2024 Estelline Trip

[JEBar]

this thread has been started to give us a place to organize, revise, an most likely revise several more times before we head west

2024 Trip Plan

May 29, 2024 Soaring Eagle Campground https://www.campatsoaringeagle.com/] at 3152 Buttermilk Rd W Lenoir City, TN .... Exit 360.... 399 miles / 6 hr 16 min .... booked

May 30, 2024 Duck Creek RV Park https://duckcreekrvparkky.com/ at 2540 John L. Puryear Dr. in Paducah, KY .... 313 miles / 4 hr 39 min....

May31, 2024 ​Cottonwood RV Park https://cottonwoodsrvpark.com/ at 5170 N. Oakland Gravel Rd in Columbia, MO .... 300 miles / 4 hr 25 min .... booked

June 1, 2024 ​Victorian Acres RV Park https://victorianacresrvpark.com/ at 6591 Highway 2 in Nebraska City, NE .... 272 miles / 4 hr 8 min .... booked .

June 2, 2024​ arrive Estelline South Dakota .... 304 miles / 4 hr 25 min .... booked Dec 31, 2023


LEAVE Estelline August 21st

arrive ​August 21, 2024 Victorian Acres RV Park at 6591 Highway 2 in Nebraska City, NE .... 304 miles / 4 hr 25 min.... booked - 5-22-24

arrive August 22, 2024 St Louis West KOA at 18475 Old US Hwy 66 in Eureka, MO 63025 .... 383 miles / 5 hr 51 min .... booked - 5-22-24

arrive August 23 / leave August 24, 2024 Rjourney at 1270 Tylertown Rd in Clarksville, TN 37040 .... 290 miles / 4 hr 17 min .... booked- 5-22-24
​
arrive August 25, 2024 Asheville East KOA at 2708 Hwy 70 E in Swannanoa, NC 28778 .... 350 miles / 5 hr 38 min .... booked -5-22-24
​
arrive back HOME August 26th .... 242 miles / 3 hr 54 min​​

[JEBar]

hopefully what will proved to be the most costly thing we need to take care of prior to pulling out for South Dakota has been taken care of .... that being servicing our Sportchassis .... doing so takes

7 gallons of heavy duty diesel motor oil ($100+)
fuel, oil, and cabin filters along with fuel/water separator filter, cabin air filter and wiper blades ($200+)
lube, fluids check, pre trip inspection, labor ($200)

add in campgrounds, 3,000+ miles of diesel fuel and whatever other expenses come along .... expensive yes but more than worth it to us .... our time away from home will cover something over 3 months .... we still spend a fraction of the amount that we would on traveling and staying that many nights in a motel

[Hatchdog]

Thanks Jim, this is a sure sign of spring!

[JEBar]

today was a beautiful one indeed 75 with a gentle breeze .... per the long range forecast, the highs for the next couple of weeks will be in the low 50's

[JEBar]

as can be seen in post 1, all campground reservations for our trip to Estelline have been made

[JEBar]

the weather in Estelline, SD right now is usually different than it is as the same time than it is at home in central NC .... right now here we are having a beautiful day .... 67 degrees under a cloudless sky with no wind .... our backdoor is open, the glass in the storm door is lowered several inches .... in Estelline it is 22 degrees with a 7 mph wind under a mostly cloudy sky .... the pictures below were taken earlier today

[rickhem]

This sounds like quite the trip. A real adventure, and I envy you.

[JEBar]

good wishes appreciated .... for over 10 years we've hauled our camper from NC to my wife's home in South Dakota for the summer .... its a beautiful area and we thoroughly enjoy being out there

[JEBar]

well, the not so fun preparations for this year's Estelline trip have begun .... after hauling trash this morning I dug into unpacking, cleaning and then repacking our camper's basement (front storage area) .... unpacking and cleaning about 1/3 of the area has been taken care of .... that third is the easiest area to get into and stuff out of .... for me this is going to be a multi day project so when rain started falling after about 4 hours it wasn't a big deal .... hopefully I will be able to resume sometime tomorrow

[JEBar]

UPDATE .....

