(As always, the travel posts are dated with the actual travel dates but the posts themselves are delayed for my safety. – Shawn)

Well, that’s five years of my life that I won’t get parts of back. I am so damn glad this whole thing is finished – sometimes it felt like that chapter of my life was written in my own blood with all of the personal bullshit I had to deal with.

I woke up in the middle of the night a few times – anticipation was getting the best of me. I finally got up around 05:30 and let the dogs out, had my morning coffee and a light breakfast, and waited for the sun to come up so I could get the trailer hooked up and the dogs loaded in the truck.

I pulled out of the driveway this morning and never looked back – it just did not cross my mind to look one last time. It really was not necessary; I have the memories.

We were on the road around 08:00. The timing was really perfect since by the time we got to St. Joseph, Missouri the morning traffic was done, we would hit Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa around 11:30, and Sioux City, Iowa around 14:00 (2:00 in the afternoon); no rush hour traffic jams in any of these major cities.

As expected, I had the wind at my back for the northbound part of the route. It was an uneventful drive. This morning I somehow broke the key for the storage compartments and doors, but the entry door has a keypad entry. I had to stop at a dealership to pick up a couple of keys and browsed a bit at their accessories.

I then got westward bound on I-90 in Sioux Falls, SD, where the winds were still blowing from the south and that meant that it was now a crosswind. The equalizer hitch helps control sway and it made a huge difference in those crosswinds. It really was not too bad towing and I went farther than planned by a couple of hours since the winds tomorrow are supposed to be from the west.

I ended up getting to Mitchell, SD (home of “The World’s Only Corn Palace”) and the winds were getting a little more noticeable so I decided to call it a day. I think the winds were supposed to be out of the west tomorrow so I decided to go a little bit further. I was tired from waking up early and was ready to stop.

I found one campground behind a hotel across the street from where I got fuel but I decided to look at another one not in town. I found this place – Dakota Campground – and it was open with full hook-ups at a really great price! Some of the others I looked at online had various utilities off for winter or were either not open yet or it was “iffy” if they were.

It is a cozy & clean older campground with friendly people who set me up with a spot. He showed me to my site and I got the trailer backed in to set up shop. I went to grab the level and the door would no open; something happened to the damn lock. It is good I stopped to get those keys!

Uh-oh. Door will not unlock. Real problem.

Luckily, my trailer – being a bunkhouse model – has a second door for loading up storage. I opened up the door with the key and was able to crawl through the bunk and opened the door.

I saw a screw had worked itself loose out of the door lock so I got out a screwdriver and tightened it up. The brain surgeon in me closed the door without testing it, and of course it did not unlock so I had to go crawl back in the bunkhouse door a second time.

I ended up taking the door lock apart and got it fixed (tested before closing a third time) so it is okay again. These trailers take a real beating going down the highway and screws work loose constantly from the flexing; I have to go around re-tightening them constantly.

Once I got the trailer level, the door fixed, and the water, sewer and electricity hooked up I was able to feed the dogs and myself.

After we ate, the dogs came in the trailer for some relaxing. They needed it bad – the last two weeks has stressed out both of them. I don’t know how long we’ll be wandering around but once I can get rid of some extra things in the truck & trailer it will help make more room for us all. They will get calmed down once that happens.

I am calling it a night. See you tomorrow.

Shawn