Day Three- Start with a fire alarm, end with a party- HOTELS!

OK- this is exactly why I bought a CAMPER.  Hotels are as bad as hospitals for restful nights.
First night, false fire alarm.  Second night, let's party at 2 am... AND get up at 7 am.   Is there nothing else to do in Yankton, South Dakota?  retorical question... I don't really want to know.

And for those who are following with bated breath- I DID write a post for day two.... I just didn't post it. SO today is BOGO. And you don't have to buy anything...

Highlights or What You've All Been Waiting For!

• Smart phones are fun. You can record messages to yourself.     So when you can't find a pen as you are driving down the road, you are forced to figure out Voice Memo function.                                 Ahh.... it is easy, Drew. 
• Heated lumbar support is God's gift to long distance drivers.
• The Midwest in soft afternoon light is lovely. So is Detroit or  Death Valley.  The Midwest in drizzle is boring. The Midwest is windy. Trucks driving into a head wind eat gas. And sway.

• When you go to a rest stop in a RV- even a relatively small truck camper RV, you get to park in giant trucker parking spaces.  My new goal is to never back up.

Clyde, the wonder Truck, is big.  Clyde is strong. Clyde is not afraid of UPS trucks. 

  Clyde does NOT want to meet this UPS truck on a back country road. 

• When you stop at icky Cracker Barrel for a book on "tape", you sometimes get an unexpected gift. My gift was the knowledge that my fabulous "I can escape out my over-the-cab queen size bed and lay on my roof"  escape hatch broke and was flapping in the considerable Midwest wind.  But even in the light rain, nothing inside was wet yet.  OK... my first repair. 

• Travel Plazas for truck drivers have really nice mechanics and they have all sorts of gizmos. They do not have gizmos to repair crank handles for RV escape hatches. 
• When you climb inside your neatly organized camper, do NOT take the keys to the far end of said camper with you. Do NOT do it three times. You cannot lose your keys inside your own camper. They are merely misplaced. Breathe.
• Clogs fall off easily and are best left inside the camper. 
• When you climb through the broken escape hatch onto the roof, do it under the fuel area overhang. Yes, it is a wind tunnel but it does keep the rain off.  Do not forget to take a towel to dry off the roof.  
• When you duct tape down the escape hatch from the OUTSIDE of the RV, you are then on the OUTSIDE of your RV.... on the roof. To get back to the ground, you must crawl the length of the camper and climb down the rear ladder.  Without shoes. Breathe. Remember your towel.    
• Wind can blow duct tape all the way across a parking lot. Duct tape is your friend. The wind is not.

• After you spend an hour climbing on the roof of your RV and you jam a hat on your head because it's 40 degrees and raining, your hair looks bad, really bad.  Shopping, even at outlets, is less fun when you look like a homeless person with bad hat hair.            Ahh... vanity, thy name is woman.   Shopping at outlets is a good stretch break and spring is a good time to buy sweaters.      Ahh.... vindication. 

• Listening to a book is a great way to spend a rainy day in Illinois or Iowa or South Dakota. Or in all three states - especially in Clyde, the wonder truck.
• Cracker Barrel has lousy choices for discrimating listeners. But they do have Anne Lamott. Anne Lamott is a great writer. Imperfect Birds will break your heart.  And make you want to parent all over again and never make a mistake. 
• There is no Cracker Barrel in Yankton, South Dakota. Or anywhere between Souix Falls, SD and Cheyenne, Wyoming.  We're not in Virginia any more, Clyde. 

Time to hit the road. So much for a crack of dawn departure. A little unrealistic since I rolled in at midnight or was it 1am?  Your body needs an automatic reset when it crosses time lines.  I need more coffee. 

 I will sleep in TOMORROW... in my snug cabin.  

Will I have heat? Will I have water? Will I wake to snow? 

 Stayed tuned....