Jack Trip 2010 - Days 1 & 2

Jack Trip
Day 1 & 2 - Monday Oct 18, Tues Oct 19

I worked until about 3 PM, picked up a couple things on the way home, and finished packing the trailer. Mom & Dad had arrived earlier that day.  Jacy dropped off the kids and we finally rolled out of the driveway at 5:30 PM.  Dad & I got into a bit of a navigational argument less than 3 miles from our house... turns out papa knows best and I shut my yap after that.   We barreled right down towards Minot (had some sandwiches & snacks packed that we cleaned up after a couple hours of driving).  We cruised right through Minot and arrived in Jamestown, ND after 1 AM.  We forgot about the time change and had some minor delays, so we were a couple hours behind at this point.

We slept in the hotel there for 3 or 4 hours... Alarm went off at 5 and we were driving by 6:15... to start a loooong day.   We stopped in Sioux Falls, SD for a great lunch (Culver's - home of the butterburger) and to meet up with Mike, a friend we met at a SD comp in June. Mike had accepted some shipments for us so we picked up some new banners and our new team attire.   We got back on the road towards Kansas City where we had an order waiting for us at the Kansas City BBQ Store, right next to our supper target - Oklahoma Joe's.  When it became clear we wouldn't make it before store closing (8 PM), we called ahead to see what they could do, hoping they could at least let us pay for the order next door and pick it up there.   Rick Salmon... Who was working that night, graciously agreed to wait the extra 45 minutes for us to arrive, and even gave us some time to browse the inventory.   We paid for our stuff at 9:05 and JUST made it into Oklahoma Joe's for supper.  They closed at 9 so it was great of them to let us in... They were out of a couple things unfortunately, and we couldn't get any hot side dishes (Some of the best beans I've ever eaten were there, 13 months earlier) but we got ribs and they were awesome.   We got a pitcher of Boulevard Wheat for cheap and it was a great meal.  (I think we ate some slaw too). 

    Back on the road... pointed East towards St Louis this time.  I had planned on cruising through St. Louis that night so we wouldn't have to fight morning traffic the next day.   It was already close to 10 PM for a 3.5 hour drive so we weren't sure if we were going to make it.  Fortunately Dad is a cruisin' machine and he pressed on.   We passed through downtown SL late enough that even the lights on the famous arch had been turned off.   We found a hotel about 20 minutes later and crashed.