Karl and I headed out for the morning walk at first light, but before sunrise. We walk the boundaries of the RV park and as Karl can be off leash I allow him to putter, sniff and just be a dog and enjoy. Meanwhile, I watch and look and catch what I can with my camera..
This is a new variation…”arms” stretched out in front. He is asleep …eyes partly open.
This looks more comfortable – my sweet boy…he was snoring when I took this. Well, it is 4 a.m. – I’ve been waking early and I just get up and get to it…one of the benefits of working from a “home” office. Starting very early most days is how I can take time during the day for a long walk or errands or sometimes a nap of my own!
A benefit of this nearly empty (still just 5 of us) rv park is that I’m sitting on an end spot – no one within 100 yards of me and nothing but prairie to one side. I don’t have to worry about light and noise bothering anyone and can leave blinds and shades open on the “prairie-side” – even at night. The park has low, parking lights and no bothersome “street-lamp” lighting to shine in. I have this thing about liking to get up in the night and look out – it is perfect here with just the low, twinkling, site lights.
I was up several times last night. The wind howled most of the night. The slide-out sections of the motorhome have “toppers” – canvas awning-type things on rollers that roll out with the slide when it extends and keep dirt, etc. from collecting on the roof of the slide. They work…the downside is in high wind they “flap”. They are fairly taught but not tight enough to stop some flapping in wind. Between the living room slide and the bedroom slide, it can sound like I’m on a sailboat and all of the sails have been let loose to flap in the hurricane…it is noisy is what I mean and sounds like things are coming apart. In Ohio, the bedroom topper came completely unrolled. The slide looked like it had its own parachute – that’s when I brought the slide in. I don’t like to do that as Karl’s preferred sleeping place – other than the sofa – is between the bed and the back wall which is unaccessible with the slide in… Well…there is that expression “let sleeping dogs lie”! – there must be a reason for it as my dog is not spoiled… he’s not!!
Today’s travel started about 10 minutes before 7 – cool and foggy and it stayed that way through mid-morning.
The forecast wind was strong from the start but it was from the southeast so hitting from the rear driver side and not really noticable until afternoon.
Lunch stop! – Flags whipping in the wind. After this stop there were moments of being “tossed around” when the interstate dipped to the south bringing the wind broadside. It wasn’t constant but the “threat” was enough to make the driving and paying such close attention – stressful and tiring.
Missouri River – a beautiful blue! My thought was “how much prettier than the Mississippi” which was a muddy brown…
Snow on the hills around my site at Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort. Spearfish is just above 3000 feet in elevation – about the same as my home – so cooler than eastern South Dakota.
I had a short nap and got a bit of a second wind before a sunset walk with Karl.
I LOVE this place – gorgeous, spacious sites, beautiful grounds, wonderful laundry, lots of walking space for Karl and I…rural and quiet. The price is not bad right now as it is “off-season” and it is a new park – built for the newer, bigger rigs – trying to make it’s way. No matter, I WOULD PAY WHATEVER!!! – I am NOT frugal and I LIKE my creature comforts. It puts me at odds with a lot of the world and especially with much of the RV world. But, I am a “full hookup resort” kind of girl and am willing to pay for a nice, spacious, pretty place. As Popeye said: “I am what I am”…
Karl and I, in the Winnebago, rolled out of Colony Country Campground (BTW…the campground name is a family name…not to do with Amana Colonies as I wrote earlier) – at 7:10 a.m. – one of our earlier departures. It was not raining, but it was damp and lots of messy, muddy puddles, but we had a nice long walk pre-dawn.
Things stayed misty and socked in until we reached west Iowa. The sun gradually made its appearance as the rolling green farms of eastern Iowa gave way to a browner, dryer, western Iowa. We made the turn north before Council Bluffs and the terrain flattened and opened up to the cattle ranches of northwest Iowa and southeast South Dakota.
We arrived Sioux Falls at close to 4 p.m. – long day!
Great rest area!…lunch stop – western Iowa.
Last rest stop in Iowa …just south of Sioux City…before South Dakota.
Karl seems to breathe better in the west also!
No barn…just Iowa scenery.
Site at the Sioux Falls Jellystone Yogi Bear RV Park… yes, I stayed at a Jellystone…a couple of other options in my mileage range were not open until May 1…
I was up at just before 4 a.m. this morning, sitting quietly with Karl at my feet, when the motorhome rocked slightly…a couple of times. I lived in California for 13 years and experienced a number of earthquakes – they don’t all “feel” the same. Some were sharp jolts accompanied by a loud crack of noise. Some were a rolling sensation, not unlike being on a boat in a long swell. Some were actualy shaking that went on for some time.
So, this morning, the rocking – and no wind, it was very still – “Earthquake!”, I thought…”But I’m in Iowa???” It was an earthquake – 5.2 according to the last thing I read – centered in Illinois 3 miles underground and approximately 350 miles from where I sit parked. It never fails to astound me to think how much force, energy and movement it takes for so much of the earth and the stuff sitting on the earth to move – even slightly…a scary, awesome, incredible force of nature.
A bit anti-climatic but Karl and I took a walk shortly after, even though it was very early. Thunderstorms rolled through early last evening and Karl decided the evening walk was unnecessary. It was quiet and NOT raining at 5 a.m. The weather map and forecast looked like it wasn’t going to stay that way for long, so I coaxed Karl out with me for a walk. All was accomplished in short order and we returned just in time.
No sunrise photos today! A good day to sit and work. We roll tomorrow for Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The wind stopped and the clouds came back this morning. I am not complaining as the returning clouds made for a most glorious sunrise that Karl and I watched as we finished our morning walk.
In between fighting my fledgling knowledge of C# (C-Sharp – programming language) I tried out a new electric kettle…
I went hunting for a small crock pot yesterday and came home with this. It reportedly slow cooks, steams, deep frys and ??? – I guess anything else you need a medium large pot to do. So far it has dealt with one of those pasta-chicken-veg meals in a bag and today it was home to the makings for Italian Beef Sandwiches. About 3:30 after no lunch and living in close quarters with the smell of roast beef, italian sausage, green peppers and au jus on the simmer, I succumbed…
I think I’ll make it through the rest of the work day…
…but it did break my heart to make this without Bill – one step forward, two backward or something like that…