Ho Ho Ho! Green Giant!

Charles City, IA was an easy pick up and departure since we had not unhooked the jeep and put nothing outside since it had been raining.

Today was primarily a travel day. We have not made reservations at any RV parks so that we can just take the day as it comes and stop when we are ready.



Kyle had some legal files he was reviewing for a lawyer back in Dekalb so he set up shop at the table. Trevor browsed the various Black Hills books and magazines for potential stops. Ditka and Sox were relegated to their ‘pup tents’ back on our bed.

Ken and his co-pilot, Homer, did a fine job of fighting the wind of 30+mph gusts to keep us making steady progress.

Our mid-day stop for the day was at Blue Earth, Mn, the home of the world’s largest Jolly Green Giant.

There was a truck stop a few blocks from the statue with a Country Kitchen next door so we were able to make it a very productive stop, getting fuel, taking the dogs for the walk to the statue with us and having lunch at Country Kitchen. We have been running about 9 mpg and roughly $4.40 per gallon in price.

For those considering this trip via RV we did see that the fairgrounds directly behind the statue 48 hours free parking. With restaurants in walking distance along with a Wal-Mart and the statue it would make for a comfortable and FREE overnight stop for anyone traveling I-90.

For us, though, it was only mid-day and so we continued west on I-90.

We still had a KOA certificate for one free night’s camping1 and so we pinpointed the Mitchell, SD KOA as our stop for the night. This turned out to be another good choice with clean showers and friendly owner.

Since we once again were setting up in light rain, we didn’t get much of anything out

. Instead we unhooked the jeep and headed in to the Cabella’s Store in Mitchell.

We spent a lot of time in the store since Trevor found a sales person who talked bow-hunting with him for a long time and Ken and I were able to get a ‘live’ look at a handgun we’ve been considering called ‘the Judge’.

Even if you aren’t in the market for hunting, fishing or camping gear, this is a great place to see.

Ken asked the lady at checkout for a recommendation on someplace to eat since it was getting late, we were all tired and didn’t feel much like going back to Baby to start cooking.

The Depot definitely has great steaks, lots of beer choices, and a really good French onion soup. However, it was a bit pricier than was our intent. It’s becoming pretty apparent that we can expect to drop at least a $100 bill every time we do dinner out.

We drove by the Corn Palace to see it lit up at night and then headed back to Baby to rest tired bodies after the long travel day.

Tomorrow will be a full day traveling South Dakota.

Hugs, C