Home!

Photos.

We began our trip home late Monday afternoon.  There was little traffic on I90 and we hoped to get as far as Presho, South Dakota, for the night -- an easy distance of 170 miles or so from Rapid City. Well,  as I searched for a hotel, I eventually realized that his for Presho were in fact 30-40 miles in from the freeway. As tempted as we were to visit Pierre, the capital of South Dakota, Monday night was not the time to do so.

Cattle near Quality Inn in Chamberlain, SD

We eventually decided on Chamberlain, only 40 miles farther down the road. There were three choices along the freeway but we were tired and settled on the Quality Inn, which didn't look too bad to weary travelers. And, in fact, our room seemed OK as darkness fell. We didn't have the energy to go out for dinner so we finished our Colby cheese (brought from home a week ago, still fresh in the cooler), served with crackers and chips. I wish I'd just had an apple, but common sense was lacking that day.

We couldn't wait to get on the road on Tuesday morning. I thought the cows in the field were a good omen. They grazed lazily a couple of hundred yard from the hotel parking lot. We moved along merrily for the first couple of hours under cloudy skies.

By the time I got behind the wheel, rain was starting. It got worse and worse, terrifying for me, a white knuckle driver unless conditions are close to perfect, which they definitely were not.  I drove about 100 exhausting miles, better at the end when the rain stopped for an hour or so.

No lunch stop. By the time we got to Lakeville -- perhaps 40 miles from home -- the rain was really coming down, almost flooding the freeway. When we got off at W7th Street in St. Paul, a couple of cars ahead of us mistook the shoulder for a lane. We picked up our mail at usually busy Elway Post Office, but there was no wait today.

Home at last before 3 in the afternoon. We needed a healthy dinner and salmon with broccoli did the trick. The rain continued all evening and through much of the night. Happy to wake up in my own bed this morning.

Mosaic at Blue Earth, Minnesota, rest stop