So I’ve been back for over a month but have just had a hard time getting around to sitting back down to write about my epic trip to South Dakota. It was a fantastic time with a lot of great relatives, and driving the 1,692 miles each way was TOTALLY worth it to have my own dogs with me.

The last you heard from me, I was sitting in a Cracker Barrel in Omaha, Nebraska. I had finished driving for the day and was ready to hit the sack for a few hours before finishing the drive up the next day.

Backing up a little bit – traveling with dogs has its own set of challenges. You need to drive all day in order to get to where you’re going, but then if you stop at 9 or 10 at night, if not later – the dogs have been cooped up all day, so if you stop at a hotel and bring them in with you, they’re probably going to go nuts over finally being free – while all you really want to do is go to bed. I don’t really want to keep them in their crates all night either, so it’s a bit of a dilemma.

I hit on a solution a few years ago; I bought small camper which isn’t much more than a full size bed on wheels. It has an AC and a space heater, and along with my inverter generator, it’s actually quite comfy. I’ve learned that Cracker Barrel is quite welcoming to RVer’s camping overnight, so on long trips like these, I drive until I’m tired, then find a Cracker Barrel – and let’s face it, you’re never more than 10-20 miles from one if you’re driving on an interstate – and park for the night. No hassle of checking in, and there’s more time to walk the dogs and let them relax, before I load them into the camper with me to turn in.

Yes, I sleep with all the dogs. I own Vizslas. It’s kind of a thing for us.

So this is my rig.

This is my rig and Superman

Anyway, back to the trip. The night I wrote to you in Omaha ended up being interesting. The previous night, I stayed just outside of Chattanooga; the weather was great and I didn’t even need to run the heater. Omaha – well, that was a different story.

Temps got into the 20’s, so I fired up the generator and got the space heater going. That little camper got nice and cozy with me and the dogs in it.

UNTIL about 3:30 am, when the generator ran out of gas. Apparently that little switch on a generator that makes it power down to a really low rpm when there is no demand makes a huge difference. I was stubborn and stayed under the covers for a while, then decided to pack up and get on the road. By that time, there was ice forming around the door of the camper! Yep, definitely cold. Definitely time to go.

SO – I get on the road and head out. I stop a little while later at some tiny little diner in the middle of God-knows-where in Nebraska for breakfast. I sit down at the bar. The guy next to me strikes up a conversation – and he ends up being from Florida and lived about 30 minutes from me. Crazy world.

As you see from the pics, my dedicated dog wagon is a Sequoia. All of the rear seats have been removed and replaced with crates, but every once in a while, one is allowed to ride in the front seat. Ricky generally got the nod on this trip.

I’m all over the place today – this is what happens when I wait a month to write about the trip.

And I got to the house. First one there!

I unpacked, took the dogs for a run around the field behind the farmhouse, and then came back to ensure I had adequate supplies for the stay.

#priorities

I think I’m gonna stop here for the day. This has been entirely about the trip out, and I want to start fresh when we get talking about the dogs and the actual hunting. It was a great time.

In a future post, I might even talk about this guy. This is my cousin, Joe. He might warrant a post all to himself. He crazy.

Until next time…