2024 Estelline Trip

[RetiredSeabee]

Glad you made it there safely, and had a place to go for the storm.

[JEBar]

our setup in Estelline .... our Ninja Woodfire Smoker/grill is under the black cover .... it will be sheltered from the wind on three sides which should help deal with South Dakota wind .... the table is setup for our griddle

[JEBar]

the mornings 30% chance of rain has been falling for the last couple of hours and AccuWeather says its should be falling for at least another hour .... those who camp will fully understand how, at such times, its nice to have a comfortable place to sit and a good source of entertainment .... as I look at the cars coming and going at the ballpark beside our campground, I can't help but notice the disappointment of the T-ball'ers who clearly want to practice .... don't think that's likely here today ... the final figures are in .... our drive from home in NC to our campground in SD covered 1,626.8 miles .... doing so it took us 28 hours and 56 minutes of driving time .... a little figuring indicates we averaged 56 mph which ain't too bad considering that our cruise was consistently set at 65

[JEBar]

the forecast for high winds all day proved to be correct .... spite of it, we decided to smoke some cheese .... first time for doing so in our Ninja Smoker under such conditions .... the blocks are individually sealed in Ziplock and stored in the camper's Frig over night ..... the cheese will be tasted in the morning to see if additional smoking is required .... should it be ready, it will be aged in the Ziplocks for a week .... we've been told that doing so will take out some of the sharpness common to freshly smoked cheese

[JEBar]

another beautiful but very windy day .... per AccuWeather, northwest winds 25 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph that are predicted to be with us until sometime after 7PM .... 51 early this morning with a forecasted high of 75 before falling to an overnight low of 48 .... 0% chance of rain .... I'd like to be able to make a few mods to our Ninja Smoker/Grill cart but it appears that will have to wait for another day

[JEBar]

another beautiful day in east-central South Dakota .... 71 degrees with a NNW 12 mph wind, RealFeel 68, 0% chance of rain .... spent a while trying to come up with a good way to add some more hooks to use for hanging grill tools on our grill cart .... will post some pictures when I get it figured out .... we are having family over for breakfast in the morning .... plan to use our Electric Griddle --- viewtopic.php?f=37&t=12950&p=240379&hil ... le#p240379 --- to fix omelets and pancakes along with sausage and bacon

[JEBar]

a chilly overnight low of 48 is quickly warming toward a projected high of 75 later today .... if the forecast is correct, we've seen the last of overnight lows in the 40's for this spring .... 10 day predictions show the lows dropping into the upper 50's/lower 60's .... in the around our campsite task for today category, switching water softeners heads the list .... the water here is very, very clean but is also very hard .... I also hope to get back to making a few more improvements to our grill cart

[JEBar]

69 on its way to 82 ---- partly sunny and breezy, wind out of the WNW at 14 mph​, gusting to 28 mph .... partly cloudy with a couple of showers late .... probable drive to the next town late this afternoon to watch a niece play softball .... do plan to replace a couple of fluorescence bulbs and hope nothing else needing fixing surfaces today

[JEBar]

a beautiful but very different morning for us .... 69 right now in Estelline with a RealFeel of 69, guess that means our humidity is about 0, now that's something we seldom see back home in NC .... projected high here today is 91, now that's something we do see .... first up, a 40+ mile round trip drive to Brookings for what may well end up being foot surgery for Maureen ..... everything else is pretty much on hold

[JEBar]

shortly before daylight thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance .... never saw lightening, nor heard any clap of thunder that tends to immediately follow hits by lightening .... rain moved in and is just now moving out .... the rain is just now moving out and blue sky is filling in from the west .... currently 62 where we are camped in east-central South Dakota .... 82 is our predicted high later this afternoon .... no further rain mentioned for today .... so far, so good with Maureen's foot surgery .... as told to expect, she does have some soreness which she says is less painful than she had prior to surgery .... in a little while we will remove the bandage, she will soak her foot for a while and then we will put on a new bandage

[JEBar]

its been a hazy but nice day .... today's high as been 82, its already dropped to 78 .... no precipitation so far but that is said to be about to change ===> 1% chance of rain/thunderstorm before midnight .... 98% chance of rain/thunderstorm after midnight .... smoked some dill pickle wraps today, none left .... quiet in the park tonight, no baseball or softball games scheduled

[dave77]

Those look delicious, love bacon, love dill pickles. Unfortunately I don't have a smoker. Can you smoke small portions of meat or fish, being single I wouldn't want to do too much at a time. I might be tempted to get a small one just to be able to try your pickle wraps.

[JEBar]

while today's weather hasn't been terrible, it sure hasn't been very good .... solid overcast but very little rain .... for most of today the temp has been in the upper 50's/low 60's with a cutting wind .... in short we spent the day closed up inside our camper, very happy to have a strong TV signal and wide range of sports/movies ... right now we are watching the Yankees vs the Red Sox .... most of the family drove an hour and a half south to watch one of the nephews play baseball .... the good news is, his team won 2 games and moves into the final tomorrow .... their weather was apparently much better than ours ...

[daytime dave]

I'll bet there were non of those pickles left. Mmmmm

We are supposed to get 90's this week. I have the grand daughters pool running and it should be ready when she is!

[JEBar]

thunder has been rumbling since 2AM 54 at 8:18AM with light wind and steady rain .... looks like this will be with us for a couple of more hour before moving out .... they say another band of thunderstorms will move through late this afternoon .... we have to get out and take care of some shopping, absolutely no motivation to do so for a while

[JEBar]

I'll bet there were none of those pickles left. Mmmmm

that would be a safe bet ..

[JEBar]

very different from yesterday .... partly cloudy with 18 mph wind (gusting to 37 mph) out of the WSW .... chance of PM thunderstorms which seems to be a common thread for the rest of this week .... its Rodeo week in Estelline ===> https://estellinerodeo.com/index.html ... sure hope the weather cooperates, around here this is a major event .... first up for us this morning, a supply run to Brookings for groceries and meds ...

[JEBar]

overnight out temp dropped to 51 and today its struggled to only get to 64 by 1:30PM .... don't know what the RealFeel temp is out there is right now but do know its uncomfortably cool ... they say that by 5PM the temp will rise to 71, can only hope that proves to be the case .... folks in town are putting the finishing touches on Rodeo prep .... the only open site in our campground has just been occupied so it appears we will be full for the weekend ....

[JEBar]

the watchword for today has been rain, more rain, and even more rain ..... we have heard that the watchword for tomorrow will be the same and even more .... currently 62 which is the warmest I've seen all day ....for many years we have served as volunteer camp host at Estelline's city campground .... with the election of a new mayor who we have yet to meet, we were wondering if that would continue .... one of the city workers just came by with info on site reservations for this weekend's rodeo ... as usual, we will be full ....

[JEBar]

Rodeo Day #1 in Estelline for 2024 ..... in short, big day in a small town .... currently 63 with a predicted high of 74 .... IF the forecast is accurate, they are showing 80% and up chances of thunderstorms from 7PM on this evening .... fortunately, tomorrow evening's forecast looks some better ..... nothing much on today's calendar .... other than to go for a walk, doubt we will leave our site today