First Jedediah Smith Trail 1822 — 1824

Day 12: August 27th, 2009 Sioux City — Chamberlain

Map Sioux City to Chamberlain

Around seven in the morning I wake up. My ear plugs have done a good job. And this time they have not put pressure on my ears. I jump under the shower. Then I try to get my bud moving. All in all, I don’t want to show up too late at the mechanic.

However, I still drive over to the IHOP in Sioux City for a relaxed breakfast. There Jean, a real nice grandma, suggests to take the Pancake Combo with bacon, eggs and hashbrowns. Additionally, you can order pancakes with nuts. This sounds interesting and so I order this combo. The coffee is also ready with a whole coffeepot, which is perfect!

And the food size, which arrives at my table, is absolutely giant! I definitely have a hard time to eat all of it!

I–29, Missouri River, Sioux City, IA

Not before ten I am finally back on the road.

Now I am driving back to Sergeant Bluff. There I take a wrong turn first. But I roughly see where I should have went. The lady at the reception said something about a car wash place. I should have been driven over the railroads. Finally I arrive at Pioneer Collisions. The Collisions is surprising me, but okay. I walk into the office and they tell me that Pioneer Auto was here before. But now they have moved to a new building down the road.

So I drive back. But I am not able to proceed very far. The road is closed due to a road construction. So I must drive all the way back and the road I took erroneously before was indeed the correct one. But now I am not able to make a left turn. Therefore I must turn right and then turn around. I am really wondering if I will arrive there today!

Unfortunately, I am not able to see their sign. Therefore I just drive straight on and then I see it. This is a nice new building and it makes a good impression. I walk into the office and ask if they could help me. They think for quite a while if they are able to make it. But finally they take me in.

Immediately, they drive my car in the workshop. I am totally surprised. Without any hesitating they immediately start working on my car! This is definitely a place to remember!

I tell something about my traveling and ask, if I could get some stuff out of my car. That’s not a problem at all. I go over to my car and have a brief chat with the mechanics. They are really amazed about all my modifications. I ask them, if I would be allowed to video tape them and take pictures for my web pages. Also this is not a problem.

Jake, Pioneer Auto, Sergeant Bluff, IA

The mechanic Jake is really nice. And Jamie is immediately taking care of ordering my parts. But first, Jake takes a look at my blower. He checks a couple of things. But somehow, my relay bank is in his way. I tell him, that he can unscrew it easily which he happily does.

After some measurements and checking things he tells me the news that it is again the blower motor! This is something I can hardly believe! It’s not too long ago (probably maybe around 3 years) when I had this one replaced in New Mexico back then. Now, the motor brushes have been sticking, like the starter on a car. He knocks on the motor and it runs again.

However, I let them also replace the blower, because someday soon it will be broken completely. Now it’s time to wait for the spare parts. Jake works on another car in the meantime until my parts will arrive. For now, I walk outside and look for a nice spot for a picture of the workshop. Just across the street looks pretty good. Also the sun fits in nicely.

Pioneer Auto, Sergeant Bluff, IA

I do my movie and take pictures, then I walk back. Inside I take a picture of this absolutely clean workshop where my car is waiting for the parts. Then I get my laptop and write quickly down my diary. In the meantime it is a quarter to twelve. Let’s see when I am able to leave here. All in all I am super happy that they help me out so easily over here. The address 101 Gaul Drive, Sergeant Bluff, IA, is a real recommendation.

The owner Rick Maxfield is currently not in the shop. Let’s see, maybe he will be back later. I quickly get my road maps out of the car and see, that Jamie is already back working on my car. However, he currently is on the phone with Bluetooth on his ear.

88 S10 Blazer, Pioneer Auto, Sergeant Bluff, IA

Jamie, Pioneer Auto, Sergeant Bluff, IA

When I have just finished reworking my tour to Chamberlain for today and think about what I will cut out of my journey, Jamie shows up and says that I am now “Ready to roll”. A bit questioning I look at him and ask, if everything is done including the wiper motor. With a big smile he says “Yes”. You can really see how happy he is that he was able to finish everything this fast. In the meantime, Rick is back. But he doesn’t want to be on the picture. That’s not a problem. So I only have Jamie. Unfortunately, Jamie is currently in his lunch brake. So I have no picture of both of them but only one of each working on the car. I am sure, I will find something nice.

