2024 Estelline Trip

[JEBar]

61 overnight .... currently 68 on its way to 73 later on .... when I looked earlier they had posted a 20% chance of ran and it was falling right steady .... they have changed it to a 60% chance and the sun is breaking through an overcast sky .... a quick look a the current weather radar indicates the front has moved east not leaving a rain cloud this side of the Minnesota border .... Maureen just returned from a short drive uptown to pick up a couple of grocery items .... late yesterday afternoon the local mobile tech I trust to work on our camper replaced the motor for our camper's largest slide-out ..... it was a replacement for the OEM one that failed something over 10 years ago .... fully believing that sometimes it pays to be paranoid, with most components in our camper, when a part fails I purchase a new one plus a spare .... the one he removed will be shipped back to Barker for a rebuild .... it will then become my spare .... the tech recommended installing a new in/out switch .... yep, I happened to have a pack of 5 which were purchased when the OEM one failed many, many moons ago

[JEBar]

we are under a dense fog advisory .... just got back inside the camper and no sign of any fog in any direction .... currently 68 on its way to 75 with no chance of rain .... with us due to head east next Wednesday and with an 80+% of a rainy Tuesday, we plan to get serious about the process of breaking camp tomorrow .... our local RV Tech should be here shortly to finish up working our camper's large slide .... we have a couple of other minor issues that need to be address on the camper but no need to worry with them until after we get home .... Maureen has a Christmas gifts related shopping trip with one of her sisters-in-law on tap for some time today ....

[Hatchdog]

we are under a dense fog advisory .... just got back inside the camper and no sign of any fog in any direction .... currently 68 on its way to 75 with no chance of rain .... with us due to head east next Wednesday and with an 80+% of a rainy Tuesday, we plan to get serious about the process of breaking camp tomorrow .... our local RV Tech should be here shortly to finish up working our camper's large slide .... we have a couple of other minor issues that need to be address on the camper but no need to worry with them until after we get home .... Maureen has a Christmas gifts related shopping trip with one of her sisters-in-law on tap for some time today ....

Maybe you can’t see the fog because the fog is blocking the view…..na never mind.

[JEBar]

Maybe you can’t see the fog because the fog is blocking the view…..na never mind.

I think I've been here toooo long because that made sense to me

[JEBar]

it appears we are in for another beautiful day in east central South Dakota .... predicted high 81, mostly sunny and nice with only a 1% chance of Rain and a low tonight of 59 .... biggest packing effort of today is to clear room for a couple of thousand dollars of prime South Dakota beef in our camper's frig and coolers .... sure hope not but there is a distinct chance we are going to have to purchase at least two additional Styrofoam coolers .... considering a much higher 40% chance of rain/thunderstorms tomorrow, we need to make a decision within the next few hours as to when we will take down our deck and pack it for travel .... that deck is our last big item and its much easier to take care of in good weather

[JEBar]

our last full day in Estelline this summer has come .... for a good while now they have called for it to be rainy today and it appears that they were right .... currently 63 with light rain .... predicted high today is 66 .... we don't have a great deal of outside items that need to be taken care of today .... the biggest is to back flush, recharge, clean the outside and store a water softener ..... that's not complicated but does require several steps each of which do take some time .... with two exceptions, tomorrow morning will be a normal disconnect utilities, hookup and hit the road .... those exceptions are to double check and air up 3 of our camper/truck's 10 tires and disconnect/clean/store our portable satellite dish

[JEBar]

today didn't go exactly as planned .... we didn't get everything because the rain came and stayed with us most of the day .... will have to take care of the tire pressures in the morning .... relatives have been stopping by most of the day to tell us goodbye .... we've reached the point where we hate to get back on the road but we are looking forward to getting back home

[markiver54]

today didn't go exactly as planned .... we didn't get everything because the rain came and stayed with us most of the day .... will have to take care of the tire pressures in the morning .... relatives have been stopping by most of the day to tell us goodbye .... we've reached the point where we hate to get back on the road but we are looking forward to getting back home

Understood...hope you have a safe trip home. Will be following.

[Hatchdog]

today didn't go exactly as planned .... we didn't get everything because the rain came and stayed with us most of the day .... will have to take care of the tire pressures in the morning .... relatives have been stopping by most of the day to tell us goodbye .... we've reached the point where we hate to get back on the road but we are looking forward to getting back home

Seems like just last week you were talking about getting ready for the trip west. Time flies much too quickly these days. Safe travels once you’re on the road.

