2024 Estelline Trip

[JEBar]

Rodeo Day #2 --- for most all morning it looked like it was about to start raining at any minute .... weather radar has shown that the front is moving southwest to north east and that path has taken it just west and north of us .... looks like there is a good chance they will be able to get tonight's rodeo in without a thunderstorm .... the forecast for Monday doesn't look so good --- "A thunderstorm in spots in the morning, some sun, windy and humid with a gusty thunderstorm in the afternoon; thunderstorms can bring hail and damaging winds" .... from all indications, rodeo related activities like a parade, golf tournament, 3-on-3 girls basketball and a host of others are adapting to the weather ....

[JEBar]

the rodeo and all of its related hubbub are history for another year .... Saturday's weather cooperated and that night's performance played to an overflow audience .... it will take a couple of more days to pack everything away until its needed next year .... Sunday's draft horse pull went really well .... I've come to really enjoy it more than I do the rodeo .... .... tonight we plan to drive to Brookings to watch one of Maureen's nieces team play the first game in their season ending tournament ..... after that we plan to stop by Walmart to restock .... 83 right now under a beautiful Carolina Blue Sky with a few high clouds .... they say it should hit 91 about 5PM, if so, that will be our first 90 degree temp for this trip .... tomorrow we will turn the page to begin a new chapter of this year's visit to Estelline

[JEBar]

we've had another beautiful day in our neighborhood in east central South Dakota .... today's high has been in the mid 80's .... with a gentle breeze and sitting outside in the shade, its been very pleasant .... an AM drive to Walmart in Brookings for supplies proved to be expensive but there's nothing new about that .... Tuesday is mowing day in our campground .... with all the recent rain, grass is growing rapidly and really needed to be cut

[JEBar]

our string of beautiful mornings in east central South Dakota continues .... predicted high for today 77 with a gentle 5 mph wind out of the north, gusting to 9 mph, with a 0% chance of rain .... several camp chores like switching water softener tanks, recharging the tank we've been using, grooming our pup and giving her a bath, replacing a couple of ceiling light bulbs, putting our tallest stepladder back into storage, and organizing some electrical components for a coming modification .... definite drop in night temps into the mid to upper 40's later this week

[JEBar]

we decided we were in the mood for pork chops and they had some really nice looking ones at Walmart in Brookings .... I almost picked up a pack of two but they weren't very thick .... so, we picked up a very nice 12" long piece of pork loin ..... earlier today I sliced off two 2" thick chops and divided the remaining 8" piece in half and placed them in the freezer .... the two chops were seasoned with our SPG blend and smoked then in our Ninja Woodfire Smoker/Grill .... they really turned out well

[markiver54]

Mmmm...lookin' good.

[JEBar]

they were

[JEBar]

the word for today has been and still is rain .... back home in NC the drought is so bad they say they need tropical storm level rain to help work their way out of it .... don't know how much has fallen here today but it has to be an inch or so .... as should be expected, local kids baseball and softball games have been cancelled .... according to the forecast, our current band of thunderstorms should move out around 5PM and yet another one move in around 7PM .... tonight we are fixing a small pot of what we call Red Potatoes .... they were a big hit for us back when we catered Pig Pick'ns .... its been years since we fixed them and we are looking forward to doing so

[JEBar]

its been really a beautiful day .... that alone is rather unique, in that it didn't even look like it may rain .. .. as is the norm, people continue to come and go in the city campground .... this will be a full weekend with incoming folks filling in for folks due to leave Sunday .... preparations for my right knee replacement and a sleep apnea implant continue .... we are scheduled to get home on a Monday and I now have medical appointments each day through Friday .... as of right now, the knee replacement will take place Sept 24th and the implant will be installed shortly after the first of the year .... well, looks like I'm well on my way to being a bionic senior citizen ...

