With giving up my radio gig, the bulk of what I do each day can now easily be done on my trusty laptop, regardless of where I am. In theory, that sounds incredibly freeing, so I thought I’d put that theory to the acid test and it was off to South Dakota!

OK, some background here. While I’m still working, today’s technology allows you to do almost anything remotely. Now, my wife was heading off to Norway for a school reunion. The one thing I’ve learned over there during my visits is that WIFI isn’t always available or reliable. You toss in the time difference, and it just made sense for her to go alone on her trip, and I would go on an adventure of my own: to see relatives in South Dakota and Minnesota. My last swing through that area was six years ago and I felt it was definitely time for a reconnect.

Originally, I was going to cover the full vacation in one long blog but have decided instead to break it up into daily segments. Logically, we’ll begin with day one.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3rd

The adventure begins. I don’t travel enough to be able to pack and remember absolutely everything so while I had the alarm clock set for 3:45am, I woke up at 1am and started to think about what I might be forgetting. Damn the luck, I thought of something, and then started thinking, “What else am I forgetting?” I thought of another thing. At this point, it was 2:40am, my mind was racing and I figured I should just begin my day.

Since I was up so early, I was able to get my daily Morning Show Prep written for Radio-Online, which is really my big job for each day. The plan was to be up by 3:45am, out the door by 4:15am, at the parking lot I had arranged and then at the airport at 5:15am for a 6:30am flight to Minneapolis!

It was going so well.  Then, while eating breakfast, the TV started acting up, so I had to troubleshoot that before I left. Then when I put in the address of the parking garage I had pre-bought space at, my GPS refused to accept it. So, I had to pull over, call the place, listen to their lengthy directions on how to find them–twice–and then I arrived there, only to have employees so locked into their check-in policy, it took about 20 minutes for the shuttle bus to finally leave.

I was trying out that new Spot Saver thing and it works really well if the rest of the world cooperates, but in this case it didn’t. However, even though I checked in my bag and didn’t arrive to the security lines until 10 minutes after my spot reservation had expired, I was still allowed to go through.

While going through the security line, I could hear a kid having a meltdown on the other side of the wall and I swear, I did my absolute best not to think to myself, “Oh, that kid will be right behind me.” Turns out it was actually 4 rows behind me. You know, noise-canceling headphones work really well, even if you’re not listening to anything.

The jet took off, we encountered a little bit of turbulence over Montana and South Dakota, but overall, it was a nice flight.

I made my way through the Minneapolis terminal and found myself at the car rental counter. The woman was very nice, but then she said, “You know, we can upgrade you to a Ford Escape for just a few dollars more.” I thought, “Well, for just a few dollars. I used to own a Ford Escape. Sure!” The car was great, but the “few dollars” was just under $20 a day, or, with taxes, $200 more for my rental than I had planned on. Angry letter to Dollar Rent-a-Car in the works.

I’m going to suggest to them that they inform that employee that “just a few dollars” will be missing in her next check and see how she reacts when it’s $200.

My ambitious plan on this first day was to drive north in Minnesota to see a Stave Church in Moorhead, then cut across to Aberdeen, South Dakota. On paper—well, on Google Maps–it looked like it would only add an hour to my driving time. The plan was still intact until I was attacked by a tack.

Thank God for modern conveniences. All of a sudden, an alarm went off on the dashboard of my rental car, letting me know that all the other tires were clocking in at a tire pressure of 32. But the left rear tire was down to 27 psi. Then 26. Then 25…

Well, before it got lower, I decided it better pull off into the small town of Osakis, Minnesota. Right off the exit was Ultimate Auto Care, which was exactly what I needed. At the front desk, just inside the door, were two nice ladies who couldn’t have been more helpful. I explained my dilemma, they asked for my key and told me it would be about a half an hour.

They got me in and out in less than 30 minutes and patched my tire, removing this;

While waiting in their lobby, I noticed on a shelf that they were offering some homemade maple syrup for sale. Well, I had to buy a jar of that! A heck of a deal for $10. When I told them I’d like a jar, they said the mechanic who was fixing my tire was the guy who had harvested it.

Ultimate Auto Care, I will never forget you. Osakis, I’ll do my best to remember you.

So, I thanked everybody, climbed in my car and hit the road. I hated to miss seeing that church. After all, on my previous drives from Minneapolis to Aberdeen I’ve seen such things as Prince’s compound and the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota. But by now, I’m thinking I really just needed to get to Aberdeen before dark. I did get to pass by the International Vinegar Museum on this trip, but it was too late to actually stop and soak up the aroma. 

I found myself really taking the scenic route: 23 miles on this road, then 7 on this one, 13 on this one, then left, then right. The trip seemed to be taking forever so, being in the middle of nowhere, my leadfoot kicked in. Followed shortly by some flashing blue lights.

We were literally the only two cars for as far as the eye could see. I pulled off to a side road to get off the main road as the trooper approached the car. I explained the tack incident and how I was trying to make up for lost time and he let me know I was doing 70 mph. (to be fair, it was in a 65) But then he said those words I longed to hear. Looking at the logo on my shirt, he said, “Oh, a Mariners fan! Well, I’m just going to give you a warning. I’ll be right back.” I’m pretty sure that the only time in my life that I’ve gotten away with a warning.

Even the state trooper was surprised that I was on that road and gave me a tip to drive south until I came to Highway 12, make a right and that would take me all the way to Aberdeen. I will tell you that in talking with relatives, there is no direct way from Aberdeen to Minneapolis and vice versa. It’s almost like GPS takes people a different way every time the travel.

Back on the road, and obeying the speed limit like a monk, I continued my drive while listening to the Minnesota Twins playoff game using an app. Amazing what technology lets you do these days.

When the urge for a Diet Pepsi and maybe a bag of junk food reared its ugly head, I decided to stop at a convenience store in the middle of nowhere and, as I was checking out, the clerk saw my shirt and said, “Hey man, I used to live in Seattle.”

It was like I never left, but without mountains.

The rest of my drive was uneventful and more of the treat I was expecting. Passing by field after field of dried corn, have a young deer run out in front of my car and having to swerve a bit, going by a flock of pheasants in an irrigation ditch and then passing a small flock of wild turkeys.

I managed to pull into my Aberdeen hotel parking lot as the sun began to set and checked in. I texted a couple of relatives and called my mom to let her know I survived the trip so far, did a little bit of work and then went to bed.

One day down, 7 more to go in my Great Vacation Adventure.

Tim Hunter