Retirement Road Trip 2011: Day 5, Tuesday 8/30

467 miles, camped at Vermillion Lake Recreation Area, just west of Sioux Falls, SD

I left Steve and Jane's house about 8:30. The sky was overcast and the weathermen were calling for rain. And sure enough, there was a huge glob of green and yellow on the radar. For you non Weather Channel types, greens and yellows mean moderate rainfall. True to predictions, it rained for most of the day.  :-(

I didn't decide until the last minute about what route I was going to follow. I have to travel both north and west to get to Livingston, MT. There are not really any roads going in a direct diagonal direction to get there. I ended up doing both directions today. North on RT 61 from Eldridge. Then west on RT 30. Then north on I-35 to Minnesota and then west on I-90. I had not planned on going as far as I did. However, it was raining and it made no sense to stop and set up camp in the rain. Besides, since I was driving due west on I-90 I thought I might actually drive through the rain, and sure enough, I did. So that's how I ended up here.

Scenery wise, the drive today was a repeat of yesterday. From what I can see from my windshield, the world is made up of corn fields, soybean files, and wind mills. From a farmer's point of view, the crops and cropland are just awesome. The land is flat and fertile.  Oh, by the way, John Deere rules out here. Case, New Holland, and Caterpillar combine to make up the minority. I can begin to understand how our country has so many cultural and political points of view. The economies here are so different than the local economies of more urban areas. Agriculture is THE driving economic engine here. I think I have said this before, but more people need to travel across this continent to really understand the differences. You just can not really appreciate the scope of agricultural by flying over the US at 35,000 feet while watching a movie and eating peanuts. OK, OK.   I guess that is enough of my soap box preaching. My students used to groan when I got on these rants, but they still had to listen.  You can just delete.  :-)

I ended up finding a really nice and peaceful campground. In fact, Zoey and I went for a two mile walk on some of the trails. Now, I'm sitting here at the picnic table using my iPad and wireless keyboard (also sipping a beer or two) as I write this. While it is still early in the trip, I am really enjoying it. Of course, conveniences like email and Facebook make it easy to keep in touch with friends and family.  I don't know how the original settlers, like those on the Oregon Trail did it.

I guess I have talked enough tonight. Besides it is starting to get dark. I'm not sure of my route for Wednesday yet, but I'll figure that out in the morning.

More tomorrow.........


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