I think one of the hardest things about this trip will be trying to remember everything about all of the interesting places and colorful characters we are meeting along the way. There’s simply not enough time nor photos to tell this whole story.

For instance, we had planned to stay at Cow Creek campground one evening along the banks of the Mighty MO on our way to Fargo, ND. When stopped by road construction, the flagger walked up to ask about our truck and we ended up chatting for a bit. That’s whatchya do in these parts donthchyaknow.

By the time he waved us on, good ol’ Henry Huft had told us that he will never where a hat – though it was 106 degrees out – because he was born without a hat, and he’ll stay that way. He also told us that we just had to go on to Hoven for a steak at Boone’s Bar and Grill, and that for vegetarians they had big shrimp and a salad bar.

Not since all those good times the AA back in Eureka have I enjoyed an affordable steak in a rowdy bar. While the AA serves up a delicious rib eye, the sirloin at Boone’s is quite tasty and you can get a whole baked potato or wedges instead of fries or onion rings. You also get toast! You like plain or garlic?

Henry also told us about their amazing salad bar. And though this one seriously lacked in selection of vegetables, we must give it a good grade for character since this is our first salad bar review. Perhaps because it was Tuesday, only half of pans in the cooling table had anything in them at all. I especially liked how they were held in place by vice grips! In addition to an ample supply of iceberg lettuce, there was a large selection of dressings to choose from. The blue cheese was excellent – extra thick, chunky, and tasty… Save some for your potato!

The only other thing that resembled a vegetable, what we thought was carrot slaw, ended up being some sort of hamburger taco salad concoction. Surprise René! There was however plenty of croutons, and bacon bits which we will just say were imitation for René’s sake. They also offered up a variety of snack crackers which we couldn’t resist stocking up on.

The service was friendly and relatively quick considering how fast they were running orders about. We decided to sit in the bar at the suggestion of our server, since it was cooler, and away from the families and kids in the main dining room. It wasn’t even that smoky, and the big Neon “BAR” sign threw a nice glow onto the atmotsphere.

The Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs was showing on the TV while we ate, but the real show was watching all the hard-working locals get plastered and boisterous. The fight that one particularly loud drunk wearing an authentic Nascar cap almost started was just the beginning. The real fun started when everyone started running around asking for a camera to snap a picture of their friend who had passed out in the back room.

You can’t miss Boone’s. (You can’t miss much in Hoven, SD – population 500.) It’s the place that looks like a bowling alley, because that’s what it used to be. You’ll know you’re at the right place because the only sign in town that says steakhouse sits on an empty lot down the street.

Check out our road trip maps page to see how Hoven really is in the middle of nowhere, or I should say Middle America. We were hoping to find an RV park after the long drive there and were relieved to see the City View RV Park sign as we pulled into town after driving so long through so many miles of farmland.

Now there’s really no view of any “city” to speak of and I wouldn’t necessarily call it a park. But after one of the residents drove off to go find Sid the farmer, we discovered just how wonderful these people can be. For just twelve bucks, we got power and water just a very short bike ride away from a great night out on the town. We also got a tour of the farm, and some free organic vegetables.