house they both can climb trees. I had no idea until I looked on the ol’ interwebs.

It was odd to pass grocery stores and other retail places that were closed on Sunday. When I was a kid, over in Missouri they had the “Blue Laws” that said only certain things were allowed to be sold on Sundays. It meant many places were closed except usually pharmacies as I remember. I guess there are still laws like that in many places in the US even in this day & age.

It is just one of the many cultural differences you find as you travel, especially in the more rural areas of the country. It is just like local or regional customs, festivals, cultural celebrations, personal values, etc. I have gone through places where I look around and it is a big “WTF is going on here?” type of vibe. But there is usually always something interesting to see anywhere you are, and take a picture of if you can stop. A building, a park, statue…anything that requires more than just a glance.

I guess this is probably something we need to be aware of as we travel on weekends. I kinda figured this type of thing had mostly passed into the history books in all but the tiniest of towns, but apparently that is not the case. When I think about it, though, I actually kinda like staying put on Sundays just to avoid the crowded highways – not for any other reason. I usually like to stay put for a few days when I end up somewhere so the chances are I will be someplace staying put on a Sunday anyhoo. But I do like to avoid the crowds and will go on a different day no problem.

In all, it was a good trip. Got to see & hang with my daughter, picked up my heated water hose and some tools I needed to use on the trailer, and got a few things taken to storage from the house. Wish we would have had more time but we were lucky to get what we got. Again, it is really not a good time to travel up that way so we had to turn & burn. She was driving into Montana so had a chance of even worse weather to drive in.

It can be done if the weather is good – I used to do it all winter long in Colorado – but make sure you have some winter survival supplies just in case. I had packed along some water, dark chocolate, four protein shakes, a sandwich for the trip up, some Aldi potato sticks, and some Aldi oat bars. That was a decent combination of food & liquids that could get me by for several hours. I also had a flashlight and blanket and brand new tires made for the weather; when I bought them I said I want something to go into the mountains on. They were great on that slippery interstate.

I still hate driving at night these days but I had to do so there and back. It wasn’t for too long though – maybe an hour each day. The amount of people on the roadways that refuse to dim their high beams for oncoming traffic is ridiculous. Part of it is the lights are very bright these days too, but mostly it is just being an asshole to everyone else and not dimming – even when behind someone else.

So just a few general thoughts about this trip and road trips in general. See you next time…

Shawn