Day 6

Tuesday Sept 15, 2015

Keystone, SD

Mt Rushmore KOA campground

We left Chamberlain at 9:45 this morning. Happy Campers beside interstate was remarkably quiet. The temps not too cold or too hot to sleep. We drove a couple of hours before leaving interstate and starting through the Badlands. We saw big horn sheep, buffalo, and a prairie dog town.  They chirp at each other.  Like to take one home they are so cute.  The terrain of the badlands is the real attraction though.  It is barren, awesome and almost spiritual.  We got pictures  but they do not do it justice. I had seen it before but still holds me captive when I saw it today.  We had nice weather to get out and walk to get a better look at it all.

We booked a KOA near Mt Rushmore and because it was after Labor Day they cut the price in half to $67 a night.  We passed a time zone so we arrived at the campground at 5:30 by our standards but 4:30 local time.  We ate at the restaurant here which was not that great but Lee enjoyed his buffalo meatloaf.  Tasted like meatloaf to me.  Then we went to the evening presentation of the lights at Mt Rushmore.  There is a big amphitheater where you listen to a ranger talk and watch a movie at dusk and when it is dark they flood the faces on the mountain with flood light while the Star Spangled Banner is sung.  It was too windy tonight to do the movie as the screen would have blown around, but we did the rest. 

Tomorrow we plan to see a carving center, mammoth dig, needle formations, and Custer Natl Park.  We discovered this morning we drove off with our hitch lock on the bumper last night an lost it and I have lost my only pair of distance glasses so I can not read a road sign in time to get in the correct lane etc.  Since Lee depends on me to keep him on the right road that is real problem.  Our new truck does not have Navigation.  This should be interesting.  We may be like that train in Boston and be riding forever.  If we do not come home you will know why.  

Day 5

Monday, 09/14/15
Chamberlain, SD
Happy Campers CG

We had a pretty decent night at Pacific Junction, Iowa. The train and traffic noise were not as much of a problem as we had anticipated. We optimistically got up and ready to leave at 8 when the Camping World 20 minutes away would open.  Unfortunately they said it would be a week before they could get to it. So much for that.  We were able to purchase a spare tire cover , ours had degraded in the sun, and a lid for the black water holding tank which had broken off yesterday.  We needed some other things they did not have.  We headed north on I29 and stopped up the road for gas and a snack. We stopped at another RV store and got another part we needed for the sewage line, so things are looking up.


 We still need to figure the propane tank problem out and we found mold on the wall by the head of the bed where the water has gotten under the fiberglass to the wood at the front of the trailer.  I am  very allergic to mold so ended up sleeping on the sofa.   We made it to Souix Falls and picked up I 90W and spent the rest of the day on it.  Ended up in Chamberlain SD about 100 miles short of the Badlands, Needles, Mt Rushmore and some other stuff we hope to see tomorrow.  The camp ground is called Happy Campers Camp Ground.  No kidding, so guess we are Happy Campers tonight.  It was a pleasant sunny drive but by this evening it was in the 80s and pretty hot setting up. We paid twice tonight what we paid last night and it was not as nice a place. Oh well. We traveled 334 miles today.

We unhooked from the trailer and went into the small town of Chamberlain to have dinner. We found 2 restaurants and chose The Anchor.  We saw an older lady who came in after us all alone and looking a bit lost.  We chatted with her and asked her to join us.  She was there to check SD off her bucket list. She would be flying home in a few days to Walnut Creek, Calif.  She lives in the same general area where I was born and lived until my midteens and was doing what we are doing, working on our bucket list. Small world.

Tap on blank square below to see todays map

Day 4

Sunday 09/13/15

Pacific Junction, IA

Highway 34 RV Park

We left Danville, Missouri around 8:30 after a pleasant night.  It was quite cool, 40s but with an extra blanket we slept well. We drove around Kansas City and St Joseph.  The trailer brake in the truck says, No Brakes, Internal Error.  We have no clue what is going on with that but in flat land probably not critical.  We stopped a couple of times but no long delays today.  It was beautiful all day and a pleasant drive thru crop fields. When we got to our campground we found it was sandwiched between a railroad track and an interstate surrounded by farm land.  Between 18 wheelers and train whistles I suspect our sleep tonight will not be so peaceful. 

Dinner time brought on more trouble.  The stove would not light again.  There is a switch inside that is supposed to shut off  the propane but does not. The stove will light with it in the off position. It appears you must go out and manually turn on and off the gas at the 20 pound tanks to control the propane flow.  Add that to the brake light and we are now planning to go to a Camping World about 20 miles away near Omaha.  Hopefully they can work on it tomorrow and solve the problems.  A bigger issue is we have discovered there has been water leaking inside the exterior of the trailer and the wood behind the fiberglass overlay is wet on the front of the trailer.  We can't see anywhere there is any place water could or did get in.  Think we will ditch this thing when we get back from this trip. 

