Flood zone!

CAMPGROUND: Spot RV Park. Full hook-ups. Run down. About 20 sites. Horrible bathrooms. Cable. $25/night. 1 star out of 5.
LOCATION: DeSmet, South Dakota, in north central part of state
WEATHER: Cloudy, some rain. High 62. REALLY windy

The farm at the Harvest Host winery was lovely in the morning. It was so peaceful. Since we had electricity there, I poached an egg in the microwave and made toast.

KARMEN’S KITCHEN TIP: As I have said before, we can only carry a limited amount of cookware and utensils. George picked this microwave egg poacher up at a garage sale for 25 cents years ago. I never used it when we lived in a house, but it has come in very handy while traveling.

You just put a tiny bit of butter in the bottom, crack the egg into it, and poke the yolk. Microwave 30-45 seconds. We like it soft over a piece of toast. The best part is the easy clean-up.

After breakfast, we packed up and headed south. We drove on the interstate from Fargo south. We have never been on an interstate with so few services – hundred+ miles between gas stations and food options. We crossed over the North Dakota/South Dakota line, and finally found a rest stop with (bathrooms!) and travel information. The wind was really gusty, with a strong cross-wind from the west, buffeting the trailer quite a bit.

We decided to head to DeSmet, home of Laura Ingalls Wilder of “Home on the Prairie” fame. The brochure said the town has a nice municipal campground.

On our way, we stopped at a Hy-Vee and stocked up the pantry and refrigerator. It was pretty empty due to our Canada trip.

In DeSmet, we found the municipal park, but no evidence of camping opportunities. The brochure must have been outdated. I saw a sign for a state park not far away, so we headed there. The first worrisome sign said “Water on Road”.

The wind was so strong that it had blown water across the road between two lakes. We kept on going, passing a commercial campground whose road was completely under water.

There was no one at the state park entrance, just instructions on self-registration. We decided to check out the sites before paying. We drove about a mile into the park, until we saw that the road was mostly under water. We didn’t want to risk it, and it looked miserable beyond.

There was no place to turn around, so George had to back up the whole way (with the trailer attached). He did a good job, but it was tricky.

We were relieved to get back to the highway. I pulled out the DeSmet brochure and read that the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead had camping. So, we started driving there on a 2-mile bumpy gravel road. We were following a pick-up truck that obviously started having problems with the very bumpy road, so we decided to turn around. What to do? By this time, it was getting late, so we resigned ourselves to staying at this place which we had passed earlier with the comment “That is a pretty dumpy place”. Oh well.

We have cable TV, so happily found some PBS to catch up with news.

DINNER: George grilled some hamburgers – patties with garlic, mushrooms, and cheese. Sides were stir-fried vegetables with some nice asparagus, and salad which included some of the greens we picked up at the Harvest Host winery.