Home and Heart

Yesterday we drove from Northfield MN to Sioux Falls, SD. It is, as they say, “The Great Plains”. Flat farm country for mile after mile. Very peasant but very redundant after the first half hour.

The big excitement for the day was that we stopped for lunch at the Blue Line Diner in Newell SD where a lady backed her car into ours in the parking lot. No injuries. Not a lot of damage, but enough. We were able to travel on unimpeded after the exchange of info.

Today was first full day in South Dakota. We thought we had everything we needed to get new Driver Licenses and register the car. Driver Licenses turned out to be pretty straightforward. Car registration not so much. We’ll get it done for sure but it is a multi-step process taking days to weeks.

So we are now officially residents of South Dakota. Never in my life before did I think I would ever write that sentence. It makes the whole adventure seem all the more concrete. No more NYS income tax and once we get the care registered, a break on car insurance.

We can’t register to vote in SD unless we spend one month here. That was a surprise to me as we thus can’t really vote at all, now. On the other hand, I am more than a little surprised at how little that seems to concern me. I grew up being taught that voting was an almost religious duty but in my current circumstance, I don’t think I will miss it.

Impressions so far of SD. 1. Everyone is NICE. They are all open and conversational and nice. We’re not in NY anymore, Dorothy… 2. Sioux Falls is Very spread out – it feels like everything is 12 miles away no matter where you start and finish. 3. Dakota Post – our mail forwarding service is terrific. We stopped in to pick up a package. The people are nice (they are, after all, from SD), well organized, and helpful.

Tomorrow is a tourist day. Maybe see the Sioux Falls (after which the town takes its name) and other such things.