Typical Touring Day

People ask us from time to time, what does your typical day consist of when you are on the road. So, today's blog will acquaint you with the general ins and outs of touring.

5:20 AM (MT) Sunrise. Tim was up bright and happy, and Cindy followed shortly after.

6:30 AM Breakfast at the hotel was continental, with biscuits and gravy, waffles, or, if we are lucky, we may get eggs and bacon. Today, we met some folks who are traveling by trike (we called them the “white trike” club). Interestingly enough, all of the people we met at breakfast were motorcycle riders. Yes, the early birds catch the cooler weather as well as the wildlife.

6:40 AM We were on the road from Spearfish, SD headed east toward Sioux Falls, also in South Dakota. We decided to take the interstate to Wall, then detour on the route through the Badlands National Park at the advice of our breakfast buddies.

8:00 AM was time for a potty break, as well as some quick shopping at Wall Drug store. Wall Drug is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the most road signs. We were entertained by them all along the way.

8:30 – 10:30 As stated earlier, this part of the trip consisted of a scenic drive through the Badlands. If you haven't been, put it on your “to do” list! It is very different views from the Black Hills, but well worth the detour. We spotted more wildlife while we were there (coyote, bighorn sheep). The coyote crossed right in front of us, but he was too wily and ran over the hill before we could snap a photo.

Bighorn sheep are usually “elusive,” but we were blessed with lots of time to spend with them.

Occasionally another tourist will offer to take a picture of both of us. This was taken by a father of two children after I offered to take a picture of their entire family. The children wouldn't cooperate because “the sun is too bright.” They will have a nice picture with one child at least. It reminded us of the many times we have traveled with our little kids, and while we miss those days we were glad to have some time alone on this hot day!

Just outside of the Badlands in Philip sits a Prairie homestead, an original sod home built in 1909 by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Brown. We saved the tour for a later time when our daughter is with us.

This is the only place in the world where an entire town of white prairie dogs live. They are so cute!

10:30 AM back on the Interstate headed toward Sioux Falls and almost time for a fuel-up and another potty break. We thought we would stop around 11:15 at Murdo and miss the crowd.

11:00 AM – We crossed the time zone. Argh! It is now 12:00 PM. So much for missing the lunch crowd.

12:15 PM CT – Stop for lunch, gas, cool off. One stop did it all, but it seems that our stop was also found by half of the travelers in South Dakota. What a line! Subway was worth the wait, however, as we were very hungry by now.

1:30 PM CT – Back on the road. By now it was really getting hot, so our bandanas served to hold ice on our necks and cool us off for at least a few minutes on the road. Time to listen to a CD. Each day we travel long distances at boring times of the day, we listen to a sermon, lecture, or podcast. One or two more breaks to soak our shirts and drink some electrolytes.

5:15 PM CT – Arrived at Sioux Falls. Checked in to the hotel, showered, went to dinner, and walked around a mall which is right behind the hotel. We ate an ice cream cone, which melted before we could eat it all.

9:00 PM CT – Update our blog (the times on this one have varied, but it is usually an evening event).

10:00 PM – ZZZZZzzzzzz…..

Daily Stats: Total Miles approximately 3400 to date. Added one National Park to our ABCs, and crossed the entire state of South Dakota.

Tomorrow we head out to Lincoln, Nebraska.

See you later!

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