2025 Summer Trip to Estelline, SD

[JEBar]

this thread has been modified to give us a place to organize, revise, an most likely revise several more times our

2025 Trip Plan​

Tuesday - May 27 .... First Day's Drive -- Home to Milton, WVa -- Huntington / Fox Fire KOA ... 5 hr 54 min .... 362 miles.... WV I-64 Exit 28 .... reserved 3-18-25

Wednesday - May 28 .... Second Day's Drive -- Charleston to Grayville, Il -- Grayville / I-64 KOA .... 5 hr 12 min .... 342 miles..IL I-64 Exit 130 .... reserved 3-18-25

Thursday - May 29 .... Third Day's Drive -- Grayville to Oak Grove, Mo -- Kansas City East / Oak Grove KOA .... 5 hr 12 min .... 352 miles ....reserved 3-18-25

Friday - May 30 .... Fourth Day's Drive -- Oak Grove to Onawa, Ia -- On-Ur-Way .... 3 hr 51 min .... 268 miles ....reserved 3-18-25

Saturday - May 31 .... Fifth Day's Drive -- Onawa to Estelline, SD .... 2 hr 46 min .... 198 miles .... reserved 4-22-25

COMMENTS :

per Google Maps the above route takes 23 hr 27 min driving time -- 1,534 miles (our normal route covers 1,569 miles)

​

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traditionally we wait until after the first of the year to begin planning our annual trip to spend the next summer in South Dakota .... circumstances way beyond our control are coming into play that are making it necessary for us to begin much earlier .... first and most important is answering the question, are we capable of making another trip .... that includes factors .... some are ==>

1. the condition of our equipment -- our camper is 20 years old .... from what we've seen, not many that age are still making 4 to 5 thousand mile trips .... our truck is 19 years old .... they have both given us good service but the years have taken their toll

2. our physical/mental conditions -- its about 1,600 miles out there .... for many years we would make the drive out there and the one back home straight through .... no stops for anything other than food, fuel, and rest stops --- should we make a trip this year I will be 78 and Maureen will be a few years older .... our most recent trip took us 5 travel days to get there and the same for the drive back .... Hurricane Helene has destroyed I-40 in western NC and it appears certain we will have to make a major change in route that will most probably add a day traveling each way

3. economic realities -- history has shown we need to budget based on our truck getting 8/9 mpg ....

4. strength of our desire to make the trip once again -- we most certainly still have the desire

this thread is being created to give us a place to keep track of our efforts as they evolve

[BigAl52]

Im sure you have thought of this but AirBNB has to be some there that one could rent for your stay. We have looked into storage for our RV in the area we travel to. Recently our storage locally was raised. Its close enough now that wear and tear on the RV along with the price of fuel make it worth storage there.

[JEBar]

over time we've explored about every possible option .... the distance/time we are comfortable driving each day continues to shrink as our ages increase .... plane tickets are prohibitively expensive plus Maureen has ear pressure problems that prevent her from flying .... as you well know, motel/hotel prices along with eating at restaurants have grown to where they must be taken into consideration when calculating a travel budget .... all in all, for us, the only financially realistic way for us to travel for extended periods requires towing our camper .... when our kids travel, there have been times when they have found staying in an AirBNB makes good sense .... to the best of my knowledge, there isn't an AirBNB anywhere near the area we visit .... at one point we strongly considered putting a double wide on a lot we owned in Estelline .... our thought was to put it on a full basement and rent out the first floor .... by doing so we could setup the basement for us to stay in while out there .... that was an attractive thought but there were other considerations that had to be factored in .... example, if we drive a regular vehicle out there and back we would still have motel, vehicle expenses and eating out cost .... if we were to fly out we'd need to build a garage and leave a vehicle out there .... all of those things could be handled but all were much more expensive than towing our camper as we do now

[Sir Henry]

It’s a hard decision to make and I wish you two the best no matter what decision you make.

[JEBar]

It’s a hard decision to make and I wish you two the best no matter what decision you make.

it is and your kind words are appreciated .... about all we can do is to take it a year at a time .... as of right now, nothing has surfaced that would indicate we aren't capable of making the trip .... that said, tooooo much in the way of medical issues and age related limitations for us to be certain just how long that will continue to be the case

[daytime dave]

Your decision process sounds very well thought out.

