Not Just Cats Have 9 Lives

When we arrived back from Pierre yesterday, the sky was a little cloudy but nothing to be concerned about.  We did our usual.  Sue loaded our pictures onto the tablet, and I wrote the blog.  We enjoyed a ‘cold one’.  Still nothing seemed awry.  There was a light wind out of the southeast.  Then it started to sprinkle.  We moved under the awning.  No big deal.  The wind picked up a bit.  We were not concerned…the awning was secured with 10-inch pegs.  It started to rain harder and the wind began to increase, enough that we folded up the chairs and tucked them under the front of the trailer and we moved inside…still not overly concerned.  We poured another ‘cold one’.  Then all ‘hell’ broke lose.  The wind was now in the Northwest.  It began to rain sideways.  The wind (as we found out later) was a sustained 60 mph with gusts recorded up to 80.  It was hitting the sides of the poor ‘little trailer’ dead on.  It was rocking.  Now most smart people would have bailed into the safety of their vehicle…but we are not that bright.  We rode it out.  The trailer did a partial spin despite the wheels being blocked.  I do not scare easily but when that happened, I truly wondered if we could go over.  The side of the trailer was being pummeled by the rain and the wind.  Now remember a tent trailer is only held up by 4 small corner posts.  I decided that we should stand and lean against the corners to help stabilize the trailer.  The rain by now had found its way through the wall of the trailer.  We are getting wet and so was some of our stuff.  I looked down at the floor and a stream of water was running across it.  All I kept thinking is the posts will twist and we will be unable to take the bloody thing down.  This went on for 10 to 15 minutes at least.  It seemed a lot longer.  Gradually the storm subsided.  The wind probably dropped to 25 to 30 mph.  The rain let up.  We were able to go outside and wade through the water to assess the damage.  Other than some of the Velcro attachments letting go, everything seemed intact.  We knew the real test would be in the morning when the trailer was taken down.  We mopped up as much water as possible knowing that only sunshine and time would dry things out.  This morning the trailer went down okay after a few minor adjustments.  2 lives down, 7 more to go!!!

Today we had another great drive through Southeastern South Dakota.  We began to realize just how much rain had fallen in that 10 to 15 minutes (or whatever it was).  Creeks were over their banks.  Farm fields were under water.  The James River was over its banks.  3 highways cross it.  We happened to be on the only one that was not closed due to the flooding.  This is just one more hit that the farmers in this area have had this year.  As we drove, we saw thousands and thousands of unplanted fields.  It must have been too wet to get crops in, and now this.

We are in Sioux Falls KOA and will be for 2 nights.  We look like derelicts as we try to dry all the stuff from the trailer.  We are tucked nicely between 4 big rigs.

Distance Traveled = 341 km.  Wildlife Sightings = Meadowlark, Turkeys, Great-blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Kestrel, Coots, Pied-billed Grebe, Western Grebe, Red-winged Blackbird, Grackle, White-faced Ibis, Barn Swallow.

Highway 44 crossing he James River

The landscape early today along the Missouri River

2 km bridge (Hwy 44) across the Missouri

The Missouri was swollen and probably only going to get worse...The James dumps into it!

A local threshing demonstration/plowing match outside Sioux Falls