The Sandcastle

Next stop was the DMV for our new license plates and my handicapped parking permits.  Some of you may have heard that South Dakota implemented a new system for issuing license plate on July 1st this year.  That went about as well as new computer systems usually do.  But, most of the bugs appear to be out of the system now so it didn't take us nearly as long to get our new plates as we were afraid it might.  The main problem we had was the clerk, Debbie, needed to figure out how to license a conversion van.  Since this vehicle had never been registered it had two titles:  one the for vehicle and one for the conversion.  So ours is now officially a Chrysler Winnebago.  I asked Debbie to try to get us an easy to remember number since we have to give it to every campground.  She found 1XX 999 for us.  Is Debbie great or what?!  The handicapped permit was easier to do since I had a form all filled out by my doctor.  I now have two hangtag parking permits so I can put one in any vehicle I drive/ride in without needing to take the one from the RV.  I just need to remember to take the mobile one with me.

Next stop was Flying J where we bought diesel for less than $4 a gallon.  That was nice.  I remember not so long ago when that wasn't nice.  It's amazing how quickly we get used to previously unimaginable things.  

Like smoking in restaurants.  We ate lunch at Flying J's restaurant and a fellow near us asked for and got an ash tray.  That wouldn't happen any more in Minnesota but we were in South Dakota.  I have to relearn to pay attention to smoking and non-smoking sections.

Now we faced the hardest decision we've had to make in a long time.  Should we head on to Forest City, Iowa, to see if we can get the work done on our View at the Winnebago factory on Friday which would give us time to visit with family on the way to the Gypsy Gathering?  Or should we go back to the campground we stayed at last night and play with my new Segway and other goodies we picked up at Alternative Resources?  There are four geocaches hidden around the fairgrounds with few people and a variety of surfaces to try riding on.  And we got new mapping software that needs to be installed and played with to help us plan future travel segments.  And information on the Winnebago Itasca Travelers group that needs some study to decide how active we might want to be with that group.  And other mail to process.  And license plates to install. And a spice rack and magazine rack to buy and install.  Winnebago factory won so we hit the road.

You've all seen those wreaths by the side of the road that indicate someone died there.  South Dakota has an interesting response to them.  Instead of having ad hoc memorials all over the place, they put up a sign that says. "X marks the spot.  Think.  Why die?"  I like that.  If it helps one person think about what stupid thing they are about to do, it has helped all of us.

You know you have left the city when the vehicles parked at the corner with for sale signs on them are farm tractors.

My challenge this afternoon is not to take a nap while Dave is driving since we expect to need to get up early tomorrow.  I was about half asleep when out of the blue Dave said, "It only took 58 miles to get through the alphabet."  He could have invited me to play, too!

We saw a caravan.  A caravan is a group of vehicles traveling together.  When you see a bunch of RVs driving down the road you don't know whether or not they are traveling together.  But there was no doubt about this group.  They were all Corvettes.  That sight took me back to high school days when a guy gave me a ride in his Stingray one day.

As I've mentioned before I am into "save the world" things like recycling and alternative energy.  So it was disappointing to see all the windmills standing still because there is no wind out here today.  It does make driving a lot easier, though, to not have those horrible crosswinds we've had so much of lately.  And it was nice to cross back into Minnesota where the rest areas have recycling containers.

Another thing Minnesota has that I like is "Sentenced to Serve".  Several of those signs that tell you who is picking up trash along the highway indicated this stretch was being done by Sentenced to Serve people. I think it's a lot better thing to have non-violent offenders working out their sentences than taking up space in our jails.

We finished the day by racing the sunset to Winnebago's campground.  We won but just barely.  And we went to bed hoping to sleep well since Dave's alarm was set for 6:45 a.m. so he could walk over to the service department when they open at 7 a.m. to get on the list of people needing service.  It's been ages since we set an alarm and I was not looking forward to getting up that early.

TTYL,

Linda

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