I like to use one of Clint Eastwood's movie lines when contemplating things. A man's got to know his limitations. If a man (or woman) honestly knows their limitations, it helps make a better decision.

I wish you both the best in this process.

[JEBar]

the closing of I-40 in the mountains of NC due to damage from Hurricane Helene requires us to change our normal travel route .... I just modified the first post in this thread to show our current projected route from home to SD .... as we've noted several times over the years, no matter what route we take, it really doesn't make much difference in travel time or distance

[JEBar]

the pictures below show a very old, very large elm (I believe) tree located on road front of the site we have camped on while in Estelline for well over 10 years .... during our time there in July 2023 we noticed a large crack that runs from a fork in the tree all the way down to the ground .... when it rains we noticed water running out of the tree truck just above ground level .... while I'm most certainly not an authority, I believe that a strong SD wind storm will eventually cause the tree to split .... if/when that happens, the limbs are large enough to total a camper/tow vehicle .... even worse they could be deadly .... we reported it to the city maintenance fellows who take care or the campground and to the city secretary .... I'm delighted to be able to say that we have learned the city council has voted to have that tree removed and in an unrelated area, to completely re work the campground's 50 amp wiring .... I wish I could have taken better pictures showing the crack

[dave77]

Just a medium sized branch from a Elm tree by my driveway did some pretty significant damage to my friend's motorhome. The wind wasn't even blowing at the time, the branch just snapped.





It's gone now!

[JEBar]

this is the second time I've seen a tree branch come through a camper's roof like that .... the first was years ago after a hurricane in a campground near Chesapeake, Va

[JEBar]

just received the picture below .... the tree has been marked cutting

[JEBar]

contrast the pictures below with those a few post above in this thread with the ones below .... the damaged tree is gone .... quiet a change .... for us, having it gone is a major plus, one that will drastically improve our satellite TV signal reception

[JEBar]

UPDATE :

while some news from Western NC are promising but the scope of the damage is still horrific .... there is some talk that some traffic flow might be restored over I-40 by the end of this year .... water has been restored to most of Asheville but it still can't be used for human consumption .... IF the roads are open to traffic the size of our rig before we are due to head for SD we will probably change our route from the one shown in post 1 in this thread .... at this point all we can do is watch and wait

[JEBar]

as much as we enjoy spending our summers in Estelline, there is no way we would want to be out there right now .... as this is being typed the temp out there is 8 degrees with a slight wind that breeze that brings the "Real Feel" down to 2 degrees .... they are calling for a high today of 18 with it falling back to 1 tonight .... looking ahead, the forecast says the temp will get above freezing on one of the next seven days .... that being for the temp to reach a balmy 38 degrees on December 14th ..

[JEBar]

I-40 won't reopen by Jan. 1, 2025 and that comes as no surprise .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEmIcNDZV4M .... while it may open in 2025, there is no way that can be counted on .... we are holding the option open to return home via I-40 in August

[JEBar]

FYI .... POST 1 in this thread has been updated with trip dates.

[Hatchdog]

FYI .... POST 1 in this thread has been updated with trip dates.

Jim, this is a sure sign of spring for sure!!! Thank you

[JEBar]

Jim, this is a sure sign of spring for sure!!! Thank you

we sure hope spring has set in for keeps

[JEBar]

just finished an appointment with our mobile RV repair tech .... last weekend we spent four days with our club for the first campout of 2025 .... as is our norm, we use these campouts to test both our Sportchassis tow vehicle and our fifth wheel camper .... in doing so we make it a point to run all of their systems .... happily, our truck appears to be good to go .... unfortunately, the same didn't prove to be the case with our camper .... several issues have been identified, for one of which the repair will most certainly be expensive .... today our repair tech and I went over all of the issues and he will now purchase the parts needed to make repairs .... we should be able to get the parts and make the repairs before our club's April campout .... that said, we will continue to testing at both our April and May outings

[JEBar]

checked with UPS tracking and learned our camper's broken slide motor has been received back at its factory in Battle Creek, Michigan .... in a followup call we found it is will be repaired today and sent back on Monday .... should be here late next week .... hope to get it installed shortly thereafter