2020 Trip To South Dakota

[JEBar]

this evening we grilled bratwurst burgers for the first time .... these brat burgers, stuffed with cheese and bacon were made at the local Hy-Vee .... we enjoy them and plan to take a bunch back home with us

[JEBar]

late yesterday afternoon one of Maureen's brothers came by to take care of a leak in our camper's new washing machine .... thankfully the problem turned out to be a minor one, the cold water connection on the back of the washing machine had worked loose and was an easy fix in tight quarters .... later today friends and relatives are due to setup camp with us for the weekend .... our yearly gathering is slated to be held this Sunday

[JEBar]

preparations for a family gathering took a most happy turn today .. .. to say both our camper and truck were dirty would be major, major understatement .... with close to 10,000 miles of road grime along with over a year of exposure to the elements, the outside of both were filthy .... during mid morning some of my wife's relatives unexpectedly showed up with a pressure washer and brushes and we spent the next couple of hours washing our rig .. .. needless to say, we really appreciate it ..... as noted in an earlier post, one set of relatives and one of friends have joined us for camping this weekend .... these folks really know how to put together a pot luck ....

[stickmaker]

sounds like a fun trip and you have a great looking rig.

[JEBar]

kind words appreciated .... its been a really good, really busy, really beautiful day .... 34 members of Maureen's family staged their annual gathering at our campsite .... temp in the low 70's, clear sky, gentle breeze .... per our longstanding custom we prepared a Frogmore Stew (picture below) .... it will take us much of tomorrow to get things back to normal

[JEBar]

with rain slated to move in later today, we need to get started this morning .... today is a cleanup day following yesterday's family gathering .... nothing major, mostly a bit of equipment cleaning and repacking .... with this being our last scheduled family function for this trip, we are now looking forward to a few weeks of totally unplanned activity and/or unplanned activity ...

[JEBar]

this morning got off to a slow start (as usual) but when one of my wife's brothers showed up with is boat in tow .. .. 5 + hrs of walleye fishing on Lake Poinsett followed .. .. I managed to get a small silver bass, a 10" walleye and a large crappie in the boat .... from what we could tell while talking with others while taking our boat out, we did about as good as any of them .... after returning to our camper we drove to Brookings for some grocery shopping .... we later had some of her relatives over for an evening meal of fried walleye and ocean scallops .... a good ending to a good day

[Sir Henry]

I just got caught up on your trip. Sounds like you have continued washing machine problems but sure eat good.

[JEBar]

eating good is one of my favorite hobbies and I'm thoroughly enjoying getting to know our new Traveler smoker/grill .. .. thankfully, all seems to be OK with the new washing machine .... that said, I've probably just jinxed it

[JEBar]

several thunderstorms have gone around us since we've been camped in Estelline, SD .... the temp has dropped 17 degrees and for the last couple of hours one featuring moderate wind, lightening and thunder has had us in its crosshairs .... if the weather radar is to be believed, it should move out within the next hour .... they were calling for pea size hail, thankfully we haven't seen any .... satellite TV signal has been out for a good while, its nice to have a DVR