Our 2019 USA Trip / Part 9 / South Dakota and Home

Previous visits to the Bro's at Lake Hendricks have proven unfruitful fishing wise to the point of our renaming it Lake Disappointment.
This time, armed with a South Dakota fishing licence as a change of luck charm, we hit the water to try again. Previously I had purchased Minnesota licences (cheaper!) as the states' border dissects the lake.

We fished from his swish pontoon boat and from his dock. We fished with varying rigs eg. crappie which I had not seen in Australia and different baits (minnows, worms, leeches). We fished trolling with lures. We fished at all times of the day and night. We fished all over that lake.

Crappie rig

Result (after an estimated 30+ hours fishing time) : Bro 2 Blogger 1
Lake Disappointment had once more lived up to its reputation.







But really it’s all about the fishing, not the fish. And it’s a beautiful area to contemplate in while waiting for a bite with plenty of wild life to see. Plus the sunsets can be stunning. And the 'fishing lodge' ain't bad either.

Inspecting a trap line was an unusual experience. The state is paying money to reduce the increased vermin population.
From there, one very foggy morning, we visited the Fagen Fighters WW11 Museum in Granite Falls MN and on the way home stopped by the Brau Bros Brewery in Marshall for lunch and good beer.
The donuts in the Hendricks bakery are great (get there early or they sell out!) as are the very small movie theatre, the golf club bar and surrounding small towns eg, Taunton and Ivanhoe.
I spent some time at my old haunt, The Royal River Casino at Flandreu. They are spending a lot of money on extensions and improvements. They didn't get much of mine!
From Elkton, I had the opportunity of visiting the family farm travelling over Buffalo Ridge with its numerous wind turbines stretching north and south into the distance. It is beautiful country. Pity it has been so wet this season which has put a lot of strain on the planting schedule.

In Trent we visited Steve's Bar and Grill for our usual jalapeno burger and a few beers and had a nice birthday get together at 'home' with various wines from all over. I guess the wine must have influenced the hilarity when we played Watch Ya Mouth (Adult version).
But try it sometime. It's fun!
Finally our time was up and we headed for the airport.
Our little plane out of FSD arrived late then had a small technical problem which delayed departure.
Some tape had come loose on the landing gear and needed to be replaced.
Tape? On the landing gear? The plane is held together with duct tape?
Well, no, as I found out later it's speed tape and is used for non structural temporary repairs on aircraft.
It was a long trip home with two four hour layovers in Denver and San Francisco then the 15 hours across the Pacific.

Unfortunately that latter plane was 100% full and I had a large guy next to me and we 'fought' for shoulder room the whole trip. I got little sleep.
No problems with formalities or baggage in Sydney and the car started first try after being parked at the airport for six weeks.
We stopped for coffee a couple of times on the way down the coast to ward off the tiredness so it was good to eventually arrive.
Everything was in order with the property (no storm damage, healthy cattle, no mice (thanks for the inspections, Annabelle!)) and we began our 5 day battle with jet lag (15 hours time difference) while getting our lives back into our normal domestic routine.