Accommodation

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Hankinson to Minot

Well, I made it to Minot only three hours later than expected. Too late for dinner. 🙁 The only thing that makes me feel better about today is that the tire that blew is NOT one of the original tires, but rather the one that was put on in Brandon. And the one that blew in Oklahoma also wasn’t one of the originals. Moral of the story: buy Michelins.

It was a good morning in Hankinson, a little cold because of the wind, but the sun was warm. It took about two and a half hours to get all my chores done, with the longest one being trying to get Google to load a satellite image of the Minot Walmart (which did not happen). It was exactly 10:00 when I pulled onto I-29, with my ETA being 15:45.

The wind was horrible, but otherwise the driving was easy. When I pulled into the Oriska rest stop at noon, I was unusually smart and had lunch!

I then decided to try the diagonal route on US-52 from Jamestown rather that 90 degree angling it through Bismarck like I did in the opposite direction last year, just to avoid driving through Bismarck. I’ll take US-52 from now on; it was an easier drive.

The gas at the casino was surprisingly expensive (still cheaper than the environs), so I hadn’t left with a full tank. I had a quarter left when I hit US-52, with the next gas station being just 50KM away. I can usually do 125 to 175KM on a quarter tank. I was on fumes when I got to the gas station!!!!!!!

Getting out of the gas station was surprisingly tricky because I needed to make two sharp turns, one right, one left. I was certain that was going to end in disaster with the toad hitting something, so I walked the area and discovered that I could just pull ahead into the neighbouring bank’s parking lot and make my right turn from there. Well, that wasn’t going to work either; too much traffic. I decided to turn left since I would have had to turn left at some point to rejoin US-52. That took me through downtown. The GPS told me to turn right to rejoin US-52. Uh, not going to happen, there were low lying branches in the middle of the road! Next right turn option had construction. Thankfully, the absolute last option worked out and I was able to rejoin US-52. Have I mentioned recently how much I loathe getting gas?

The wind died down after and I was making good time to Minot when the blowout happened. I am convinced that the rumble strip caused the tire to fail. Don’t look at me like that! I have had a rumble strip shred a tire before, and a much newer one than this. If you hit it at just the right angle with a hot tire, BOOM. And I had gone into the rumble strip to avoid a hole. 🙁

There are only two things for which I can be grateful. Number one, I was on a very narrow road with almost no shoulder and this happened right at the entrance to a nice big scenic turnout. Two, I had cell service, albeit barely.

My GPS wasn’t too helpful this time, so I got online (in text mode only, and even that was sloooooow) and Googled ‘mobile tire repair minot.’ I called the first number and not only did they not do mobile service, they didn’t know who did. The next number also didn’t do mobile service, but gave me the number of those who do.

It took about an hour for the repair guy to get to me. Besides having a hard time getting the old tire off the rim, the job seemed fairly easy. I am not going to name the company until the payment issue is resolved. I was quoted $300 over the phone and when I got the bill it was $400, the difference being a service call fee on top of the mileage fee. The driver said he would have the manager call me before putting the charge through. So I don’t want to say anything about the company before I know if I should advise the world that they took advantage of my plight or if they did right by me.

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The turnout was scenic, so you might wonder why I didn’t just spend the night there. Well, I didn’t have a good feeling about the place. This hasn’t happened many times in my five years on the road, but I got a very strong “you don’t want to be here after dark” vibe. So I hooked the truck back up while the guy was packing his tools and preparing the invoice and then drove the final 40 minutes into Minot.

The Walmart is as it was last time, crowded and busy. I am going to try to get myself turned around into an easier departure location if the cars thin out.

I had planned to stock up on some dry goods here and then do a good grocery in Estevan, but those plans and those to cross the border with a full tank of gas in the truck went out the window with my $400. 🙁 I had a little breathing room and it’s all gone again. What is the universe trying to tell me?

What makes me most mad about today is that I absolutely needed to be relaxed tonight since the border crossing is tomorrow morning. That’s enough to fret about. 🙁

I don’t know how I am going to reconcile this conflict of mine, my love for taking my home with me everywhere and my absolute hatred of actually driving it anywhere. 🙁

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Not In the Mood to Drive

I just renewed for a third night here at Dakota Magic. If I really just wasn’t in the mood to drive, I would have gone anyway because I know that that’s just an excuse for not wanting to face the border crossing.

But I’m being really productive and making good use of my FHU, so I can justify another night. This morning, I defrosted the freezer and washed it and the fridge, then made an inventory of the food on board. I found bacon! It will be demolished shortly when I go make lunch. 🙂

It looks like it might rain, but if it doesn’t, the next project is the cab.

