Travel Day

● March 5th

We departed at 8AM for our penultimate long travel day. We left Kearney (pronounced “Carny”) and headed off to Belle Fourche (pronounced “Bell Foosh”). Actually, for the next three nights we’ll be staying in Deadwood. Word has it that there are only crummy hotels and little to see or do in Belle Fourche, so Jody wisely rebooked us in nearby Deadwood.

A day in the life...

I bought a power inverter which plugs into the cigarette lighter,
so I can spend our long drives working on my computer.

All along on the trip we’ve used a pair of walkie-talkies to keep in touch between the van and the truck. I think it was Ann who wisely redubbed them drivie-talkies. On them, we can sometimes pick up fragments of nearby conversations. This morning Jody overheard a pair of drivers talking about us: “Why, that truck’s from Minnesota.” “So’s that van.” “They’re sure in a hurry to get somewhere.” “Probably a church group full a’ Mormons.” Minnesota and Mormons? Not the first connection I’d necessarily make. Now Lutherans, maybe.

According to my Rand McNally Atlas, we changed time zones five times today – with four of those changes all within about 15 miles of Murdo, SD. Now that’s just crazy. We passed a big milepost on our tour today – about 30 miles east of Rapid City we passed the 7,000 mile mark!

After eight hours on the road we reached Deadwood, a town with legalized gambling. Like every other hotel in town, our AmericInn has a loud casino (which I can't stand) on the first floor, but our rooms upstairs are really lovely.

Tim and I hosted an Oscar Party this evening in Jody's room. Originally, the attire for the evening would be formal, but on second thought, we made it a pajama party. We had a great time... but I was sad about the best picture award (go BBM!).

Miles traveled: 485
Hotel: AmericInn