DAY 31
Week 5
SIOUX FALLS (South Dakota, USA) to MINNEAPOLIS (Minnesota, USA)
Friday July 21st, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 243 miles or 391 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 4016 miles or 6463 kilometres
Heads for North, Tails for South - now toss the coin. 
Today started with the stench of ammonia wafting throughout the Man Pad. A quick search revealed it to be coming from the fridge. The freezer was frozen but the fridge was like an oven, so a stop at a local RV store confirmed that the fridge/freezer needs replacing, as the repairs would run the same amount of money. Nothing like a $1500 jab in the wallet to start your day.
I wasn't sure whether to head South to Omaha (Nebraska) or North to Minneapolis (Minnesota). Truth be told, I really didn't any pressing reason to head in either direction, so I pulled a coin and went heads or tails. Heads came up and I was of in a Northerly direction.
Why Minneapolis (Minnesota) you ask. Well, for those of you who think that I should be more in touch with my feminine side, here's proof that I have that in me. I wanted to take a look at the world's largest fully enclosed shopping centre for a spot of shopping. I have no idea as to what else there is to see and do in the town, but I'm ready for a bit of a bling fling.
After two weeks of pretty hot, dry and dusty countryside, I've hit the greener side of the US. About 10 miles out of Sioux Falls (South Dakota) the corn fields started and didn't stop until the thick scrub and trees took over as I was entering Minneapolis/St Paul. The temperature was a good 20°f cooler than I've had for the preceding month, so that's a welcome change.
As mentioned earlier in an email, I've been on the road for a month, so I thought I'd share a couple of trip facts.
• 4016 miles (6463 kilometres) traveled so far
• 774 gallons (2930 litres) of fuel consumed
• 18 National Parks or Monuments visited
• 7 states visited
• 4 Walmart's were camped in
• $2.801 was average cost per gallon for fuel
• 2 countries visited
• 2 brake failures in the Man Pad
• 2 road side stops were camped in
• 1 boat rescued
• 1 house re-roofed
• 1 province visited
• 1 RV park was stayed in
• 1 Harley Davidson oil cover manufactured on the side of the road with a plastic dinner plate.
All in all a pretty quite month, so I wonder what the next month brings.
• MINNEAPOLIS (Minnesota, USA)