0546 Indianapolis across to the Badlands of S Dakota

22^nd, 23^rd, and 24^th June 2016

It’s a long way across this country !!

Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota.  And until I arrived in the Badlands National Park this evening, basically nothing to see on the way – At least, not that was af much interest to me.  When you consider that Indianapolis is about 1/3^rd of the way across the country from Newfoundland, and The Badlands are about 2/3rds of the way across, I have just spent 3 full days crossing 1/3^rd of the country.  And I was not on twisty roads, but on straight (and boring) freeways !  It’s a long way across this country, even by Australian standards !

I was woken up by thunder at 6 am in the campsite just west of Indianapolis, and when I looked outside the sky was very black, so I decided to quickly pack everything up and have my breakfast  afterwards in case it started raining.  Well, I got packed up – But no breakfast before it started to absolutely bucket down.  I sat in the front seat of the car for a while, then, since the shower block was only 20 metres away thought I might as well have a shower while it was raining, so sprinted across.  The showers are very interesting – with watering cans bolted to the wall and the water pipe routed through the neck – Very clever, and actually quite effective ! 

When I had finished, it was raining even harder, and it wasn’t even a good idea to drive off in the downpour, so I sat for another hour or so in the car, doing my blog – At least they had good wifi !  Eventually the rain stopped, and I had a quick breakfast and made a cup of tea, and then headed out of the campsite at about 11 am.  At least it had cooled down a bit ! 

Not far up the freeway was a bit of a go-slow – it turned out a semi trailer with a tanker on the back had somehow tried to cross the central reservation (whether on purpose or by accident I am not sure), only to find the central reservation was more a river than a grassy verge !  Whoopsadaisy !  The tow truck had two cable attached to his front and was about to start pulling as I drove past. 

Passing through Champaign (interesting spelling !) we then came to Peoria – And I remember this from Dubai days (40 + years ?) when I had a video of Harley Davidson motorcycles dirt track racing at a track in Peoria !   Didn’t see any signs, so I didn’t stop !  Getting off the freeway to find a campsite, I passed a place called Kickapoo (didn’t there used to be a soft drink called that ??), and then found a nice KOA campsite near Rock Island.  They found me a great spot, and I had a pleasant evening under the trees until a passer–by asked me if I was aware of the tornado warning currently in place !  The sky was very dark in one direction and sunny in the other, so I asked what one should do in case it arrived ?  I was told it was best to just sit in your car until it passed.  Fair enough !  Finished my supper, went to bed, and never heard a breath of wind all night !

Next morning I went into town and did a grocery shop and found some reasonable cheap fuel, so when I set off towards the freeway again I was ready to keep going for the day.   Some interesting cloud formations looked very like a whirlwind to me (like a giant willy willy), but no one seemed to concerned about it, and we crossed the mighty Mississippi, and out of Illinois and into Iowa, where I passed a Truck Stop that is apparently the World’s Largest ??  Didn’t look particularly big to me !  Nevertheless, it kept me amused for at least 5 minutes on this somewhat boring road !

After passing through Des Moines, I saw a sign stating that De Soto was the birthplace of John Wayne – Mr True Grit !   I missed the John Wayne sign as I was half asleep, but I did get a shot of the De Soto water tower to remind me of the momentary excitement !  It was then off across acres and acres of farmland – Mostly corn on the cob, as far as I could determine (but I am no farmer !)  As I neared Omaha I passed a sign to a town called Beebeetown, and shortly after that I saw a sign off to a Lookout – So I took it and found a wooden tower to climb that looked out over……..more farmland stretching as far away as you could see into the distance. 

I then headed north towards Sioux City, but was now searching for a campsite.  I found one in a small town called Little Sioux, but the lady in the office said she “didn’t even have space for a cow”.  I don’t have a cow !  No space at all – sorry.  So I took my cow and left, and just up the road saw a sign to Loess Hills state forest, which sounded promising, and about 8 miles up the road found a Ranger’s office still open, despite being past 6 pm.  He was most helpful, said I could camp anywhere, and gave me a map so I could find my way up to a lake which he reckoned was the best spot.  I found another lookout, and then the lake, and settled in, watching a man in a canoe fly fishing.  Perfect. 

Just after I had finished my supper, a couple came past with their dogs – Turned out to be a local called Jim Peters and his mum Judy.  We chatted for a while before they went home, but 30 minutes later Jim came back with a gift of an old wooden walking stick – Most kind of him, but I told him I couldn’t take wood into Australia, and that he should keep it and use it here.  Later he came back again, this time with a big pork chop, vaccum sealed !  How kind of him.  We chatted for a while, but at about 10.30 it was time for my bed, so we said farewell.  What a great guy.

This morning woke up early and packed up and was out and on the road before 8 am.  I was getting a bit tired of this road across the US, and wanted to get it finished with.  For the first half hour or so I was on dirt roads through the hills and the state forest before finally getting back to the main highway.   In Sioux City I headed into South Dakota, but apart from a giant Bulls Head on a hill as part of a sculpture park, not much changed scenery wise !  I gained a couple of hours today as I headed west, so I wasn’t quite sure when to have my elevenses (vegemite on fresh bread !) or my lunch ! 

I stopped for fuel when I saw a reasonably cheap price, and after I had filled up a guy named Scott came up and asked if he could take some pics of the car.  He actually worked behind the till and had seen my car when I called in on the phone to confirm that I could pay after filling, his interest raised when I had to provide him with my rego number and state of vehicle registration !  He was really interested and wanted to post them to some of his friends on a 4WD site !  He was the first of many enquiries today !

The road is continuously flanked by advertising hoardings the whole way – One hardly has time to look  at the road !  After a while it all becomes too much and you switch off mentally.  We then passed another lookout which looked down onto the Missouri River, and 5 minutes later I was back in the car and dropped down to cross the bridge.  Almost immediately after that the flat countryside suddenly changed into these odd rolling hills, completely different from the last 3 days !  Meanwhile the temperature was climbing and climbing – Now up to 37.3 deg, and shortly after that up to 39.4 !

For some time I had been noticing a bunch of old cars heading in the other direction with almost as many stickers on as I have, as well as numbers on their doors.  I never did find out what was going on, but there were a LOT of cars, and they were an odd mix – some hot rods, some older US cars, an E Type, an old fire truck – All sorts of things.  But none of them would have been airconditioned, so they would have been doing it quite tough out there.  The wind was also blowing across the road very strongly – Not much fun for any of us.

I had decided to drop down off the highway before I got to Rapid City and drive through the Badlands National Park – There were camp sites in there, and despite the temperatures, I had to sleep somewhere !  Once again, as soon as I dropped off the highway, the scenery changed immediately – Suddenly I was driving through this amazing lands scape of the Badlands.

However it is Friday evening, and there are now a lot of motorhomes and campers on the road, so I didn’t stop to look at the scenery but drove straight into the park and

the camp site.  Initially they said “no room”, but once I explained I could go on a tent site and needed no power etc, they found a spot for me and in the heat of still over 40 deg set up camp.  For a couple of hours I just sat there like everyone else and put up with it, but as a breeze came up I cooked my supper.  Just as I was finishing my supper the breeze turned into a howling gale, still with the sun shining, and everyone, including me, had to try and hang on to everything to stop it blowing away ! After an

hour or so the wind died down, but as I get ready for bed the sky is still very unsettled, and the temp is still 32 deg.  Should be a cosy night !!

But at least I am across most of the boring middle section of the US !!  Thank goodness. 






Pics are here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/6300703013518318129?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2F0pmjg--S6AE