I drove 1,200 miles in 30 hours on a recent trip to South Dakota.

Why would I do such a thing?

My wife Susan was in Mitchell, South Dakota, visiting our daughter, son-in-law and two grandkids. She flew into Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on a Thursday and had booked a return flight to Tulsa the following Sunday.

We have to take these long weekend trips separately because we must publish the Tulsa Beacon 51 weeks a year to maintain our legal status – which allows us to run legal notices.

We both have distinct responsibilities at the office and frankly, we are not cross trained. She doesn’t write stories and I don’t manage our subscription list. This arrangement has served us well for more than 20 years.

Susan called me on Saturday, the day she was supposed to fly back, and said some of our family had come down with the Chinese coronavirus.

Susan and I both had a case ofcoronavirus in July of 2020.

She had a dilemma – she was not sick but she couldn’t fly because she had been exposed to the virus.

We had to have her back because we go to press on Tuesdays and even though she took a computer with her, there are some functions she can’t do unless she is in the office.

I told her I would drive up to South Dakota and drive her back to Tulsa.

I threw my shaving kit, some clothes and a road atlas and filled the car up with gas. I got out of Tulsa at 1:30 p.m.

My destination was Sioux Falls because Susan had rented a car there and she was supposed to return it to the Sioux Falls Airport.

This is the first time in my life that I took such a long trip on the spur of the moment. Usually, I plan my route and print out handy locations to make navigation simple. We don’t have a GPS in our car, so the atlas was a must.

The two times we have driven to Mitchell, South Dakota, we went straight up I-35 through the middle of Kansas and Nebraska into South Dakota. But I wasn’t headed to Mitchell. I was going to Sioux Falls which is 70 miles east of Mitchell. I-35 would be considerably out of my way.

I looked at maps online very quickly.

There were three routes – one up Highway 75 through Bartlesville; one up Highway 169 through Coffeyville, Kansas, and one through Kansas City. The first two go through Omaha, Nebraska, and Sioux City, Iowa. The Kansas City route goes up the Will Rogers Turnpike and then up to Kansas City and eventually through Sioux City and Sioux Falls.

With five minutes to decide, I chose the Highway 75 route.

It wasn’t too bad. The big problem was that so much of the route was two-lane. And getting through Topeka, Kansas, is always a chore. But there was hardly any traffic – even on a Saturday afternoon.

After Omaha, it was four-lane divided highway.

I got to Sioux Falls about 11 a.m. without a hotel reservation. I just needed someplace to sleep for six or seven hours.

The first motel was full. The second motel was full. The third motel looked a little sleazy and they wanted $140 which was way too much for the type of motel it was.

I finally tried the Americann Inn. It was after midnight and the clerk said they were booked up but they just had a cancellation. It was a handicapped room and it cost $225 a night. I couldn’t believe it. The clerk saw my desperation and reduced the price to $180. I was so tired, that sounded good and I took it. It was a very nice, modern hotel and they offered a nice hot breakfast.

I picked Susan up on Sunday morning at the rental car site at the airport. She sat in the back seat in an effort to keep me from getting the coronavirus in case she had contracted it.

I decided to change the route to Highway 169. We still went through Omaha but headed due south and drove around the western edge of Kansas City. This seemed a good option but we ran into two detours and this route was about 40 miles farther than traveling on Highway 75.

I am not sure I will ever try Kansas City route because I hate big city traffic. Even on a Sunday afternoon, there was a lot more traffic on the edge of Kansas City than on Highway 75.

We arrived in Tulsa about 8 p.m. on Sunday. I was really not that tired. I had a cup of coffee in the late afternoon and that always perks me up.

I don’t ever want to do a trip like this again. I have driven similar distances to Florida in two days before but not with such a hasty departure.

And honestly, it was really frustrating to drive all that way and not see my granddaughter and grandson. They are special.

But if someone in my family needs me to do this again, Lord willing I will hop in the car and head through the cornfields.