Minneapolis, KS

Wednesday - It’s a hot one today. A 428 mile travel day to Minneapolis, KS. A small town that doesn’t seem to resemble the more well known version. But it’s nice enough for an overnight stop. Power for the A/C  is all we really need. And it is only $15 at this city campground. 

Tomorrow is another long-ish travel day to Wichita Falls, TX. It’s just across the border with Oklahoma. We had a head wind for most of today’s drive which drove up gas consumption. The class C did fine. I checked the oil level this morning and it was still full after about 2,300 miles. I can’t complain about that. The generator was run since about noon to run the roof A/C on high. The dash A/C sort of worked but it seemed to have difficulty with the triple digit temperatures. But when it was running good, the outlet air temperature was 49°F. 

Dinner is pulled pork! Thank you Annie and Kevin.

Sioux Falls, SD

Friday - We saw a couple of bighorn sheep, or that’s what I think they are, just across the street from where we were parked last night.

Another travel day today. Around 300 miles to a state park north of Sioux Falls, SD. Also by the way, we stopped at a welcome center/restaurant area. There was a fabulous statue called Dignity with the Missouri River in the background. 

We are staying at the Big Sioux Recreation Area in an electric only campsite. Water and a dump station are available. We needed to purchase the annual state park pass for South Dakota to stay here. The sites are large and, so far, very quiet. 

Most of our stay in Sioux Falls was spent looking at condos. 

Monday - Wednesday drove an hour west to Mitchell, SD, to see the corn palace. The murals decorating the building are made from ears of corn and the current murals are commemorating the 250th anniversary.

This is just one of many murals. They are redone every year and are different. I remember stopping here in the past but don’t remember when. Maybe back in the 90s. 

Wall, SD

Thursday - A long-ish travel day from Billings, MT, to what’s known as Nomads View about 6 miles south of Wall, SD. At 92°F, it’s pretty hot so the generator got used today. At around 7:30, we turned off the generator and changed the A/C to fan only to circulate air. 

We had stayed at this location last year so we knew how to get here. It’s a pretty scenic and popular location but the high temperatures probably discouraged some. 

Tomorrow is a shorter day to a state park near Sioux Falls, SD. Around 300 miles according to Google. 

Helena, MT to Billings, MT

Tuesday - We arrived in Helena, MT, on Sunday. We stopped at the lunch destination of the Montana BMW club in Phillipsburg. We then continued on to our friend’s home in Helena. They have an RV parking spot next to their shop. 

I set up the JPC-12 antenna to get ready for Winlink Wednesday and got my weekly check-in message sent on 40m. 

Wednesday - We headed east today towards our overnight stop at a HH in Billings, MT. It is the Beartooth HD dealer. They have a nice, large parking lot on the west side of the building. And, 50amp power! I picked up a 40oz insulated cup with the Royal Enfield logo (on sale!) as HH encourages you to give some business to the host.

They are also a dealer for these Jeep looking UTVs made in India. They have a turbo diesel engine and are physically about the same size as the early Jeeps. 

Very utilitarian but ridiculously expensive at $22k for what you get. They are flat towable at a max speed of 55mph. Their top speed is 51mph but they are geared very low. Final drive is 5.38:1 and has a two speed transfer case.