A classic country trucker song
"SIX DAYS ON THE ROAD"
I am going to recount a six day road trip all based on picking up a truck I bought in Dickinson North Dakota, the truck insignificant to the story other than it was kind of a "barn find" with only 34900 miles on it before CARHUNTER got behind the wheel!
Tuesday and we are OFF!
I scramble and check the weather forecast, how to get there via air and what can I hit on the way home estimated to be 2500 miles!!
Shocked I learn that United has connecting flights right to Dickinson!!
Weather unseasonably mild and I have a plan!!
Sometimes I think I buy something for the excuse to hit the road!
You are going to get it all in order with road observances and maybe rants at time!
Only 10 minutes from the little regional airport with a 2 hour time change it is 1130 AM and my plan is jump in the truck and hit museum #1, but left a cushion of a loose day to play catch up!
Change of flight in Denver, very nice airport, oh crap my plane to North Dakota?
Ok this one?
If you have been to Denver you know that the terminals are 30 miles apart,by the time I did a restroom stop and grabbed a quick bite with the trek to my gate the plane was loading when I got there! Oh yeah don't look for Honey Mustard sauce here, that knocked the wind out of my sails?
Here it is, just like a plane, but smaller!!
I get the salesman to indulge my CARHUNTER lust and we stop for these photos!
There were more we saw, but I was trying, still at this point to be on schedule!
The Dakota's are great roadtrip old iron sighting territory, but not in the middle of the winter!
Back at the seller's place I realize the truck has the original tires still in place, you guessed it dangerously dry rotted. I did ask how the tires were and yes they still had tread!
One of the guys asked did you feel a vibration? I say no, but I am trying not to get killed over the 2500 miles ahead and six days!
We negotiate a financial split on new tires so keep track here we just lost 45 minutes!
I made an error knowing I will travel into the central time zone now from mountain time and reversed my ETA - I loose an hour, not gain one- damn brain glitch!
North Dakota is the real Bad Lands, there is nothing around!!
Command decision and I GPS search WAL-MART, bingo 5 minutes away and I race over and have 4 Goodyears Installed. Nice people in the store got me rolling in a little over an hour. The kid has friends in Brooklyn NY- go figure! Now I realize since I flew I had planned on a stop to buy some stuff for the road as I packed very light to have only carry on luggage. Set me loose in WAL-MART with a wagon!
I finally grabbed one of these compact jump boxes there!
I now have lost over 2 1/2 hours and moved my museum stop to Wednesday AM
The roads are thickly covered in dirt and mud from winter and I am driving down some really remote roads heading to my hotel in Champlain South Dakota and it is getting dark fast. All the snow on the fields is actually reflecting and keeping the complete darkness I expected at bay!
I realize can not make it pull over, get a signal and regroup. Cut an hour off the drive, check availability and proximity to the AM museum! Just made the time to cancel the original hotel and book the new one. I just lost another 20 minutes! I relocated to Pierre South Dakota which is the capitol, it is pronounced Pair and most will say they have no idea where you are looking for if you say Pee air, oh you mean Pair!
Just made the Walgreen closing in minutes
I have been traveling since 4 AM EST time and glad I picked the downtown hotel because I also got some food!!
I am going to keep blogging as I can until the trip is over so keep checking back!
Just recalled my cell phone screen went blank just after I changed the reservations and remained blank for 2+ days- impossible to make phone calls or go to anything unless I was called or texted!
Great I am in the middle of nowhere in a truck I never saw until today with a useless phone!
Next I get a call my Mastercard has a fraudulent charge in Florida while I am in South Dakota-One card cancelled! They usually get crazy anyway when I travel and try to cancel them too!
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