Spring In South Dakota

[JEBar]

BTW, how did your trap rounds end up? Good scores?
Thanks for posting your "travelling" range report.

we don't make a point to keep anyone's scores but our own, we enjoy the shooting and chatter on the line .... I experimented a bit .... I have a full set of Carlson extended choke tubes, most of which have never been used .... for the first round I decided to go with their "Skeet" choke tube (one of those I've never tried) .... after firing the first stand (5 rounds with 1 solid and 1 single pellet type hit) I realized that was a mistake and switched to the Carlson "Modified" choke .... after that switch I managed to hit 15 of the remaining shots .... with the heat the second and third rounds seemed to get tougher and tougher .... I wasn't firing fast enough to heat up the barrel but the sun sure did .. .. as best I remember I hit 17 on the second round and 16 on the third .... thankfully some clouds passed over and hung around during the last round .... we decided to move back to the 18' firing block for the last round so I switched to a full choke .... missed the first two and then ran a pretty good streak .... ended up with 21 ... I've had better days and most certainly have had plenty of worse ones .... one of the things I enjoy about firing with the fellows from this area is doing so is fun .... they are all active hunters who do really well .... there are deer tracks all over the place and, for the first time, I saw two good size does run across the field down range from our firing positions .... really enjoyed watching them for the few seconds they were out in the open

[JEBar]

we are currently setup in Clarksville RV Park in Clarksville. TN which puts us 305 miles closer to home .... today's drive took 6 hrs with one fuel stop and two rest stops .... when we took on fuel at the Pilot Road Ranger truck stop in Fenton, MO Maureen figured we'd averaged 10 mpg in the 700 miles (all but 24.2 miles were towing) we'd covered since filling in Sioux Falls .... unfortunately, I fear the fuel in Fenton has a higher percentage of bio which guarantees our mileage will go down ... here at Clarksville we are setup on a pull-through, 50 amp, full hookup, $41 a night sight .... tropical storm Cindy is still many miles south of where we are but its on the way but as can be seen below, we setup in the rain (nothing new about that) ..... if/when the sun comes back out, my bet is the humidity will really be oppressive .... well, oppressive turned out to be the optimal word .... hard rain for a few minutes, the sun comes out, the air feels like you are in a sauna, it clouds up, hard rain for a few minutes, the sun comes out, the air feels like you are in a sauna, it clouds up, hard rain for a few minutes --- and so on, and so on, and so on .... a fellow parked near us is up on the roof of his motorhome spreading out a tarp .... it would appear that he is dealing with a significant leak .... no tire leaks today, hope that continues .... as mentioned, when we last took on fuel the plaque on the pump said their fuel has between a B5 and B20 alcohol content .... in watching the truck's fuel gauge, I fear its closer to B20 .... on Flying J's website they don't show selling diesel with anything higher than B5 in Tennessee .... sure hope that proves to be correct .... thankfully, the projected path of rainfall from Cindy has moved west to where it no longer passes through NC .... on the negative side, if that forecast is correct, we will be driving through it for over 200 miles tomorrow .... oh well, what comes will come

[JEBar]

thankfully, the forecast has changed for the better .... we may well hit some rain around Knoxville, TN but most of today's drive should be dry .... wouldn't you know it, the day we spent trap shooting near St Louis was brutally hot, the temp over there today should be much better .... sorry, its too late to go back .... per Google Maps today's drive should be around 334 miles and should take over such 5 hrs .... that's about normal for us, when planning our trips our goal is 300 miles of travel between CG's .... naturally that doesn't work all of the time but thankfully, it does most of the time .... history has proven to us that its best for us to leave Clarksville around 8:45 AM Central so as to minimize traffic congestion around Nashville .... I don't remember when they weren't working on the Interstate highways around Nashville ....

[JEBar]

if all goes as we hope, tomorrow's drive of just over 270 miles will take us from the mountains of western NC to our home .... hopefully, with it being a Sunday, traffic will be somewhat lighter .... heat will be a factor but thankfully, no storms are in the forecast ... our only planned stop is to top off our truck's fuel tanks at the Flying J located just east of Durham .... over the next few months our Sportchassis will see very limited use and we want the tanks as full as possible so as to minimize condensation .... as is usually the case, we hate our trip is over but we are already planning the next one

[RanchRoper]

Travel safe.

[PT7]

Thanks very much for taking us along, JEBar. The sights and travelogue for "Spring in South Dakota" were delightful and most interesting. Looking forward to "the next one," too!

Travel safe, and welcome home.

Ah, home again.jpg (6.37 KiB) Viewed 2018 times

if all goes as we hope, tomorrow's drive of just over 270 miles will take us from the mountains of western NC to our home .... we are already planning the next one