Awake: 4:45am Temp 67 sleep 6+38 overnight @ Sioux Falls,
South Dakota.
We leave the Tower Campground @ 8:07 am…it was an easy departure compared
to our arrival route yesterday. The exit route was wide with few turns,
plus there is no construction activity today. I can’t brag about smooth
roads this travel day; both I-29 & I-80 have long sections of smooth hwy,
then long sections of rough hwy.
En route, Linda calls from Anchorage; our forwarded mail sent to Minot was
returned? I ask her to send it to Nicktown.
When we diverted from I-80 to hwy 30 @ New Lenox, Illinois, that was a
real goof; We suffered small town out-of-sync signal lights for miles &
miles. Going through those small towns was a pure nuisance; we had no
prior warning of when their signal lights would change & the yellow
caution light was too quick…..I have since talked with my professional
truck driving buddy, Gary, & he has set me straight with a simple
alternate plan for that area.
Again today, our destination was…..whatever is comfortable for both of us.
After the Route 30 signal light issue, I ask Kathy to casually look up
some campground options. After some 40 mins, she had no options to share.
We were catching the storm that passed through Minot on Thursday &
darkness was upon us. Then darkness, rain & road construction narrowed our
lane to 1. That’s when we began to renew our Wal-Mart Super-center
discussion. In Plymouth, Indiana we found just that; a 24 hr Wal-Mart with
lots of open parking to the side. We pulled in & shut the engine down @
9:14pm. With (1) comfort stop en route, I was ready.
Today’s travel: 12+21 time 683 miles 81 gal used 8.43 mpg
56.2 avg speed.
We walked into Wal-Mart, asked the night manager, Fredrick, about staying
overnight, told him we were parked far off to the side & reminded him we
will be shopping in this store in morning….he okayed all of that.
9:30pm dinner: Chicken salad.
Elevation 1436 ft High temp=79 Lights out: 10:47pm
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