We landed late in the evening in a small
one horse town called Tea, the sites were small compared to some we had been
in, but the family owned RV Park made up for that with the atmosphere. They had
a pool, laundry, a trail around a soy bean field, lots of shade and wonderful
friendly neighbors. Some of these make the trek from Arizona in the winter to
Tea, SD in the summer, true snowbirds; a dream we were waiting patiently on ourselves.
Work had landed us back in this area, the
hubby had a few weeks’ worth ahead of him and after that we were on our own.
The owners of this park were very friendly; they worked with us on the rent and
let us pay it as we got it. We have to always be sure to not burn any bridges
with any of the parks we stay in as we never know when we may be back in the
area in the future. The owners had their son, daughter-n-law and grandchild
that lived on site too; there’s and ours were just the right age to play and
swim together. They hit it off nicely, like two kindred spirits that had known
each other for years; but then again children seem to do this.
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| My view on my morning walk on the outskirts of the Red Barn RV Park, Tea, SD |
Our days were spent in the park mostly
because we had visited the zoo a month ago while in Sioux Falls. The daily
routine quickly became breakfast, a quick play with her friend, watching some
TV and then a dip in the pool before dinner. You would think this in itself
would get monotonous and boring but it was actually very relaxing, knowing what
would come next. The only worry we had was to find the work to pay the bills;
this task was helped by with the boss we had followed back to his home city of
Sioux Falls.
The hubby had a job working on the boss’s family’s
house, then a few days off, before starting a framing job. This was not one of
his favorite jobs as the supervisor here would gripe about the workers stopping
work only to take a drink of water, in 90+ degree heat! This job didn’t last
but a few days, by the hubby’s decision. The next position we found was
interesting, it was bee keeping on Mormon land. It was interesting in the fact
that the hubby wasn’t sure if he was allergic to the bees or not; turned out
the allergies had been outgrown, but I was one worried wife during the days he
was gone. He learned new trades in this position too, something we’re always
looking forward to; you can never have too many trades under your belt.
Just before we left this beautiful family
run RV Park, he got a position working with geo-thermal heating/cooling.
Another great trade to have, I only wish time had permitted us to stay longer
and learn more on this one. Imaging heating and cooling your home with only air
flowing through pipes placed deep into the ground, your house would stay a
comfortable 68˚ year round. The only electricity used was to pump the air
through these pipes, not to power the compressor for an A/C or heat up the
coils on a heater. I was very interested in learning this one as I would love
to install in our future home to cut electricity costs tremendously.
We had stayed in touch with the co-workers
from Rapid City, one being very determined to have the hubby trek back across
the state and work for him. After some convincing from him, we decided to take
another ride back West across the great state of South Dakota. If you’re
keeping counting that would be a total of 3 trips across this state on I90 in a
matter of a couple of months. After staying in Tea for a month we had really
gotten to know the owners and neighbors here, I will miss them terribly but it
is also on my list of ‘stop again’ areas in my travel book.
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| not one of my favs, but then again I'm still a work in progress too |
The lil one had gotten
to go to a carnival with her friend before we left, compliments of the owners;
they knew we were struggling to find work and thought she needed a good time
before we left. This park really defines ‘family run’ and they truly made us
feel like family while here; so much so that I painted a canvas of the badlands
for her as a gift. It was time to take that leap of faith again and go back
West.
Until
next time…..
Learn
to smile at every situation. See it as
an opportunity to prove your strength and ability. ~Joe Brown
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