If you click below in the blank square you will see a map of todays 346 miles. 

Day 3

Saturday, 09/12/15
New Florence, MO
Lazy Day Campground

We left Clarksville, Tenn around 9am and it was not raining.  We went through a small piece of Illinois and into Missouri.  Just before entering Missouri we pulled over in a mostly vacant parking lot and went back to the trailer to fix lunch. Unfortunatly it was delayed because we found we had a flat tire on the trailer.  As we were working at putting on the spare, a nice local man with his teenage son  stopped and offered to help.  He really did not do much but took us to a big tire store nearby where we were able to buy a replacement for the destroyed tire.  The rest of the day was nice with only one other delay. A little town was having a parade which had through traffic blocked for about 20 minutes.  We arrived at Lazy Day Campground to a very friendly and helpful attendant who showed us to our sight. It has cooled to the 60s and calls for 40s tonight, but it was sunny when we made camp.
 We have rerouted from our original plans for tomorrow.  We should end up along the Iowa and Kansas border.

Tap on the empty square below to see todays travel map.

Day 2

Friday  09/11/15
Clarksville, TN

Today started like our first aborted attempt to leave. Rain.  As we woke up we heard the sound of rain.  We checked the internet for radar and saw it was all around us.  We went out in the rain and connected or disconnected all the necessary stuff and wet and grumpy started off.  Oh I forgot that before we went out in the wet, Lee tried to fix coffee but we could not get the burner to light.  Lee refused to consider the possibility that the frig and freezer which run off propane when you are not parked and hooked to electric could have used both 20 gal tanks up.  We drove a while then decided to stop for gas and a bit of breakfast at a gas station. I convinced Lee to do a swap for another propane tank just in case that was the problem.  You can swap them at almost any service station if you have a barbque grill you know that.  Well low and behold.  The stove now worked.  Both the 20 tanks were empty.  When you just cook they last a long time but when you are cooling a frig and freezer apparently they go fast.
We had not been traveling more than 30 min and the sun came out and it was nice.  We made about 350 miles today. and about an hour before we stopped it started to pour so when we stopped it was wet and nasty although the rain had more or less stopped. There seems to be a plot to make sure we start the day wet and miserable from breaking camp in the rain and them rain again just as we get stopped for the night.
Lee decided after dinner to get  shower and we did not have hot water.  It works off the propane.  The propane was turned off inside but the stove still lit when I fixed dinner.  It should not have with it turned off inside. We can not figure out what is going on.  It is clear we should have done a shake down trip close to home to check everything out before we headed west.
The campground is nice and we actually have wifi and can listen to news and such. It has cooled down to the low 70s but is quite humid.  We are shooting for about and hour west of St Louis tomorrow. If we have to stop and have work on the trailer we won't make it.

Stay tuned for the trials and tribulations of the Hare.

Day One

Thursday 09/10/15

Wilson's River Front RV Park

Asheville, NC

Today we got off at 8:45 and arrived about 3pm in Asheville.  We had nice weather and only one delat due to a really bad accident on interstate.  The camp ground is small but has nice concrete pads to set the trailer up on. Josh is playing taxi in his new car and we will take he and his girlfriend Kristie out to dinner. 

Our ac is not shutting off.  It cools and then keeps running until you finally shut it off you are so cold. Seems we had that problem the other time we used it.  The heat shuts on and off but the ac will freeze you out. Since it is 80s outside at night we have to use it off and on. 

After a wonderful dinner with J&K and a brief visit we returned to the trailer for tomorrows plan
ing session.

Voyage of Hare

Wednesday 08/09/15
Little River, SC

We have planned a roadtrip out West to visit Yellowstone then South to Bryce Canyon and other parks in the area. We will travel in our travel trailer at a considerable greater speed than we do in Sea Turtle, thus Hare. When sailing it is said that the only weather you control is the day you start. That, among other things worked to abort our start today. We had low tire pressure in the trailer tires, the hitch setup for the new pickup needed adjusted, many things needed to be loaded into the trailer, and it kept raining. We were both getting wet with rain and sweat so we parked the rig in front of the house and promised ourselves an early start tomorrow.

Our goal for Thursday is to get to Asheville. We plan dinner with son Josh and Kristi. We may have a problem finding a campground in the vicinity as it seems they may be booked. We will deal with that tomorrow. I enrolled in Good Sam roadside assistance today but it won't be effective until Friday morning. I hope we have no issues tomorrow. Our trailer insurance was due so Lynda called and renewed it on our credit card.

Some of you should get this by email. I hope you will follow along, but there is a way to unsubscribe is you are disinclined.

We hope to make a trip in Sea Turtle somewhat similar to last year starting after Christmas. Stay toned for that trip. If you would like to refer anyone they can see our log at:

http://voyagesofseaturtle.blogspot.com/2015/04/wednesday-april-15-2015-lightkeepers.html

Or thereabouts.