[JEBar]

why do we spend our summers in Maureen's hometown of Estelline, SD..?.. well, weather is one of the reasons .... right now back home in NC its 78 degrees with it supposed to reach 97 with an 87% humidity .... here in east central South Dakota its 57 degrees on its way to 66 with what they term an ideal humidity of 64% .... after the family comes by for mid morning coffee, we plan to drive 20 some miles south to Walmart in Brookings .... I need a new computer mouse and we will also pick up some groceries and other supplies .... nothing much else on tap for today

[JEBar]

today's weather has been really nice .... 70 has been our high, enough wind to keep the flies away, sunny .... unfortunately, more heavy thunderstorms are supposed to roll in tomorrow afternoon .... the Sunday evening couples softball league is here in full force and they seem to be having a lot of fun .... earlier today we had one of Maureen's nieces and her family over for burgers shown below is our current outside cooking setup ... our Ninja grill is on its cart .... a NuWave eye and our Presto Griddle are on the small table to the right of the Ninja .... all-in-all, it works pretty well for us

[JEBar]

following a cool start in the low '60's our day started off with blue sky and a few scattered clouds .... about mid morning we look a 3,000+ step walk, afterward we sat out enjoyed the piece and quiet .... high clouds rolled in, bringing with them a few light sprinkles .... no sun has been seen since, resulting in a rather dreary day .... its currently 73 degrees with little to no wind .... they are calling for a low of 56 tonight

[JEBar]

for some unknown reason I woke up early this morning with a nose bleed.... blood pressure and other vitals are good ..... its been many years since I've had something like it ....nice to open my computer and see today's forecast ===> "Beautiful with times of clouds and sun" .... 60 right now on its way to 81 .... things are due to change tonight, "Cloudy, breezy and not as warm with a couple of showers and a heavy thunderstorm" .... nothing new for us on tap for today

[daytime dave]

I hope the nose bleed was just a blip Jim. Enjoy the nice weather.

[JEBar]

I hope the nose bleed was just a blip Jim. Enjoy the nice weather.

good wishes appreciated and I sure hope that is the case .... no other problem since the one this morning

[JEBar]

this July 4th morning can best be termed "dark and stormy" .... the strongest thunderstorm that we've seen since our arrival seems to be winding down and has left us with plenty of puddles .... they say the next band will move through in a couple of hours .... this pattern is slated to be with us until after midnight .... our satellite reception has been surprisingly strong .... our portable Pathway 2 antenna continues to be the best we've ever used ... 64 right now on its way to only 67 with a forecasted nice warming trend ....outside of the rumble of thunder and firework explosions, we appear to be in for a pretty quiet 4th

[JEBar]

according to the forecast we have reached today's high temp of 76 .... mostly cloudy with patches of blue mixed in .... the chance of rain is dropping steadily .... wind holding steady at 10 mph, with a bit stronger gust thrown in .... Maureen has been out shopping with a sister-in-law for most of the afternoon ..... the 50 amp power service for the site next to ours isn't working .... an electrician was called in but, due to a lack of equipment, he was unable to pinpoint the problem .... another electrician who has equipment that can locate problems in underground cables has been called .... this campground is lined by some huge, very old, hardwood trees .... while it looks like a grassed lawn area, just under the surface a thick layer of roots makes digging with a shovel difficult .... it appears certain that replacing the power cable will be difficult if they don't bring in some good ditching equipment

[JEBar]

as this is being typed the temp in Estelline, SD is 76 and that is predicted to be our high for today .... weather radar shows rain all around but none close or moving toward us .... one of the benefits of spending our summers out here is the steady trickle for Maureen's family members come by for a visit .... this morning is no exception .... our coffee pot has really been at work .... we do have a 48% chance of showers and/or an overnight thunderstorm with a low of 57 .... no major storm threats on the horizon but that can change in a flicker ....

[JEBar]

we awoke to a cool 57 degree, foggy morning .... the predicted high for today is 76 with a 70% chance of heavy afternoon thunderstorms .... we really don't need more rain, the second set of pictures below show water pumped out of a basement sump pump in the house directly across the street from our campsite ..... it was running when we got here and hasn't stopped since .... all of the water shown in these pictures comes from that pump

[Hatchdog]

Holy cow, it sure has a wintery look in those pictures.