Had a rough night last night - a thunder, lightening storm with no rain, but Sara was beside herself and shaking due to fear of the thunder which was even worse in the RV. So that meant we didn't sleep either since she was up, down, and pacing until storm was over. (Must find a weather app for my phone that will warn us of impending storms!). We thought we heard rain, but when we got up this am, it was sunny and dry. We then tackled the dreaded job of "dumping our sewer tanks" - have been suffering from a little sewer gas odor during flushes, so have followed Donnie's directions for dumping, then filling with 5 gallons water, then 2 deodorizer packets, which also involves cleaning the toilet and extending to whole bathroom...
Jury is still out on whether we have solved the odor issue, but it's definitely better . And we were happy to have no mishaps while handling the icky drains! We had a morning chat with the neighbor RVer as I was asking advice about cleaning windshields, but he told me he was also new to the Motorhome, but offered his ladder (we had wondered why so many RV's on the road had a stepladder tied to their rooftop ladder) and extendable windshield washer after I had just used my own microfiber mop head. The neighbors were from Las Vegas and spent a month here in Mitchell, SD where his grandson is attending college. But back to windshields - really a mess of dead bugs and bird poo and windshield washers do not seem to hit most of the area, and it's messing with our glorious view!! Sounds like another Walmart visit in our future. So we pulled out about 11am and drove west on I-90 for about an hour where we found the landscape so unchanging (although beautiful) that the billboards and signs for tractor museum sounded good!! Turns out the tractor museum was closed but the displays outside were interesting and even better yet the next building was the Historic Holy Trinity Church and Museum - built in 1893 by Czech pioneers! Who would have known! And, of course, I had to go explore the cemetery which was in beautiful condition with many stones dating back to 1800's . And then there's the Kimball Motel and Liquor Store at the end of the street - that's when I realized I had lost Linda - how do you lose someone on a flat prairie and she wasn't answering her phone?! I was sure she was somewhere close so I got the RV ready, got Sara water, texted a few people, and still didn't see her - that's when I started thinking back to the guy who told us we could be mugged and killed in some of these areas!!! So I ran around the back of the deserted museum (because I was sure that's where they would take you for mugging and killing, and then ran around front...just as Linda came walking out of the Indian Art Gallery I thought she wasn't going in to see! All is well, but I really couldn't believe I could lose my copilot!! So back on the road - more cows, fields, barns, and blue sky and billboards - now we're starting to notice the Wall Drug signs that had started somewhere in Missouri - we are told they are famous for starting a little drugstore that grew and grew into a whole tourist trap Emporium that fills downtown Wall, South Dakota . It was a city block of shops, a pharmacy, a Traveler's Chapel, sports equipment, and crazy mechanical gorillas and dinosaurs. Enough, please! We also had a nice encounter with some people at our lunch rest stop - Rosie the Riveter from CA who was travelling with her husband after circling through Arkansas to visit family and a cute little Scottish fellow, 82 years old, exploring the US northwest. And many others who tell us someone in their family has a Weimaraner as they stop to pet Sara :). (I know, just call me Gerry - she would have met even more lifetime friends!). We were running a bit late tonight (but did reach Mountain Time Zone so that gave us an extra hour), winds picked up and made driving very tough and road construction had us down to a 2 lane road with oncoming traffic very close and the shoulder very narrow - needless to say, my arms are exhausted from gripping so tightly. Couldn't even find a major grocer so resorted to Wall Food Centre - found some pork chops but really want to get some good beef out here in this cattle country! Headed to our KOA campground outside Badlands/White River, not realizing we had to drive part way into Badlands National Park to get to this campground - we got just a taste of the beauty of this area - kind of like Grand Canyon above ground. But will finish the Badlands Loop road tomorrow. Made our quick dinner, doing our blog, and then ready for bed. Did have to buy gas for $2.21/gal in this area, hope we get back to those better prices soon! CB