We are still trying to get to the Sturgis area of South Dakota. Usually we search for a small diner not far from the hotel we’re in then drive there to enjoy it. Today I just wasn’t ready to do the necessary research so we ate the typical hotel breakfast. Mrs. Henry tried the french toast sticks which somehow were so tough they couldn’t be cut up even using the deluxe plastic knives that were provided. I had the cheese omelette which was made sometime in the distant past and warmed this morning in the microwave oven. Maybe we should go back to the typical daily start.

We loaded up the truck and headed out sometime around 9:00 AM. I’m pretty sure my Duramax diesel is getting low on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) so we went in search of someplace that might be able to sell me some. We also were in need of some non-essential items that should be readily available. I’ve been in Newton, Iowa before and know that across from Iowa Speedway is a nice Love’s truck stop. Unfortunately, I decided to forgo all of the mis-behaving electronics from yesterday and get to the Love’s from memory. That decision didn’t turn out so good. After not being able to find the speedway (race track), I surrendered and turned on Google Maps. Good decision to do that but we had already driving about 15 miles out of the way. That meant another 15 miles to get us back on the right course. I just wasn’t in the mood but at least the Maps app was able to rescue us. I might still be driving around central Iowa otherwise.

The rest of the day was spent driving the 300 miles to out next hotel in Yankton, South Dakota. We managed to stumble on a Walmart and decided to pull in to get the DEF that I mentioned earlier. What is a trip without at least one stop at a Walmart? I may never know the answer to that question.

You know I’m desperate if I’m taking pictures a Walmart that looks just like every other store in the universe. We did score some DEF and additional bottles of water. Our list of things we needed just got shorter.

We were only about 50 miles from Yankton. We were on US-50 and were getting close to our hotel. I obviously drank too much coffee and needed a restroom painfully badly. I hope no one got embarrassed by my emergency stop on an off-ramp near the rest area.

I missed the driveway entrance to our hotel and drove about 6 blocks past it. There was a Walmart and a Menards. I did think about going in but decided against it.

The weather reports kept saying severe storms were forecast for the area we were in. I did the right thing and ignored them all to keep driving. The hotel was in sight and fortunately the parking lot was big enough to accommodate my parking space behemoth. I did ask the desk clerk about parking this thing on the lot. I was told they weren’t going to be busy and where I parked it should be fine. Yahoo.

Here is the truck taking up about half of the back row of the parking lot. Thank you Yankton Holiday Inn Express.

We hadn’t eaten since the magnificent hotel breakfast this morning. We did some research and found a “sports bar” about 2 blocks away. The temperature is slightly lower (86 degrees) but it was still too hot to walk. I surrendered the massive parking spot to drive to dinner. It turned out we thoroughly enjoyed RB’s Pub (not to be confused with Arby’s). I was able to reclaim the same parking spot on out return to the hotel.

Speaking of the hotel, they had “Happy Hour” in the area normally reserved for breakfast. Their version of happy hour consisted of Michelob Ultra and a couple of different wines. They also served up some party mix and the attendant seemed unhappy when I said we just came back from dinner and didn’t need any party mix. The beer was cold.

The huge crowd enjoying Happy Hour at the Holiday Inn Express breakfast area.

The storm warnings are still in effect but the radar looks clear in this area. I thought I heard some thunder but it turned out it was just the kids upstairs having fun.

Thank you for following along on our truckspedition. I am back on speaking terms with most of the electronic devices.