by Pa Rock
Weary Road Warrior
The first day on the road out of Kansas City was a fairly pleasant drive and generally without incident. I took a couple of wrong turns but got straightened out quickly each time, and managed to log 484 miles. Tonight I am in Watertown, South Dakota, about a hundred and fifteen miles south of Fargo, North Dakota. Barring a catastrophic event, I will be in Canada tomorrow afternoon.
I was on the road 265 miles this morning driving in very pleasant weather, then the rain began. It was on and off for a couple of hours, but after lunch in Sioux Falls and a stop at the gas station, I had just gotten back on Interstate 29 again when the heavens opened. There was a massive downpour for about thirty minutes. Several drivers pulled over, but not me - because I'm from Missouri and don't know any better! Later I heard people on the Sioux Falls radio station discussing the torrential rain. They said that it was so dark and onerous that all of the city street lights came on at about 1:30 p.m. The weather forecast is calling for scattered rain and showers tomorrow.
I haven't seen any murdered puppies in South Dakota, but I am hopeful of spotting a wood-chipper or two in Fargo!
I spotted the first billboard advertising Wall Drug when I was 349 miles out of Kansas - and the second one five miles later. I won't be going by Wall Drug this trip, but it is a tourist trap that has lured many a traveler off of the interstate - and from there it is just an average frisbee toss to an amazing scenic drive through the Badlands.
Tomorrow will mark my first visit to North Dakota, so I will be able to color that state in on my Junior Achievement wall map. I understand that it is a place where a person with enough money can still buy a governorship. (Bezos is moving to Florida. Maybe he will buy that one.)
I am using my motel evenings to finish a long piece of fiction which I have been working on forever. Tonight I will be killing off an undertaker who dies when he either jumps or is thrown from a second story hospital window and lands on a bicycle. Don't tell him, though, because I want it to be a surprise!
More tomorrow.
2 comments:
Looks like you'll be in the wrong end of the state for my suggestion. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is almost in Montana. I had a ranger friend who loved the place, she did her master's thesis work there, and eventually became superintendent there. I haven't been there but I think it's worthwhile. Well, you can't go everywhere in one trip.
Pa Rock! You make me proud! I love that you set out on this adventure. Your sense of adventure is the best. I hope this trip is soul-filling. Rosie is happy and healthy.
-erin
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