Day 1-Forest City, Iowa to Oacoma, South Dakota

---

Chapter 2. I left off last night as I was falling asleep. Well, we had a restless night as temperature dropped to 58deg. and I had forgotten to turn on the heater, so awoke around 4 am to remedy. Mattress too hard etc., you don't want to hear complaints from anyone who's on adventure of a lifetime! Anyway, up at 6 a.m. to get ready for first trip in RV. We attended seminar put on by the able group from Great Alaskan Holiday to make sure we knew ins/outs and do's/don'ts of RV operation and 3FromNaples were on our way by 10:30am. Before we left we posed for group picture in front of one of our RVs that we're traveling in. On first highway out of Winnebago factory we got stuck behind some farm equipment which we would see for much of the day. From Iowa, we moved North into Minnesota on Interstate 90 West. The next 300+ miles for the day consisted mostly of flat, rich farmland plowed and ready for crops to be sown, grain storage silos, turbine windfarms. The greatest challenge for us today was 15 to 20 mph winds which buffeted for most of the day and made it difficult to travel above 60mph despite 80mph speed limit in South Dakota although a beautiful sunny day with temps rising well into 80's.

Our first stop was at Wallmart in Worthington, Minnesota to "provision up" the RVs. The planned 45 min. stop turned into an 1 1/2 hrs, which put us behind a bit but we motored on with a late lunch on the road as we drove. We had to drive 10 miles out of our way near Sioux Falls, SD to a Costco to stock up on wine and fill up on gas at $2.05/gal. wahoo! Heading into a drooping sun, we rounded a steep hill down to the mighty Missouri, an unbelievable sight and to those of you old enough to remember the song lyrics "A-roll, a rollaree/Acrossthe wide Missouri" The most exciting thing about crossing the river is that it led is right to our nearby campsite at "Oasis Campground" in Oacoma, SD, overlooking the Missouri. After quick hook-up to electric and water at campsite we joined Ray & Sandy, and their traveling companions Diane & John for drinks and "hors d'oevres" (read cheese & crackers, popcorn & dip).

Tomorrow, we're looking forward to seeing some great monuments at Badlands, Rushmore, Crazy Horse, & Devil's Tower.

Wherever we stopped, along the way today whether for coffee, provisions, gas etc. all we met were excited to hear about our adventure and wished they could join us.

More to come.

Quentin

349 Miles today,

---

Comments

[Cheryl Myers]

Enjoying Your Blog
Quentin and Dorrie, Jon and I enjoy seeing your pics and reading about your adventures. Enjoy yourselves and we look forward to following you along your journey!