From Newton Hills State Park, SD

In case you’ve been following our journey in your road atlas, here’s the route we took today:  We drove east from Jamestown, ND to Fargo, ND.  Then we turned due south and made a stop at Home Depot in Sioux Falls, SD.  From there we continued south for a few more miles and took the exit east to Canton, which on my map appears to be right on the border with Iowa.  Then we turned south a little way further to Newton Hills State Park.  Technically I suppose I could have put Canton, SD in the subject heading, but we’re actually not that close to Canton.  So now that you know where we are, here is today’s story:

There weren’t many pictures to take in the part of North Dakota we covered today.  Here’s how flat it is:

You can see for miles!

You can see for miles!

The only thing of interest I saw near the end of our journey through North Dakota was this pile of sugar beets:

Now I know what those piles beyond the corn are.

Now I know what those piles beyond the corn are.

As soon as we crossed into South Dakota, we stopped at a rest stop to give Mark’s back and my legs a stretch:

Reading the tourist information at the rest stop.

Reading the tourist information at the rest stop.

Man, I wish we had had more time!  At the exit for Brookings I saw a sign pointing toward the Ingalls homestead (as in Laura Ingalls Wilder, famous children’s author).  I would love to have gone to see that!

Exit 133 De Smet - Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Exit 133
De Smet – Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder

The reason we stopped at Home Depot in Sioux Falls is because there is a specific tool listed as the most important tool for Mark to have for the RV Tech course he is registered to take in Texas.  He looked for it in every hardware store and electronics store he could find in Glendive, but they didn’t have it.  He found it in Sioux Falls.  I think he’s pretty well set for the class now.

We turned off I-29 at the Canton exit.  It was nineteen miles to Canton from I-29.  Then our GPS told us to turn south on SD11 for nine miles.  Then it had us turn east on 482nd St for another nine miles.  When I chose this state park for tonight, I had no idea it was so far off the beaten path.  My Good Sam book said that last year’s rates were $19.  I went in to pay and the kid at the desk said it would be $20.  That’s to be expected.  But then he said we also had to pay the $6 park entrance fee and that the only hookup was electricity.

I said, “You’re charging $26 for electricity only?  Last night we stayed in an RV park for $25 and had full hook ups!”  He shrugged.

Mark was already a little ticked with me about having to drive so far off the highway to find camping, but when he found out that we only had electricity and we had to back into our site, he was fit to be tied.  In order to get into the back in space, he had to offload the car, unhook the tow dolly, push the tow dolly into our space, and then back the RV in.  I followed with the car.  By the time he had the electric hooked up, he sat outside and had a lemonade on ice to cool off.  I took pictures of the park and our site.  It’s a pretty place and very quiet, but it’s too expensive for what it has to offer.

Newton Hills State Park - campground

Newton Hills State Park – campground

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