Florida to.... SD and back, kinda..

Afternoon all,

I have been planning a road trip since March and everything just changed, shocker right?

I am leaving tomorrow for Birmingham for two weeks and then heading out from there. Looking for any advice, meet up opportunities or just to share the experience as I go. Here is a rough idea of the plan, but will change as I get closer and secure places the pup can stay.

Here is the rough plan, modified to remove Idaho, Zion and Montana (really hoping to get them back on schedule).

PS: I have been to all of these states or locations before. Just taking a break from reality and knocking out a dream drive.



Home is still very undecided, but here is the rough idea:



My primary passenger:



After Alabama, our main sleeping plan:



Solved for coffee, power, showers and stretching places. Still looking for comfort and security outside of the obvious safety choices.

 

Nicks hamburger shop in Brookings SD is a must stop for me. Enjoy your trip!

 

Added if I take that route. I spend most of my time west river there.

and thank you. Anxious since I am scrambling, but excited overall. Camera gear is packed, so Im basically ready lol

 

Loaded and ready to go. Forgot how much more crap dog kits take up. I knew I should have bought a trailer lol!

 

Made it to Alabama

 

Following. This looks fun.

 

To be honest if you want scenery..I 80 thru Iowa and Nebraska sucks. No offense as I live in one and have and liked the other. I would suggest going thru Northeast IA up along the Mississippi River. Nive area and way better looking, could continue up thru northern IA or up the river and across I90.

MN IA and NE all have pretty through speed enforcement, at least from troopers. Locals not so much, most places. NW IA has the Okoboji area which is nice in the summer. Sioux Falls has a lot to offer. And if you hit Martinsburg NE, stop at Bob's Bar for a burger.

 

Enjoy the trip! I hope you make many memories.

 

I'll take a look for the return trip to see what that does to the plan. Unfortunately, that path wasn't chosen on scenery, obviously

I'm heading to meet a friend in the Kenosha area. We are going to try to go to a Badgers game but definitely are planning on going to a Hawks game so I can experience the "first quarter wave" in person. These cities drove the route where it did.

But I'll take a look since I know that path well and it is boring as mentioned! Great call outs. Sounds like I need to try this burger place lol.

 

Thank you! That's my hope too and I'm just bummed I had to cut the big ones out of my trip. I'm really looking forward to getting West again and seeing it through this experience versus my typical trips.

 

When you come thru the Chicago area, LMK. I'm about 40 miles south if you a stop for a drink.

 

You will want to go thru the entire black hills of South Dakota. They are so beautiful & the rock formations change. Lots of university geology programs spend the summer in the black hills due to all the different geological features. Hot springs has a lot of red sand stone but - be forewarned: the entire downtown area is torn up to install new water & sewer lines. Up north in spearfish, the rock formations are lime stone & a drive thru spearfish canyon is a must! There’s plenty of fishing lakes & streams, hiking trails, golf courses to play on, & caves to see in the black hills. You can camp in the national forest. You just can’t have a camp fire.

 

Everyone going through SD needs to at the very least drive the loop through the Badlands. Much like the Grand Canyon, pictures aren't even close to the same.

 

With a wirehair in South Dakota, id be hunting sharptails if you’re still there in mid september.

 

SD has some great spots. If you can swing it I would do southern Utah areas. Hard to beat.

 

Y'all are so right!

Quick back story, I spend 10-21 days a year in the black hills, specifically sheps canyon area every year.

This year we are going to the badlands, which I have only done once. Also, I'm taking the new gal out up through Custer/wind cave/needle highway. But I have been there a dozen times and always love it.

We won't be anywhere near East River until I go to leave.

And one the docket, is an upland hunt if I stick around long enough. Fingers crossed as the gear is packed, so we will see.

Mom lives in Hot Springs so I'm actually basing all for this around driving out to her place to help her with some projects.

 

And that meat market in Sioux Falls, supposedly they serve some good food there?

 

Are you talking about the South Dakota Butcher?

If so I always stock up there and had a great lunch there back in March.

 

It's been a long time since I played in Utah. I really want to go to Zion again, but time will tell.

 

Safe travels Logan.

 

The news about downtown Hot Springs being a total shit show is accurate. Plan to avoid S. Chicago street and N. River Avenue when you get here, you can avoid most of it by using University Ave to use 27th to Minnekata to spit you out on N. River outside the current construction area. If you plan to spend time downtown go park your truck down by the American Legion / Centennial Park and walk.

They’re behind schedule and over budget on their street widening vanity project, pretty sure everyone in town is now pretty well over it.

Going to be hot here this week, so plan accordingly.

Drive safely.

 

Understatement of the day for sure! My mom lives walking distance to that mess and we frequent a few of the spots down there so I'll be all up in it for sure. They are building slower than some Florida construction for sure.

Thankfully I won't be there until early Sept. So hoping it cools a bit, but if not, I packed accordingly lol.

Great call out though, that mess is bad for traffic, business and safety.

Remember when we could park on the side of the road before the "falls?"

 

Yeah I’ve been here since 2007, there have been some changes for sure. Some good (we now have an outstanding shooting range), some not so good.

You’ll be shocked at how green everything still is right now. Been a very strange summer, cooler than normal and regular precipitation until this month.

 

That's awesome! My family moved there a while back, I can't remember when exactly but I have been going to see them for around 6 years. When I was there in March, the green was the first thing I noticed since I usually see the brown side of things.

Momma is always all over town and I end up meeting a lot of people through her due to the merc, hot spring spa thing, Mina.... Something coffee and now that food truck lol.

Sitting here in Alabama has me excited to be back up there!

Current view for work:

 

That appears to be a very large warehouse?

 

FYI: for everyone planning on going to the Black Hills in SD next summer, be advised Hwy 385 that runs the entire length from north to south is set to be torn up in the spring summer & fall of 2024.

 

We only have two recognized seasons in the Black Hills: winter, and road construction.

 

I do not know why I laughed so hard at this, but I did.

That said, I am good with it. Ready to be there!

 

Took little man on a quick run for some supplies and to the post office. We worked on his "stay" a bit in the parking lot and I was able to grab this picture on try number.... 11 I think. I am really ready to get out of this town and back on the road, but work does this strange thing where it pays bills.... so here I stay for another week. Oh, silly brag moment.... I am a project manager for a technology company that does cool warehouse stuff. This week I am giving my trainers some time off and covering for them. The day I sent the trainer and mech home, the parts came in for the system and I changed out some cabling... doesnt sound like much, but it was my first time working on a multimillion dollar piece of equipment in the civi world. Damn I was dripping sweat until I hit the auto button and she started to purr.

 

Truck is loaded back up. Dog is at daycare and I am trying to knock out this work. Also, added 18 cases of Hard AF seltzer to the truck for drop off in TX. Heading to Gonzales tonight for what should be my last night in a hotel for the trip. Current mapped plan:
1. Get this beer loaded into my crane system so I can leave.
2. Get the pup and head to Gonzales, LA tonight.
3. DFW Sun/Mon and maybe Tues.
4. Palo Duro Wed/Thursday.
5. Denver area Fri.
6. Hot Springs, SD before my mom heads to work on Saturday.

From there it will be helping her around the house and setting everything up for our yearly shin dig. I should have the drone charged before the lady friend arrives and then the exploring starts. Trying to wear these highway tires out so I can justify my new wheels and tires when I get home.