DAY 30
Week 5
RAPID CITY (South Dakota, USA) to SIOUX FALLS (South Dakota, USA)
Thursday July 20th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 360 miles or 579 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 3773 miles or 6072 kilometres
We don't need no stinking brakes - they only slow you down!!! 
I gotta tell ya, I used a free nights accommodation voucher at the brand new La Quinta Inn & Suites - Rapid City, as the Man Pad was locked in a workshop awaiting parts. The check-in shiela wanted to know what room I wanted and I just responded that I'd sleep on a barbed wire fence if I'm tired enough. Truth be told, I'm not real fussed with room amenities, as you don't see a hell of a lot when you're checking you eyelids for holes, but I got giggle when I saw the bathroom in the room (with a king sized bed) they gave me had more square footage then the entire Man Pad.
Big news in Rapid City was that Superintendent of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial has banned all smoking from the entire park (it used to only encompass indoor areas), in part due to the high fire danger, but also for the good of the visitors. The permanent ban went into effect on Monday and will continue until day dot. My American history may be a little rusty, but wasn't two of the four Presidents, that comprise the National Monument, tobacco farmers????
Just so that you know, the Superintendent is an unabashed anti-smoker. What's next, a ban on farting outside??? Maybe we should put nappys (diapers) on livestock to clean them up while we're at it???
After hearing that on the news, I dropped into the parts place and got my $65.71 replacement remanufactured master cylinder (Chevrolet want $397.50) and got to the workshop at about 8:30AM. There was no sign of the chief mechanic Dale (and I wanted to be on the road putting some distance between me and Rapid City), so I opened my toolbox and got stuck into it. Dale the mek-a-dik lobs up around 9:45AM and decides to jump in and install the parts. Good onya I reckon, after I did all the tear down, but I let him have at it.
While Dale is thinking he's saving me from the evils of my own ineptitude, I decide to do a tire rotation on the RV, the tow dolly and the Trailblazer as well as service the dolly and repaired two water leaks. Once Dale was done and I had rechecked all his work, I rolled the RV out and then spent an hour acquainting the RV with their steam cleaner.
You're asking why I rechecked Dales work. Well, you see, when a mechanic works on your vehicle with no hand tools (i.e. wrenches or spanners) except for a pneumatic air gun and a handful of sockets, you know what kind of mechanic he is - hence the mek-a-dik tag.
Dale charged me $87.50 for the job, which in any mind I should have coughed at, but to use their workshop, equipment, fluids and sundries for a day is real cheap rent.
As I was pulling into Sioux City, I got a call from the workshops parts "Manager" (who I'm informed is getting the arse tomorrow) saying that my master cylinder didn't make today's freight and will be in tomorrow. Bear in mind this is the same wanker who finalized my job card and took my money and you can see why he's having a forced employment change tomorrow.
Dale informs me that my backfiring, coughing & spluttering issues and the engine running on has been fixed by him tightening the carburetor down. Bullshit I thought when he said it. So gag me with a spoon for saying so, but the first on-ramp I hit and the RV wouldn't have pulled a shiela off a sailor. I still need to fix that and the fridge problem. Sometimes I think it would have been easier to lift the radiator cap, replace all that was under it and then replace the radiator cap, but then none of you would have something to giggle at.
I finally hit the frog & toad around 12:30PM. One of my mates was telling me that she seen all these Wall Drug Store signs throughout Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska and didn't know what they were for. Some of the signs said free ice water for stopping. Well, it turns out that back in the 1930's in Wall (South Dakota) advertised free iced water to entice travelers into the small town. Apparently in the mid-west during the 1930's water was as rare as rockin' horse shit in a hen house, so it was not only a big deal to give water away, but with refrigeration being scarcer than an honest politician, the gimmick was a huge hit. Fast forward to 2006 and its 2 city blocks of rabbit holes selling all kinds of touristy chintzy crap.
I thought the old Post Office in Wall had a whole lot more character. It also got me thinking. Was this where the "Hole In The Wall Gang" came from???
Anyways, I tried to take a photo while I was posting some postcards and was politely asked by the Postmaster not to take any photos in consideration of the Homeland Security implications. What the???? Apparently you could use the photos to plan an attack on the postal service. No worries and go your hardest if you think you can bring down the entire postal service throughout the United States from Wall (South Dakota), population 125!!! Funny thing is, I thought if you wanted to turn something into a shambles you simply turn it over to the Government to run???
I made a two hour stop to the Badlands National Park and other than the opal town of Cooper Pedy in South Australia, I haven't seen a weirder landscape. Unfortunately, due to it being a cloudy day, the colours and vibrancy of the landscape doesn't come through as well as it should. Either way, it was an eye opener. It looks funny, but in one area you are on top of the scenery, then drive a mile down the road and the scenery is on top of you.
I got into Sioux City around 10PM local time grabbed a feed, a couple of beers and I was off to bed. Another day down, who knows how many to go???
Be good, kids.
• RAPID CITY (South Dakota, USA)
• WALL ~ Wall Drug Store (South Dakota, USA)
• MINUTEMAN MISSILE SITE (South Dakota, USA)
• BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK (South Dakota, USA)
• WINNER (South Dakota, USA)