as this is being typed we are camped just off of I-95 NC Exit 90 .... we arrived shortly after noon Friday April 12th and are booked to head back on on Monday April 15 .... one of our objectives for this outing is to test our camper's various systems in preparation to leaving home and traveling to South Dakota near the end of May .... the weather has cooperated in that the temp lat night dropped into the upper 40's so we had occasion to run both our camper's propane furnace and electric fireplace .... in the area of interior lighting we only have two eight inch florescent bulbs to replace .... our daughter's home washing machine is on the blink so we had her bring a bunch of laundry which has now been run through the camper's washer and dryer .... auto and manual leveling systems seems fine .... satellite television system working as it should .... stove, frig, electric coolers all working well .....camper and truck tires all holding pressure over the winter .... one tire pressure sensor not working, its been reported to the manufacture and they are sending replacement batteries for all 10 sensors .... all in all, realizing things can change in a flicker, all's good

[markiver54]

Jim, your planning and prep are very admirable. I know you and Maureen are looking forward to your trip to Estelline as I am for you as well.
Looking at the current pics out there though, you might want to take your time getting there!

[JEBar]

Looking at the current pics out there though, you might want to take your time getting there!

you can well believe we keep an eye on both the current and long range weather forecast for out there ....

[Sir Henry]

Safe travels.

[JEBar]

another day, another decision made and acted on .... last year we purchased a Domende 12 volt Refrigerator 54qt Portable Freezer Electric Cooler (first picture below) ---- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BJ ... UTF8&psc=1 for use during trips in our camper .... it worked exceptionally well until it quit working .... a warranty replacement was delivered to us in Estelline and, so far, it has performed flawlessly .... for decades we have brought back thousands of dollars worth of South Dakota steaks for our family and some friends along the way .... our big Yetti cooler (second picture) has been our largest way of transporting those steaks from SD back to NC .... the problem is the Yetti's bulk and weight .... with a full load of steaks and ice, its weight has already required us to reweld the carrier shown three times .... we've tried to haul it on the back of our truck by that restricts the camper from pivoting and can hit the front of the camper .... had to have some fiberglass work after we got back from our last trip .... we've decided to retire the Yetti and have ordered another Domende Electric Cooler/Freezer ....it should be here shortly after May 1st

[JEBar]

bought new ratchet straps and secured our deck floor plates along with step ladder for travel ... things are coming together slowly

[JEBar]

return trip route/date information posted in opening post in this thread

[JEBar]

today we are in the second day of a 5 day outing in our camper .... for us this camping is a test of our camper an truck for the coming trip to South Dakota .... whenever possible we use the satellite dish mounted on top of our camper .... I really didn't anticipate having to unpack our portable dish antenna but as it has turned out a large tree next to our campsite is blocking the satellite signal from reaching our roof mounted dish .... that is also the case for the site we will be camped on in Estelline, SD for our 3 months out there .... it took me a while to get it going but its up and running .... so, that's another item checked off .... all in all, its been a good day .... we did have a brief heavy shower late this afternoon .... other than that the weather has been really nice

[markiver54]

Glad things are going well Jim!. Looks like all systems are a go for Estelline.

[JEBar]

Looks like all systems are a go for Estelline.

had a hiccup this morning that indicated all systems may not be go .. .. in short, our portable Pathway X2 wasn't working .... here is a short 2min YouTube video about the X2 --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWVPhkQzLlY --- showing how it works .... as noted the only time we customarily need to use it is during our summer stay in South Dakota .... in trying to figure out the cause of the problem I've literally had my hands on everything between the X2 and our camper's TV .... I quickly found a some coax connections that were a bit loose but not so loose so as to prevent the X2 from searching/locking onto satellites .... the problem ended up being an anchor rope that is used to make sure the X2 and it tripod stand aren't blown over during a high wind ..... corrected that and all's good .... hopefully all of this will help the setup in South Dakota to be easier and quicker

[JEBar]

Up first this morning, medical appointments for both of us ... same time but in completely opposite directions .... the good news is, both went well .... later grocery shopping at a very crowded Walmart .... loading some supplies into our camper in preparation for our trip to South Dakota .... our return home trip in August has now been added to the opening post in this thread