Mitchell South Dakota
When the lady asked for my address and I told her I was from Arizona, she asked if I was on vacation. I said, "No. I just quit my job and sold my house and am out seeing the country." It has been interesting to seee people's jaw drop when I have said that on this trip. When she recovered, she wondered out loud if she could sell her kids and do the same since that is all she had to sell. I was in and out in 10 minutes and feeling better about a long day of driving in hot humid weather.
The next part of the trip was very similar to the earlier drive with all the farms anf plated fields. The air seemed to be cooling a little though. After stopping for lunch at a Hardees (which are all really Carl's Jt's now even though this one had not changed its sign) I went into one of my more manic moods (as opposed to depressive). I had an inspiration for a title of a book I wanted to write. It would be called "Innocents without a broad.," a take off on Mark Twain's "Innocent Abroad." Twain's book is a classic in written sarcastic wit based on a trip he took to Europe to going to all the tourist traps. Mine would be about a person that puts his money where his mouth is and quits his job and sells all his possesions and takes off for no where (something I am assured a lot of people daydream about). This book would tell about what it would really be like to do that and would examine all the conflicts about the situation. Things like he would have the same problem with people he meets on the road that he had with people he worked with and finding that there was no easy answers or pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. He would end up being run over by a truck as he started up the Willard Munger Trail on his bike near Moose Lake|, Minnesota just to drive the point home figuratively.
I stopped in Pinestone around 5:15pm to get gas. This was the first place I had really heard a good Minneotan accent. People were gossiping inside and outside the convenience store about some local tragedy. I had to try four different stations to find one that had Pay-at-the-pump. I was prepared to try the next town if I had to. I got the local paper and a dusty old 2-litre bottle of Diet Coke with a Christmas label still on it then headed south.
I made it into Sioux Falls, South Dakota around 6:30 pm. I knew from its description I would not want to stay at the KOA there. As promised it was conveiently located right next to the busy Interstate 90 sandwiched between a Truck Stop and an RV repair station. The place was almost full and I moved on. The next KOA was located in Mitchell SD but did not have adataport for my computer, so I decided I would try to make it to Kennebuc.
Kennebuc was past the exit to Gannvalley which I wanted to stop by since it is where my fathers family comes from. There was much construction near Mitchell and I got a little confused and ended up at the KOA there. Since it was almost 8pm I decided to stay, data port or not. The cute girl clerk was helping someone else so I got the surly proprietor who greeted me by flinging a registration card down in frnt of me without saying a word. While filling ti out I asked if they had a dataport. As he frowned and pointe to the wall I mentioned that the catalog said they diod not have one and I almost did not stop. There was some sarcastic remark made there, but I parked the car and spent 45 frustrating minutes uploading entry 12 via an AOL 800 number sincve there was no local number and at half speed since there was not outlet for my computer.
I rode my bike into town and got back around 10:15pm. Itwas dark already. I had decided I needed to find something to do in July. I have had many offers to stay at avarious peoples houses or guest house and to do various odd jobs.I think I need to find something where I can be a little more independent. But if I don't find somethingb, I hope those offers remain open. I tried calling my friend from college since he may have something for me. He was out and I waited for his return call while washing my clothes and burning a backup CD of all my pictures and files in the laundry room. By midnight he had not called and I retired to read some PKD and watch the fireflies buzz around my tent.