[JEBar]

good wishes appreciated .... we are in Victorian Acres and are scheduled for our longest day's drive today, 400 miles to St Louis West KOA .... almost all of the distance is over 4 lane (mostly interstate) highways .... we aren't fans of long drives but, given time and campground spacing, sometimes we have no other choice .... once there we will drop off $600 worth of aged South Dakota prime Angus ribeyes to friends .... we are scheduled to spend tomorrow visiting and plan to pull out the day after for Clarksville, TN .... we do plan on making a fuel stop just east of KC at Oak Grove

[JEBar]

earlier today we crossed back into NC .... we are now settled in at the East Asheville KOA .... about 20 miles after doing our truck's odometer turned over 200,000 miles .... if all goes as planned, after a relatively short 242 miles / 3 hr 54 min​​ drive we should get back home .... before we head east in the morning we have to drive over to the Asheville Farmer's Market where we will pick up a couple of bushels white half runner green beans to can .... between medical appointments and canning beans I doubt we will get much else done for the rest of our first week back home .... late yesterday evening our daughter ended up in the emergency room after badly turning an ankle ..... after we get home tomorrow we have to pick him up at school and he'll be spending a knight or two with us while she recovers ....

[markiver54]

earlier today we crossed back into NC .... we are now settled in at the East Asheville KOA .... about 20 miles after doing our truck's odometer turned over 200,000 miles .... if all goes as planned, after a relatively short 242 miles / 3 hr 54 min​​ drive we should get back home .... before we head east in the morning we have to drive over to the Asheville Farmer's Market where we will pick up a couple of bushels white half runner green beans to can .... between medical appointments and canning beans I doubt we will get much else done for the rest of our first week back home .... late yesterday evening our daughter ended up in the emergency room after badly turning an ankle ..... after we get home tomorrow we have to pick him up at school and he'll be spending a knight or two with us while she recovers ....

Sorry about your daughter's un-fortunate injury. Welcome back to NC. Home sweet home not far away.

[JEBar]

looks like we are coming back to a week of highs in the mid 90's with high humidity .... that will be a major change for us after only having 4 or so days in that got into the 80's while we were in Estelline ..

[dave77]

earlier today we crossed back into NC .... we are now settled in at the East Asheville KOA .... about 20 miles after doing our truck's odometer turned over 200,000 miles .... if all goes as planned, after a relatively short 242 miles / 3 hr 54 min​​ drive we should get back home .... before we head east in the morning we have to drive over to the Asheville Farmer's Market where we will pick up a couple of bushels white half runner green beans to can .... between medical appointments and canning beans I doubt we will get much else done for the rest of our first week back home .... late yesterday evening our daughter ended up in the emergency room after badly turning an ankle ..... after we get home tomorrow we have to pick him up at school and he'll be spending a knight or two with us while she recovers ....

Hopefully she didn't injure her ankle too badly. Many years ago I twisted mine and probably should have gone to the emergency room but it happened getting out of my truck at work at 5am. Hurt like heck but I got back in my truck and sat for around 10 minutes and the cold seemed to help. I was there early to plow and shovel snow, luckily mostly plowing with my tractor, just a little shoveling. After school started I was able to get it taped up but it bothered me for a long time, it was very easy to re-injure it if I wasn't careful. Always kept some stretchy tape in my truck and car so I could tape it up when needed.

[JEBar]

understood .... something major going on at her work today so she's there on crutches and wearing a boot .... won't know much more till we get back home .... we awoke to a cool 58 degrees this morning in Asheville, NC .... already 63 back home feeling like 70 .... they say the high today at home will be in the low 90's .... today's 250 mile drive should take about 4 hours .... being in no hurry we will probably stop at a rest area about half way .... no planned fuel stop .... historically, fully unpacking will take a couple of days

[JEBar]

well, we are home .... its going to take a while to get used to our area's August heat and humidity .... did have a few hiccups along the way .... fortunately, none proved to be serious .... will go into more detail later .... when we got home we found our backdoor knob had a broken interior part so we've had to remove it .... plan to get a replacement tomorrow and have it rekeyed .... our 8 year old grandson is spending the night with us which we are enjoying .... I'm introducing him to watching Caitlin Clark play basketball

[markiver54]

well, we are home .... its going to take a while to get used to our area's August heat and humidity .... did have a few hiccups along the way .... fortunately, none proved to be serious .... will go into more detail later .... when we got home we found our backdoor knob had a broken interior part so we've had to remove it .... plan to get a replacement tomorrow and have it rekeyed .... our 8 year old grandson is spending the night with us which we are enjoying .... I'm introducing him to watching Caitlin Clark play basketball

Welcome home Jim.
Hope your broken doorknob was a simple failure and not an attempted breech.

[JEBar]

no sign of any attempt to get it .... did find a tiny piece inside the part that sticks into the door frame .... its the original that has been in use since the place was built back in the mid 70's

[Hatchdog]

Glad you made it home safely. Sorry about that humidity.

[JEBar]

Post Trip Comments :

our recent 90 day round trip from our home in central NC to Estelline in east central SD and miles covered while out there totaled 4,624 miles

we burned 540.4 gallons of diesel fuel

average cost per gallon $3.039

total cost for fuel $1,642.17

8.6 average mpg

the best mpg 11.5 over 685 non-towing miles

the lowest mpg 8.5 over 550 towing miles

biggest mechanical issue was having to replace one of the campers wheel brake assemblies

biggest elective camper maintenance item, having both roof 15K AC units thoroughly cleaned

for us it proved to be a very good trip that, if all goes as we hope, we are looking forward to repeating next summer