Around half past twelve I am already back on the road. Unbelievable, how fast they have been working. This is a mechanic you very rarely find!

I–29, State Line IA and SD

It is not very far to Chamberlain. Around five in the afternoon I should arrive there. This gives me now enough time to have one of my apples on the road. All in all, I was able to fill up my water can yesterday evening.

Today we have plenty of sunshine. In the morning we had around 70 degrees and now we are approaching 80 degrees. I get my water can out of the truck and realize that it is wet on the bottom. I touch my carpet and there is really standing water on it. Great, it seems the can is leaking again!

But first I have my two apples. Then I take a closer look at it. There is nothing I can see at the can. So I try to get everything dry with some kitchen towels. This really takes a while and while doing this a horrible suspicion comes to my mind. And when I press against the floor panel in direction of the center it feels very soft. On the other side to the frame it feels solid. This looks to me that it is rusted through and the rain water from the road has been soaking in the carpet. Great, is the horror someday stopping?

Anyways, I still try to get most of the water out which keeps me busy for almost an hour. This is something where I will have a closer look back in Pittsburgh and maybe also talk to Jay to be able to plan for next year. But for now I continue driving in direction of Chamberlain.

The traffic is still pretty much and there are a lot of road constructions along I–29 — no wonder when you look at the road and realize in which bad condition it is. Finally I turn onto I–90 in Sioux Falls in western direction.

I–29, Sioux Falls, SD

I–90, SD

I–90, SD

I–90, SD

Now it’s around 120 miles before I reach the Missouri River. Also on this Interstate is one road construction following the other. The absolute record high is a road construction of 22 miles in length! This is something you cannot think of in Germany.

I–90, SD

I–90, SD

I–90, Missouri River, SD

I–90, Missouri River, SD

Already at a quarter to five I arrive in Chamberlain and drive to the local Super 8. This time I even remember and ask for an AAA discount during check–in. Then I have to give her my address that she can store it in her computer. Unfortunately, I have handed my last business card in my wallet over to Jamie. These I must immediately fill up after this.

I ask for a room on second floor to avoid someone is stomping on my head. At the Super 8 you have to go stairs either up or down. Therefore I can also go upstairs. Then I also ask for a dinner recommendation and they suggest Casey’s Cafe first. When she sees that I am not really happy about this suggestion, she adds with steaks. This is definitely more what I want and she recommends going to Charley’s as restaurant for tonight. This I will check out on my laptop afterwards.

I put my stuff into the room and of course have received no room with a river view. Sure you don’t receive one, when you only stay for one night…

First I check if I have Internet access. And eventually, I have Internet connection! Now I must immediately download all the updates while I write my diary. There are no updates available for my DeLorme Software. So they have no new software version.

Then I continue with the Windows updates. Even when they threaten an installation time of one hour for the Service Pack 2, all is already finished within half an hour. And it currently looks like everything is still working. Seems like I have luck again.

Then I write a couple of emails before I leave for the steakhouse Charley’s. The parking lot is already pretty full, which is usually a good sign. There are sitting a lot of locals at the bar. The restaurant is on a simple way a bit fancy with a candle and paper at every table. Also the prices reflect the bit fancy touch, whereas I must admit that price and receivables do not fit. Asking $15 for a 10oz Sirloin is a bit too much.

As Special they have a New York Strip for $15.50. I always wanted to try this kind of steak for a long time. So I order it this time. The steak is really huge. But a lot of it is just fat which you need to cut away. However, I still have enough to eat.

The fancy restaurant type also shows up that you receive a coke by the can. Therefore, there is no free refill. So I have additionally some water. But what really annoys me is the air condition running on maximum power. I was already blessed by the motels where you don’t enter rooms with a temperature of 60 degrees. The energy–consciousness seems to slowly starts to rise. But unfortunately not yet in some restaurants…

Just before nine I pay and another guest is talking to me about my travels. But I don’t have the impression that he is really interested. Therefore I keep the conversation short and walk to my car. Back to my motel I drive through a 20mph speed zone in Chamberlain. There you have the impression you will never make it. But it is similar to our 30km/h speed zone in Germany.

Back in my motel I prepare my coffee for a good digestion. Hopefully, I will be able to fall asleep afterwards. I finish writing my diary. Then I check my video taping and the pictures of today.

The next day is in preparation…