The last day of May for 2026 turned out to be quite an experience. It was the last day of what I will henceforth refer to as my ‘Transition’ from a ‘Sticks ‘n Bricks’ homeowner, to a ‘Full-Time Home-On-Wheels RVer’. After a 4,000 mile ‘Shakedown Cruise’ that took me through numerous states and stops that I didn’t document with pictures or blogposts, but rushed to fulfill a commitment that turned out not to be what was expected on multiple fronts, I ended spending the night in the parking lot of the Grand Falls Casino just off I-29 in extreme northwest Iowa, bordering South Dakota.
After getting a late dinner wrapped up for my companion yellow lab, ‘Squirty’, we settled back to relax for a while, when the rumbles from an approaching storm alerted me to the possibilkity of bad weather about to hit. A quick check of my weather app sent a mini-panic my way. There had been a confirmed tornado on the ground in Sioux Falls, and the track indicated it was heading right for us.
We rushed to seek shelter at the Casino building that was on the other end of the lot where the rig was set up, failing to take the time to batten down the hatches and windows, as minutes count in these kind of scenarios.
Without details, I will say, the next hour or so hearing the loudest cracks of thunder I’ve experienced and the torrential rainfall that came down in buckets to fill large lakes in the lot, I was wonering what I would discover upon my return to ‘Lil Red’. The slow moving storm did pass eventually, and fortunately, no damage to the rig, just a few wet spots on the floor from the rain that made it’s way through the angled open windows, that was quickly mopped up.
What had been a night planned for relaxation and thought gathering for my first blog post in this ‘New Life’ was anything but. As of 8:30 this morning, the sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, and a very pleasant 66 degrees with a slight breeze greets the first day of June, 2026. and the aftermath of the storm is drying up, with a few reminders still visible on the paved surface.
Overall, I can’t complain about the facility, it’s perks and layout for those weary travelers who are looking for a place to rest up and/or get some work in before sleep overtakes us.
