Our GPS unit, affectionately named Lola, has guided us with a near-perfect record for just about every one of our 15,000 miles on the road to date. So it was an uncommon occurrence when – after driving in circles for half an hour – we threw up our hands, shut down Lola (otherwise she'll keep talking to us), and turned to our laptops for navigation.

En route from the DNC in Denver to the RNC in Minneapolis/St. Paul with two stops to film health care stories along the way, we found ourselves looking for an RV park in Sioux City, Iowa. Having called ahead to inquire about space, the woman who answered the phone told us the park was in south Sioux City. No biggie, we figured. Sioux City, south Sioux City – same difference, right? We plugged the address into Lola.

Turns out South Sioux City is not only an entirely different city, it’s in an entirely different state – Nebraska. Once we figured that out (after the aforementioned thirty minutes of driving in circles), we fired Lola back up, put in the right state and she reliably took us straight there.

Upon arrival we realized a problem: no laundry facilities. The night before heading into the week-long RNC event, this was a non-negotiable.

Next option was an RV park 7 miles away in North Sioux City. We looked up the street address and punched it into Lola… but she wouldn’t recognize it. We tried a couple of different spellings. No dice. She said it didn’t exist.

Annoyed at what had now become an extremely long drive, we once again turned to our laptops wondering why Lola was failing us. After about 4 miles the (human) error became apparent as we passed a huge “Welcome to South Dakota!” sign. Turns out North Sioux City isn’t in Iowa either.

If you ever plan to come to this odd convergence of cities, let us save you some trouble: Sioux City is in Iowa. North Sioux City is in South Dakota. South Sioux City is in Nebraska.

Best part is, our GPS already knew that.

Next stop: St. Paul. (That’s in Iowa, too…right?)

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comments (4)

Comments

1 Posted by Daniela at 08/31/08 10:58 PM

Run lola run.

2 Posted by Bud Klepppe at 08/31/08 11:14 PM

Well it looks like you didn't get tripped up by the different St Paul's - North St Paul, South St Paul, West St Paul, and St Paul, and dont forget East St Paul, which is actually just a neigborhood in St Paul.

Welcome to our fine city, looks like you got front row tickets to the Daily Show for your stay.

3 Posted by RV crew at 09/01/08 12:58 AM

Thanks for the welcome, Bud. We're glad to be here.

You're right... we managed to navigate our way through St. Paul without any Sioux City-like confusion.

But front row tix to the Daily Show? Do you know something we don't know?

4 Posted by Bud Kleppe at 09/01/08 02:48 AM

Mr. John Stewert is just across the street from where you guys are parked. I live in that tan high-rise condo about a block from you guys. That's actually how I found your site.

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