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10 days after leaving home, we are setup in our spring destination of Estelline, SD .... on the way we thoroughly enjoyed visiting with several friends and relatives .... the temps have been on the cool side but we couldn't ask for prettier days since our arrival .... on the way a few repairable issues surfaced with the camper and one aggravating one developed with the truck .... we've been able to repair the camper but after spending all morning at a truck garage, $380 dollars later we know that all of the brake components are OK, the problem is wiring .... they don't have access to a Freightliner schematic so they took it as far as they could ..... we have to hold off until June to try and get her fixed .... tomorrow is smoking day .... early in the morning we hope to get a large brisket and a large pork loin in the smoker .... in looking at them, we may have to split each and smoke them on Saturday .... as Maureen noted, some of her family will be here tomorrow night .... last time I heard the count was 16 or 17 .... we are providing the meat and all the others are bringing sides .... should be interesting ....

Vehicles sure are money pits. Sounds like you are enjoying SD though.

RanchRoper wrote:Vehicles sure are money pits. Sounds like you are enjoying SD though.

that is for sure .... we've been very fortunate with our 10 year old Sportchassis .... it had some issues early on, all of which were taken care of under warranty ..... it currently has over 139,000 miles on it and this will be the first that we've had to pay to fix

$380 is nothing, enjoy South Dakota and forget about it

What a great way to enjoy Spring!

I hope the family get together goes well - it sounds like you're going to be busy.

That's a great way to travel....chase the seasons around the countryside!!
Enjoy your family time, and enjoy springtime.

...spring destination of Estelline, SD .... the temps have been on the cool side but we couldn't ask for prettier days ....

Thanks for sharing. I worked in SD for a few weeks several years ago. I enjoyed the place.

this morning we went on a hunt for wild asparagus .... it grows in some road ditches and the time to harvest it has just begun in the area around Estelline .... by the time we usually get here the wild asparagus has gone to seed so this is the first time I've seen it at this stage .... while I'm not a fan of asparagus but my wife enjoys it

Veggies look great....nice mini wild harvest! Just last week I fixed asparagus as a side with a couple of salmon fillets....yum.

Continue to enjoy your tripping.....Looks like your weather is holding out nicely, too.

We planted asparagus in a small bed along a fence in our backyard. It's been a mostly impossible task to keep grass (and weeds) from growing along with them, without killing them, too. As a result, that little plot has just become another unkempt section of our property (though one that has sweet, spring asparagus).

Now, I think I shouldn't be so concerned about the appearance of grass and weeds. I just need to re-frame it.

Wild asparagus sounds really good to me.

we tried planting some many years ago with no luck .... best guess is its too hot in our part of NC .... from what I saw today, asparagus doesn't much care if its growing in an "unkempt" area .. .. we were told that if the forecasted rains materialize, there will be twice as much ready to pick shortly thereafter .... my wife fixed some for dinner and really enjoyed it

yet another beautiful day in the neighborhood .... as noted, the asparagus hunt went well .. .. upon our return to the camper we tried to care of some "chores" that have been building but with all the relatives stopping by, we couldn't get to them .. .. sure enough, the parade of relatives resumed and only a few of the chores have been taken care of .... the weather forecast is calling for rain/thunderstorms on each of the next 3 days .... it appears we are to be toward the upper end of a front that is supposed to stretch all the way down to Texas and will bring a major change in our temps .. .. low 80's for the next two days falling to mid to upper 40's on Friday and Saturday .. ..

we awoke to a cool but beautiful day in the neighborhood .. .. mid morning the clouds rolled in and light rain fell .. .. shortly after noon the clouds parted and the sun shown through .. .... late afternoon the clouds and rain rolled back in, the T-ball teams went back into the dugout, the parents retreated to their vehicles .. .. once again the clouds parted, the sun broke through, the T-ball game is once again underway .. .. yep, its been that kind of day .... no rain in the forecast for tomorrow and the temp is predicted to get back into the 70's for the first time since the day we got here (two weeks ago) ... a couple of racks of baby backs will be smoked during the day in preparation for some relatives coming over tomorrow night ....

talk about a beautiful day in the neighborhood, picture 1 highlights a gorgeous Carolina Blue Sky .. .. can't think of a better day to smoke some baby back ribs and have family over for dinner ..

Mmmmmm those look great!

I'm most happy to say, they were ....

today was another good one .... first, our truck has been repaired .. .. since leaving for the Freightliner dealership in Marshall, MN we have covered well over 100 miles and all's good .... to our very pleasant surprise, 4 hours after leaving the camper for the hour and a half drive to Marshall, we were back .... they took it right in (as promised) and completed the repairs in under an hour ... after getting back we decided to take a ride west to see the Stormo buffalo heard .... buffaloes from this herd were transported out to the Black Hills and were featured in the movie "Dances With Wolves" .... the ones in the pictures below, are only a small part of the herd .... those critters are huge, smell bad and attract flies like you wouldn't believe .

South Dakota has some beautiful country. My hat is off to the locals. I could not take their winter.

beautiful indeed .... while my wife was raised here, I've only been out here once during the winter .... it was an eye opener .... I've never seen so much snow, nor it so cold that the snow is too dry to make a snowball, nor being able to drive on a frozen lake .... don't know that I'd be content to spend the winter out her but the spring, summer, and fall are beautiful

sadly --- yet gladly --- our visit to South Dakota has come to an end ... sad in that we really enjoy spending time in that area and already look forward to going back .... glad in that we are due to arrive home on Sunday in time for the birth of a new grandson on Monday morning .... we left there this morning on a 318.2 mile drive that took 5 hr 46 min which took us to Victorian Acres Campground in Nebraska City, Nebraska === http://victorianacresrvpark.com/ === our plan is to leave here in the morning and drive to the KOA in Eureka, MO .... weather permitting, we plan to spend 2 nights which allows me to visit Jay Henges shooting park on Wednesday .... my hope is to run 100 +/- rounds through our 45-70 and another 100 or more through our Remington 11-87 on their trap range .... much depends on the temperature and humidity

after 7 hrs covering 419.6 miles we are set up at the West St Louis KOA .... its hot, our outdoor thermometer shows 93 and I'd bet the humidity is even higher .... tomorrow morning we will try and find the local WalMart for some grocery shopping and tomorrow afternoon we hope to get over to Jay Henges State Park ... shortly after our arrival a couple of fellows who have become good friends came by and picked up $630 worth of South Dakota steaks .... with that delivery we sure have more space in the camper's frig ..