2020 Trip To South Dakota

[Hatchdog]

I can’t even imagine living in humidity like you mentioned. Safe travels and enjoy the drier conditions as you get west.

[JEBar]

315.5 miles (5 hrs 27 min) after leaving Paducah, KY we are setup in Columbia, MO .... thankfully a boring day's drive .. .. today's drive included one fuel stop and one walk around .... as noted above, because of driving into a strong headwind all day, we anticipated low fuel mileage ... it had been a little over 700 miles since we last filled the tanks .... over that distance she averaged 7.9 mpg .... about half of that distance was driven into the wind so the actual mileage for that part was considerably less ....

[JEBar]

393.1 miles, 6 hr 33 min after leaving Columbia with one fuel stop and one walk around we are setup in Onawa, IA .... for us, that's a long day .... all-in-all a smooth drive with only a couple of brief slowdowns .... if things go as we hope, tomorrow's short 200 mile drive should take us to our summer destination in Estelline were we plan to spend the summer .... after getting there and setting up we are looking forward to a South Dakota steak dinner at one of my wife's brothers' home ..

[JEBar]

today will be our 5th and last consecutive scheduled travel day .... years ago we used to drive it straight through in 24 to 28 hours .... we are 200 miles from our destination of Estelline, SD .... no planned stops but will most likely take brief break about half way .... we do plan to try and complete most (hopefully all) of our standard setup .... that said, history tells us we will probably fall a bit short .... our camper's washing machine wouldn't come on last night .... totally dead, no lights whatsoever .... other than to get one of my wife's brothers to check it, I'm delighted to say, we have no definite plans for the first few days

[Hatchdog]

Almost there, saw some weather moving into central SD today with possible large hail. Be safe!

[JEBar]

we arrived in Estelline shortly after noon and have been visiting with my wife's relatives while trying to complete setting up our camper .... as usual, we will not finish setting up today ....

[brm4450]

Welcome to Dacotah

[JEBar]

we just returned from a really nice family gathering featuring grilled South Dakota steaks and all the trimmings .... outstanding, truly outstanding .... we are now back in the camper, settled in for the evening .... the pictures below show our current setup .... after 5 consecutive travel days, we are looking forward settling down for while .... only thing on the agenda for tomorrow is to finish our setup

[Hatchdog]

Two questions:

Is that tow vehicle as comfortable as it looks. Now that’s the way to travel!

What are the black tanks near your utilities? They look like compressed air so something along that line.

Great looking setup!

[JEBar]

Two questions:

Is that tow vehicle as comfortable as it looks. Now that’s the way to travel!

What are the black tanks near your utilities? They look like compressed air so something along that line.

Great looking setup!

kind words appreciated .... contrary to what many folks have mentioned over the years, power had nothing to do with with purchasing our Sportchassis back in '07 .... as you noted, it was ride (comfort) .... we were taking beating, one that I really believed could (over time) shorten the time we would be able to travel .... the tanks are water softeners .... the water in Estelline (and many other places we visit) is very hard .... a tank will usually work well for a week .... we use one while the other is being recharged

[JEBar]

well, this trip just got expensive .. .. day before yesterday all was well .... yesterday, our camper's 4 year old washing machine quit .... stone cold dead .... earlier today one of my wife's brothers who has experience working on appliances checked it out .... at a minimum, total failure of the main circuit board .... tomorrow morning we have to try and find a replacement which history indicates won't be easy .... in all likelihood, we will have to order another and have it shipped in .... yep, expensive indeed

[JEBar]

eventful day .... AM grocery shopping for the first time in a week .... my wife planned out our meals and had everything needed when we left home one week ago and as a result the cupboard was getting bare .... after lunch she and one of her brothers went to the Lowe's in Brookings in search of replacement for our camper's washer .... the only one they had or would have in stock for at least a week was a bit too large .... bottom line, she liked it and her brother is reworking the cabinet to accommodate the larger machine .... for us the biggest plus (and there are several) is it isn't an RV washer and has 5 year warranty from Lowe's we've been .... if/when it needs repair, we should be able to get service .... its washing away as this is being typed .... no sound, no vibration .... that's nice

[JEBar]

4:20 Eastern Time and its 61 degrees back at our home in NC .... at that same time its 92 where we are camped in east central SD ..EEK! .. now that just ain't right .... the strong wind forecasted for today has proven to be an understatement .... our campsite is located in the northeast part of town .... with the wind coming from the south east, we aren't experiencing the full force ..... that said, we've had to spend the entire day inside .... our camper's new washer is working overtime .... we are still fine tuning the design of the washer's cabinet and hope to have it built within a few days ....

[brm4450]

The wind has been blowing hard all day and has been blustery for 10-14 days. Keeps me from going to range.

[JEBar]

hopefully they are correct in predicting only one more day of wind in blowing through in the mid to upper 20's .... we are looking forward to being able to spend time outside

[JEBar]

with some of my wife's family coming to camp with us over the weekend, a grocery run was in order .... they are new to having a travel trailer and are really looking forward camping with us, as we are with them .... a weekend of good eats is on the way . . thankfully, the weather looks good .... we also hauled our old washer off to the city dump, its now gone but not forgotten

[Hatchdog]

Sounds like a great weekend, hope the wind dies down. RIP old washer

We’re doing something similar in two weeks. Kids/grandkids made a last minute decision to visit from So Cal over the fourth. They were able to rent a cabin on Lake Pend Orielle in north Idaho for a week. Of course they want us to spend a few days with them but we have a dog and the cabin they rented doesn’t allow pets. So we decided to try to get an RV spot and take our trailer up for a few days. Remember, this is over the 4th of July, the busiest weekend on the year. Of course there was nothing available but.......due to the border closure extension until July 21st the RV park has several cancellations from Canadian customers. So we got fortunate and got a spot for the 3rd and the 4th. Gonna be a long 60 minute drive to get there.

[JEBar]

hope y'all have a really good trip .... please consider starting a trip thread where you can take us along for a ride

[JEBar]

its been a rainy but good day in the neighborhood .... I'm told we got around 2" of rain but the front has moved on and plenty of blue sky has replaced the clouds .... enlarging the washer/dryer compartment so as to enable it to accommodate our new washer has been completed .... Maureen's brother did an excellent job and she's well pleased with it .... Maureen's niece is on the way with their camper .... they will be here to camp with us for the weekend and we are really looking forward to it

[JEBar]

yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day in east central SD .... a family of my wife's relatives setup camp next to us and will be here for a long weekend .... they have three very active children who really livened up things .. .. our contribution to last night's cookout was the bacon wrapped stuffed dill pickles and burgers shown below .... the plan was for us to cook pancakes this morning on our outside stove but steady rain has pretty much killed that idea .... a couple of the fellows and I were due to spend the day walleye fishing but the chance of that appears to be pretty slim