Besides that, I need to put away yesterday’s laundry (almost dry, YAY), wash out Neelix’s litter box, and then I’ll be good to go. There’s really nothing to do now to prepare for the border besides making sure I don’t have any illegal food on board, have a full alcohol inventory (one Texas beer that I am saving for the first crazy hot summer day), and that I know how much I need to declare.

I hope internet in Saskatchewan will be decent (although I will settle for existent). I get a very low signal in North Dakota, so I keep getting disconnected. I might not have found the connection in San Antonio to be so bad had I remembered my online experience in North Dakota last spring.

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Dining Out

One of the biggest challenges this winter was consistently finding good coffee to make at home. In Canada, my compromise for taste and price is Nabob Full City Metropolis. My coffee choices have been hit or miss all winter, and my latest purchase has been thoroughly a miss. L spoiled me rotten in Wichita, having a fresh pot of really good stuff available to me every morning. My morning coffee has been disappointing since Kansas.

I remembered from last year that the Dakota Magic restaurant has really good coffee. So I planned on having a lunch here, for both the coffee and to use up the rest of my U.S. cash.

I ordered a full pot of coffee (did not get through it) and a club sandwich, which came to $10. I brought half of the meal home for dinner. I’m going to miss this price/portion ratio when I get to Canada.

The coffee was sooooooooooo good. Since I only ate half my meal, I asked for a slice of pie to go with my final sips.

When I came into the restaurant, the server didn’t see me be seated and I was apparently invisible because it took AGES for her to see me. I was actually about to walk out, figuring they were too busy to take on any new customers, when she came to take my order. So when I asked for pie, she pointed to the buffet ($13 for lunch, OUCH), and told me to help myself to whatever looked good, plus ice cream if I wanted it, and that she wouldn’t charge me. That doubled her tip! I enjoyed their pecan pie with just a dollop of chocolate ice cream.

When you live alone in a small space, dining out is practically a survival mechanism. It’s an excuse to get out and do a little socialising. For me, food is food when it comes to my budget. Said budget goes further in the U.S. than in Canada and allows for more meals out, but regardless, so much per month goes to food and I eat very simply at home to cut costs (I so rarely buy desserts and junk food, for example, that saying that I never buy them is barely an exaggeration). Dining out is not a place where my budget needs to be trimmed, contrary to what some readers may think.

I’m off to do more laundry. I did three loads this morning and now I have the heavy denim stuff to do, which will take FOREVER to dry since it’s almost impossible to wring out by hand.

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What a Sunny Morning!

There is just something about a sunny morning that is absolutely invigorating. It can be super hot or super cold out, doesn’t matter. I makes me bounce out of bed energized by the possibilities of the day.

Since this is my last chance to be on FHU for a bit, I have a long enough to-do list that I may end up staying a third night. The number one priority for today is laundry, and then getting the black tank emptied and rinsed. Tomorrow could then be a rest day since it’s another really full day to Minot.

My border and arrival plan keeps changing, but I think I finally have it down. The big thing is Canadian internet. I thought I was going to have to go to Medicine Hat to buy the only internet device with a decent bandwidth package, but… things keep improving.

Bell now has several devices with that ginormously generous, won’t hear me bitch about it, bandwidth package, at least one of which, a stick, doesn’t need 120V power the way the Turbo Hub does. Moreover, it’s ZERO down for a 2-year commitment AND I could buy it at a number of points along the Canadian route to my property, including in Estevan, Weyburn, and Assiniboia!

That changes everything as far as my reentry plans. Now that I don’t have to drop the RV and go to Alberta, I’m in no rush to land. So if I pulled out of Hankinson Thursday (three nights here total), I would get to Minot Thursday night and then Friday it would be about an hour and a half to the border at Portal and another 45 minutes or so to the Walmart in Estevan where is a The Source store within walking distance at which I could buy my internet device.

In Estevan, I could make sure both my computers can get online and also stock up on supplies (fresh goods that wouldn’t make it across the border; I’m also getting supplies in Minot). And then Saturday, I would have a leisurely three hourish drive to my property.

When I bought the property last year, there was cell coverage in Assiniboia but not my village. Coverage maps now show full coverage in southern Saskatchewan. So I am hopeful I will have internet at ‘home’ with a device bought in SK.

This route does mean that I will likely have to purchase fuel in Canada for the final leg of the trip. But I did more research on the Scobey/Coronach crossing and really don’t think it’s a good idea to cross there. For one thing, they close early, so I’d be racing the clock to arrive from Minot. For another, 22 cars a day in the height of summer is a big rush for them. So I’m worried that I would be providing them with a bit of ‘entertainment’ if you catch my drift. And I would be automatically suspicious for crossing there with my Alberta-plated vehicles as it is a crossing used mostly by locals. I’ll feel more comfortable using that crossing when I am plated in SK and can declare the village to be my home base.

