05-28-11 Alone Again Or/I think that people are The greatest fun

Phil & Jan Sayer
05-28-11
Yeah, I heard a funny thing
Somebody said to me
You know that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are
The greatest fun
165.3 miles
I wake up early and break camp. It was a good night and I’m looking to use the showers and then write the prior days record. I’ve noticed a complacency when I am hosted. I don’t write nearly as much or as often as I should. I catch up on tv shows I’ve missed or spend time on facebook and researching things or just relaxing - spending time catching up with me hosts. Or exploring. But mostly recuperating from the road.
Feeling refreshed after the shower I proceed to write up my “Field of Dreams” day and the path that lead me here.
After awhile, the camp host and his wife come up to where I’m parked in their dune buggy type vehicle they use to get around the campsite. They engage me in conversation and I tell them what I’m doing. They tell me about the lake above the camp and we just have a very enjoyable chat. They ask about why I’m doing a state at a time and where I live and I tell them about “Cohalen’s Journey”. They seem to think it’s a good adventure. They ask if I’ll be “here” for awhile. I tell them I’ll be awhile finishing off my writing and I should be there for a good bit more. They leave and I continue finishing off my piece. I post it and just after that they come back by. I’ve already learned that they are Jan & Phil Sayer. And I know they are kind, friendly people. But they drive up and with little preamble hand me a neatly folded $50 bill. I’m surprised and humbles and momentarily speechless. But I really telling them that they will get a signed, framed copy of a day from my book with their name above the day.
Weak, yes…but it was the best I could muster at the moment.
Their kindness to a nearly complete stranger caught me off guard.
We talked a bit more and then jan mentioned that she worked in HR for a county to the south and I though - this could be great for an interview. Sometimes I miss the opportunity to interview because I don’t think of it in time or don’t ask. Being back on the road again and about to leave the state, I was determined not to be lazy and to recognize interview opportunities more often. And this was one. I never really know where an interview will lead. But so far it has always bee better than I’d expected. This was no exception. My only problem is - I often turn off the camera too soon. It’s after I conclude the interview that a lot more interesting stuff comes out. I think the camera inhibits at times. At other times it’s just…conversations lead to other things that would be fascinating to add…but the moment passed and asking to “go back and say what you said before” just becomes too inauthentic. I can say that I wished I’d asked what Phil did before he was doing the camp hosting. He told me that he’d been a maintenance person on big machinery and had suffered a stroke. He couldn’t use his left arm and had troubles thinking of words for awhile. He lost his good paying job and still at times has problems with the arm . But he is someone that doesn’t stop. And though this job pays little and the county (It’s a County park) is constantly dealing with cut-backs, he is happy with what he’s doing and has great pride on the condition he and ranger Scott keep the park in. They think the park visitation has been increasing because of what they do to keep the park clean and welcoming. And it shows.
I go up the the upper park and look at the lake, taking Mischa for a walk around the lakeside. It is a beautiful place and I see kids with fishing poles and think of Andy & Opie and Mayberry. The setting is idyllic. People jogging an laughing by the waterside; well marked nature placards along the path. It is easy to see the pride Phil & Scott shoe for this place. And it’s one of the better deals I’ve enjoyed as well. Ample camping space, showers, electricity, water and wifi for only $16. Wish I could find that all the time.
Usually it’s$28 - 32 for those kind of services. (See Georgia coastal sites )
I’m driving down the hill and as I do Phil and Jan come out to wave goodbye. I wave back and they wave even more vigorously. BOY are they friendly! Then I see the wave back gesture and realize they’re not waving goodbye, but for me to stop. What did I do now?
Did I even mention that I have bad…really bad penmanship. It’s not even something you can consider “penmanship”. It’s “synchronized ciphering”. I can’t even understand what I’ve written sometimes.
Well, Jan was trying to get to my “ Cohalen’s Journey” and/or personal Facebook page and couldn’t find me. This is how bad it can be. She though Converse & Cohalen were the same words and was looking for Rik Coholen. My bad. My really bad…scribbling. (Thank god for the invention of word processor software!)
I head off to Webster City to drop off the nights trash. (The one drawback to the campsite is the county won’t spring for trash dumpsters. The have them on the Golf part of the park, but not for the campsite - a huge oversight, if you ask me.)
I head off to Ft. Dodge 22 miles west as Gas Buddy shows that there are a few gas stations with gas for 3.69 while the average low is $3.78. Iowa is not one of the “good states” as far as gas prices go. I set the Garmin for a gas station that I saw had a low price and head off.
One I get within the town limits I find a Connoco with a price of $3.67 and I fill up there. What luck, right?
(read further)
I continue along 20 - Moorland, Knierim, Lytton, Sac City (I liked this place a lot) and by this time I’ve discovered I could have had gas for $3.65 even $3.60/gal. (but who knew). I also discover I’d been routing myself to a Wal-mart in Sioux Falls, not Sioux City…I quickly re-direct. (I discovere this when It fails to have me continues west on 20 but rather head north to Storm Lake. No Thanks.) I set my sails for a city camp site in Sioux City ad go forth.
Past Early (a little late), past Holstein (they tried to “cow” me with their greeting sign - “Welcommen Freunden” - pretty Cheesy I thought!); Correctionville (wasn’t waiting for the dawn of it…WHAT? These are the jokes, folks!); Past Moville (I got nothing’) and into Sioux City, over the bridge spanning the Mighty Missouri River, into…Nebraska? What?
I check the AAA guide and the Garmin again…I’m in “SOUTH Sioux City..which is in Nebraska.
Hey…guess where NORTH Sioux City is…South Dakota. (That’s tomorrow!).
So -recallibrate again. Stone State Park IS in Sioux City and it’s getting to be 5:30 - time to get a place.
I follow the Garmin again and get there. There is one electric site left and I take it.
Just in time too.
Minutes after setting camp it starts to drizzle. No big deal. A little later a gentle rain. By midnight it’s pouring. And on threw the night till after dawn.
Not much sleep. But the tent was solid and held out the rain. If I could have stopped the sound of the rain (or the fear of the hillside above me coming down) I’d have slept better.
South Dakota next!