We are in Sioux Falls, SD and accomplished one of our goals. We have had three goals since the end of our RV caravan trip. One was to head north and visit family and friends roughly in a path back to MN. That goal is now checked off. Our second goal was to establish residency in South Dakota.

And today was the day. Here is Shannon standing by part of the falls on the Big Sioux River, where Sioux Falls gets its name, admiring her new SD driver's license and reflecting on the fact that SD has now registered two liberals to help soften the state's harsh red color on election maps. Yes, we obtained our drivers' licenses and registered to vote and finalized our vehicle registrations. A fine day indeed. We worried about getting our drivers' licenses after being coached by our mail service owner as to the correct way to fill out the applications. We kept visualizing that we would be stuck in an episode much like Seinfeld's Soup Nazi. The driver license Nazi would say sternly to us as we answered a question incorrectly, NO LICENSE FOR YOU!" But all went smoothly. They took our $20 and gave us a license. Goal number 2, checked off. We did celebrate afterward by going out to  a local restaurant. We knew we were back in the Mid West when the most exotic thing we could find on the menu was buffalo burgers. Ah, how we miss the chance to have shrimp and grits or she crab soup.

We arrived in Sioux Falls on Thursday, a day or two later than we had previously planned. We spent a longer time hunkered down in Iowa. I know. I know. You feel sorry for our suffering. Thank you very much. But, it was penance for having such a lavish time in FL. We delayed moving north because it was snowing in SD & MN, and we did not want to return to SD or MN during a snowstorm. So we laid low for a couple of days, spent the time shopping in West Des Moines, and watched reruns of the Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newhart shows. Woowee! We left for Sioux Falls on Thursday, and as we traveled north the patches of snow became more common and the distance between Wall Drug billboards shrunk. We knew we were getting closer to our destination. Unfortunately there was snow in the campground, and I had to slush through it as we set up. Sioux Falls also had lots of tree damage from a severe ice storm a couple weeks back, and the city and campground are still a mess. After our experiences this year, it'll be July next year before we try to venture north.

 Some things I missed sharing as we traveled:

A visit to the Angel Tree with my niece, April.

A couple of visits to Gettysburg Battlefield as we hunted down the Minnesota monuments and watched the sun go down over the area where Pickett's charge happened reflecting on the senseless slaughter that occurred that day.

A tour of the Eisenhower farm and getting reacquainted with him and his presidency.

A visit to the site of the old Bethlehem Steel Company which now has been partially turned into an entertainment venue after the Bethlehem Steel went out of business. I remember as a young boy growing up in Bethlehem seeing from our back yard the firing of the blast furnaces.

And when visiting my cousin in the Syracuse, NY area a visit to historic dry docks used to repair boats on the Erie Canal.

Ah, still so much to see and experience. But all the visiting and experiencing have to soon come to a pause. We head for MN tomorrow and by Tuesday of next week be set up in our first MN state park as a campground host for the month of May. And that was our third goal as we worked our way north: Arrive in time to start our first volunteer gig in MN. Can't wait!