There is a Saskatchewan snow melt map making the rounds of the internet and it is really impressive. Looks like there is almost no more snow in that province! AND the risk of flooding is just about gone! Woohoo! These warm temps should give my property just enough time to dry out enough to not be a festering marsh by the time I arrive.

Next thing to figure out: how I am going to deal with grass. Hopefully it will be a local teenager (I don’t mind mowing, but I’d rather not have to buy and maintain a mower). And I hope no one gives me flack for not taking care of the lawn last year. Ah, all shall be revealed in just a few days…

Finally, a bit of a semantics lesson. I’m having a hard time coming up with the right word to describe ‘my property.’ It is not and will likely never be ‘home.’ Home is MIRANDA. Full-timers get that, but most other folks don’t. Home is also wherever Miranda is parked. Ergo, while Miranda is parked on my property, my property will be ‘home.’ But I can’t say it enough, I am not ‘going home’ this week.

I have a name chosen for my property, but I won’t reveal it until I land and get a feel for the neighbours. Needless to say, it’s another Firefly reference. 🙂

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Columbus NE to Hankinson ND

I woke up around 7:00 this morning. It was cold and foggy, so I put the furnace on then went back to bed for an hour, delaying departure from 9ish to 10ish.

By the time I got up, I could tell that this morning fog was not the beachy kind that cloys for days but rather the prairie kind that promises a beautiful hot day. By the time I had the truck hooked up, the sun was already coming out and I shed my fleece hoodie.

The first half of the day was along US-81, a good highway with high speeds except through a small handful of towns. It was steady going. At noon, I hit not only the South Dakota welcome centre, but also summer temps that made me shed even more layers. I was hungry but decided to delay lunch, silly person that I am.

I was about a half hour out from taking I-29 that I had to take a 10KM detour because there was a barn on two trucks blocking the highway. I’m glad my GPS behaved because the police officers directing traffic were absolutely no help, telling me to just follow the 18 wheelers. Judging by the number of them who missed the turns and had to back up, I’d say even the truckers were a little discombobulated by the detour. Anyway, it was on nice roads and didn’t really add that much more to my day.

By the time I reached I-29, I only had a quarter tank of gas left, so I stopped to fuel up and decided that there really wasn’t any good place to park, so I delayed lunch again. What is wrong with me?

It was 3:00 p.m. by the time I got to a rest area and was finally able to have lunch! It was dang time for it, I was getting a little shaky. I had a good break and then set off, with just over 300KM still left to go.

It was to that point a really good driving day; just enough cloud cover not to blind me and, best of all, almost no wind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, of course, I was heading into those prairie landscapes I love so much. I had really earned an easy day, especially since I was covering so much ground.

And then, an hour and a half out, BOOM.

I glanced in my mirrors and saw no evidence of the blowout. I wasn’t even sure I’d had a blowout, but the noise and rig shaking spoke to the contrary. I happened to pass a ‘rest area 2 miles’ sign, so I slowed down, put on the four-way flashers, and headed there to check out the damage rather than pull over onto the shoulder. There was a slightly smaller BOOM as I rolled in.

A walk around the rig puzzled me. Everything looked copacetic. All 10 tires were good, there was no scorched scent. I went in the house and, again, everything looked and smelled good. But I obviously couldn’t go anywhere until I knew what had happened. That noise had been LOUD and really shook the rig.

I did an interior walk through. Soon as I got into the cat area I knew what had happened and I had to burst out laughing even as I scolded myself for being such an idiot.

Here’s an RV travel tip for you fine folks: don’t forget to put your stove top cover back on the stove, especially if it is a large heavy wooden one. If you do forget, it is very likely that it will slide off the counter, bounce off the cat box and gain enough velocity to hit the ground on its edge sufficiently hard to sound like the coming of the apocalypse and then fall flat with a noise that portents that the end of the world has indeed arrived.

My nerves were shot after this. Thank goodness it happened at the end of the day! 🙂

It was really strange to see snow in the shadows along the interstate as I approached the North Dakota border. The forecasts ahead are definitely of the snow melting variety, but I think I need to give it a few days. I paid for two nights at the casino, but will likely stay a third.

I was really excited when I saw the Dakota Magic ball on a post about a mile out as I was really tired. I had no trouble getting settled into the RV park even though it is much more full than the last time I was here. I went to the hotel to check in and got the same unwelcoming clerk as I did last year. You’re in the wrong business, dear.

It’s a beautiful evening here in Hankinson. I have the front door open for the first time since Wichita!

Off to make dinner before I pass out. It’s been one of those grumbly tummy days. 🙂