First Jedediah Smith Trail 1822 — 1824

Day 37: September 21st, 2009 Mitchell — Davenport

Map Mitchell to Davenport

Around one in the morning I have put in my ear plugs, because I woke up again and again. And even though I have already killed two flies yesterday evening, there must still be another one flying around. At least, I have heard something when I was half asleep. But I probably woke up because something was knocking dull. I have no idea what it is. But with my ear plugs, it is getting a bit better.

Just before eight I finally wake up and get myself ready. First, I get angry about this shower in my room. I must realize, that warm and cold are mixed up. This is not easy to figure out, because the water is just trickling out of the shower head and I don’t know, if the line would not warm up because of this. So, taking a shower takes me way longer than usual.

Then I collect my stuff together and walk outside. Right now it is starting to dribble and it has really cooled down. I walk over to the office, but it is still closed. Therefore, I immediately walk on over to APA. There, the owner immediately takes care of my problem. This doesn’t take long. This is something I can wait for. So, my breakfast must still wait.

He tells me, that he would have even been able to help me on Sunday. But the cops around here are totally crazy. If someone is working here on a Sunday, he must be involved in drugs. His wife says that they are all looking too much Law & Order. They are just bored. That’s why they are always checking on him.

It seems like there is only the bearing broken, but the lever is okay. He first orders the parts and driving belt and checks, if everything else looks fine. When the parts arrive, he immediately installs them and starts the engine. Everything is running and it looks good!

I ask him about taking pictures and he likes the idea of being on my web page. I still have my stuff in the motel room. Therefore I promise, that I will be back approximately within one hour. Then I drive back to my motel and put my stuff into the car, while the rain has started pouring in the meantime. Also my car was fixed outside in the pouring rain. I am pretty much soaked through.

Because the office was closed before, I leave the room key in my room. But I still make a stop at the office. This time, I don’t shut off the engine, when I walk in. Now I see some lights. The owner is there and she says, it is fine to leave the keys in my room. I say good–bye and she wishes me well.

I drive on to the Country Kitchen, because I don’t have much time to search around. Additionally, it is almost half past ten. There I will probably get no breakfast anymore when picking a small restaurant. The breakfast here is okay. What I really appreciate is, that you receive a full can of coffee at your table. But what I really notice around here is, that there is no one running around with a happy face. Everyone looks pretty annoyed. Somehow, this is a really weird city.

Greg, All Points Automotive, Mitchell, SD

Greg, All Points Automotive, Mitchell, SD

Then I drive back and stop to gas up. At APA I take some pictures of Greg. Hopefully, they will work out. For some reason, he looks really mean, even when he is a real nice guy!

Then I am ready to roll. It is still raining and during the whole drive I have rain with some pause in between. In the morning, the temperature is just around 50 degrees.

I–90, SD

I–90, SD

I–90, SD

I–90, SD

I–90, SD

I–29, SD

At Sioux Falls, I turn onto I–29 South.

I–29, SD

I–29, IA

The temperature is not getting better before I reach Sioux City. It seems, that I have left behind the cold weather here, because the temperatures suddenly rise to 70 degrees.

I–29, IA

I–680, IA

I–680, IA

I–80, IA

I–80, IA

Because I am driving on I–29 from the north, I am not forced to drive through Omaha this time, but I can directly shortcut to I–80 north of it.

At Avoce, I gas up in the pouring rain. Of all things, my pump is exactly standing in direction of the wind and it blows the rain directly in. And obviously, my pump is running extremely slow. So I get back in my car and try to get the bloody flies out. It works with one. But the other one resists persistently.

I also use this stopover for a walk to the restroom. Because I am already soaked through, these couple of yards going to the restroom does not really hurt anymore. When I get out, the rain just has paused again. Great, why not when I was gassing up?!

I–80, IA

I–80, 88 S10 Blazer 150000 Miles, IA

I–80, IA

I–80, IA

I–80, IA

At Des Moines I run into a huge traffic jam because of a small road construction. Now it is getting really warm. This is something I would have needed before at the gas station.

On I–80 I reach my destination of today, the Motel 6 in Davenport. There, they train a new employee and so, checking in takes an eternity. Eventually, I receive my room, exceptionally it is a room to the rear and downstairs. And when I drive over to my room, there is almost no car parked. Maybe I am even lucky to have a parking spot after I get back from dinner.

I quickly check where I could go for dinner and discover a Lone Star and a Texas Roadhouse. The latter is a bit further away, but this is the one I choose. Quickly, I enter the coordinates in my GPS and hit the road. Having it programmed, I find it really quick. But unfortunately, they have already closed at eight. Great, and what now?!

I know approximately, where the Lone Star should be located. But even when searching around for a while, I am not able to find it. Finally, I take the 61 Bar & Grill. But past nine, they only have appetizers and no dinner anymore. Great, what kind of annoying city is this?!

Additionally, the roads around here are so confusing, that it is hard to remember anything. And for the first time I see traffic lights with cameras and stationary radar systems for speed control! They take pictures from behind. So I have no chance to be missed. Hopefully, I was not going too fast accidentally when searching around all the time…

At the 61 Bar & Grill I ask some girls, who just arrived, where the Lone Star is. But they also don’t know exactly where it is located. But one of them says, that it is closed. If I think about this, the 61 could be the former Lone Star. The distance would be correct and also the layout of the interior would fit. But they also give me another hint for dinner.

But when I pass the Village Inn at my motel, I give up on this. It is already half past nine and I must find a restaurant now, before they are all closed. Additionally, there is a lot to do back in my room. Therefore I have a chicken there, which is not too bad.

Around half past ten I pay and drive the couple of yards back to my motel. There I immediately have again a run. After this, I do my bookkeeping, put in the Blake Shelton CD and write my diary. Finally, I download my pictures and adjust my trip for tomorrow. Around half past twelve I am ready to go to bed, another attempt to sleep without ear plugs…

The next day is in preparation…