Destination: Sioux Falls

I sleep late and feel better for it. I am going to drive a short day today.

I have breakfast at Arnold's Classic Diner across the motel parking lot and totally unaffiliated. Good thing. It's exterior and interior are quite charming.

The food is not as good. I order tea, forgetting to say hot tea, and get a large iced tea. My fault I figure, but the server (who looks like Grade 8 is still a couple of years away) is happy to change it. Then I order the Blue Plate breakfast. Two eggs, hashbrowns and toast. I order scrambled eggs and sourdough. The toast is somewhat sourdough though it's crispy toast and somewhat firm. The hashbrowns were crispy hard, I ate a couple of forkfuls and out of fear for some dental work gave up. The eggs have the consistency of a yet to be marketed Goodyear product. Missed one with the fork and it skittered across the plate and, I kid you not, bounced off the toast. The bill with tip and the tea was $10. Complaining about it actually seems a bit churlish, but the whole egg thing was worth writing about. Seems some of the online reviewers had similar experiences.

I leave the hotel around 9, hoping to arrive in Sioux City around 3. I'll be jumping another time zone, from Mountain to Central.

South Dakota is a multi-faced, multi-hued place. At least geographically. The road, I-90 is mostly straight. I go from hilly to rolling hills, to flatland. From brown and beige, to colored crops. From fields of cows and horses grazing, to corn fields and hay and grain.

In one place a see warning sign and take appropriate care. 'Nuff said

The day has been quiet. Personally I got a lot of personal thinking done. The kind you can't do with a cel phone as your constant companion. The kind of “little T” thinking that counts more as a form of personal maintenance than “BIG T” thinking that changes lives with big decisions. “little T” thinking is about perspectives and options that rule our minor lives. I'm trying to save the bigger stuff for beach side and oceans. It's there where I do my best “BIG T” stuff.

I know people who couldn't tell you whether they could even tell the difference, or even if they indulge in the process. If they do, they would never admit it. It would be perceived as a weakness.

For the last two days I have sidelined the i-Pod, and I've been listening to the Prime Country channel on my XMSirius radio. This landscape is perfect for country music from the 80's and 90's. I have only seen two people in cowboy hats, and both of those were driving decrepit cars.

The wind has not stopped. Every time I got out of the car for a nature call or for fuel it was windy. When I stopped in Kadoka I had to put my jacket on. Manoeuvring into the wind to find the arm of the jacket was mandatory.

Around 3mt I call my brother to check in via my OnStar phone. I do this everyday at about the same time. It's a safety thing, and a personal sanity thing.

I roll into Sioux Falls around 330mt/430ct. I am sure that somewhere in Sioux Falls there is a decent restaurant. Sadly, my desk clerk can only recommend Applebees. I do some laundry in the bathroom sink (thank god for Tilley), and then take the car to try and find food. I don't have much luck. The Applebee's is busy, thank the universe, so I cruise 10^th Avenue and don't find anything more appetizing. I settle for a Meat Lover's takeout from Pizza Hut. It is one of the busiest places I have seen. Three guys on the phones taking orders, and the kitchen going flat out. It doesn't even have a sit down. It's only takeout and delivery. I ask if the business volume is normal, and the guy who takes my order says it's actually slow for a Friday. It's nice to actually speak to someone with more than “Have a nice day” as you pay for your gas. Which is the extent of my conversation when I fill up the car and get some beer to go with the pizza.

A friend who drove big rigs through this area for many years warned me before I left. He said to always fill your tank at night in case you have to make a run for it from a severe weather system.

Before I left home I bought a cheap multi-channel weather radio to keep track of any systems that might be in the area. It seemed a prudent thing to do since I have no experience with mid-west or Atlantic extreme weather.

Sleep should come easy tonight.