Day 2 - Orientation then hit the road to South Dakota

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Up early to get things ready to roll. The Winnebago factory sent over coffee and danishes for everyone to the orientation center. We watched the maditory 25 minute video and then met with one of the staff to get our ignition key. Took some pics and WE'RE OFF! First stop was in Fairmont, MN at Wal-Mart to stock up. I made a long list prior to today and decided to split it up into 3 lists so we could get out of there faster. Greg, Joe, and Mark and I each took our assigned lists and hit the store. We gathered all our items and got of there in 20 minutes. The trick is finding a place to stow everything so it won't crash on the floor while driving. Several things could be stored outside underneath the RV in the bins there, but they are not water and dust prove so you have to be cautious about what you decide to put there.

The first day of driving is rather boring. We did stop at the 1880 town just before reaching the Badlands National park because it looked interesting. Interesting, but not worth the money in my book. They have several props on display that were used in the movie Dances with Wolves. Since the movie was filmed in this area I suspect they are going to get a lot out of that for years to come.

We made up for expense to see the 1880 town when we got to Badlands National Park. Joe is over 62 years old so he qualified for the free pass into any national park that allows him and anyone in his car free admission for life. Pretty good deal I think. So this will come in handy when we get so Denali as well. I got to relive some great memories of visiting here several years ago with my kids. I showed everyone the spot that Corey gave me a heart attack when he was 3 years old running around to burn up some pent up energy in an area that look very safe. He yelled out, "MOM! Come look at the big hole!" I walked over to a little dip in the rock formation only to find that it dropped off to about 500 feet of nothing below! Thank God Corey stopped and didn't just keep running. The big rock we took the boys picture sitting on made me realize just how much they have grown.

Found our way to the KOA campground and hooked up for the night. This is a very clean, nice campground. We grilled steaks and made baked potatoes and had our feast.

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