Utah to New York, 2019. A New Adventure Begins!

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Comment by Jimco_W001 on June 17, 2019 at 11:12pm

Hey Kevin and Patti. My mig welder is ready and willing. I sure would like to post some photos of our repair if you can stop by here. Tina's camping area is waiting for you.

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 17, 2019 at 8:52pm

MINNESOTA ROADS SUCK!!!



Western South Dakota is beautiful...and then the eastern half turns into rolling green hills like the world's largest golf course.

And THEN we hit Minnesota.  GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!  The road is in HORRIBLE repair along I-90, with big bumps every 12 feet or so, like driving over short speed bumps or a giant washboard.

We pulled into a truck stop for the night in Blue Earth, Minnesota...after over a hundred miles of horrible roads...only to discover the Onan Generator is almost falling out!

No kidding!  The welds snapped on the rear bracket and on the rear side, it is almost touching the ground...only being held in place by the wiring harness and the propane line!  (Good thing the liquid LP valve was closed and it wasn't running!).  The front is still holding though.

I have no other option tomorrow morning than to unbolt the good side and somehow lower it to the ground (after removing the exhaust pipe)...and then removing the propane line...and the wiring from the junction box...and lower THAT side to the pavement.

And then if it isn't too tall, I'll have to slide it out from under the RV skirt.  If it IS too tall, I'll have to jack up the RV to slide it out.

And THEN I'll have to figure out how to lift it into the back of the Jeep!  The specs on this thing say it weights 279 lbs...YIKES! 

These things sell for over 4500.00 new, and it only has around 100 hours on it...so I'm not going to just jettison the thing.  Once we get to upstate NY and have an income coming in again, I'll have the bracket welded back in (properly this time!  It looks like it was just tack welded in place and they forgot to lay a full bead like they did with the front of the bracket)...and reinstall the genny with a new control board.

But yeah...Minnesota roads SUCK!!!

Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 16, 2019 at 10:20pm

You simply have to SEE Mount Rushmore to believe it!  The sculptor was SO good, that in person the eyes look lifelike, even with a sparkle in them.  We arrived right after a rain storm (which we drove there in)...and the Presidents looked like they were crying.  (I won't interpret that here politically...lol).  After the rain dried up, that effect went away.  The type of granite they were carved into, according to park rangers, will last at LEAST 10 thousand years, even with weather and erosion.  It was a remarkable and very warming experience to my patriotic heart.

The studio the sculptor used was pretty neat, and we learned a lot about HOW it was done from the park ranger giving a presentation.  Amazing!

It didn't take ALL that long to see...so we drove a couple of hundred miles to a town called Murdo, SD to a Pilot for the night.  Right across the street is the entrance to the Pioneer Auto Show museum...where they have hundreds of vehicles on display, including the original General Lee, and Elvis Presley's Harley.  So we are going to walk across the street tomorrow morning and check it out!

1400 miles or so to go until we get to Sterling, NY for our next Renfaire!  Add around 150 miles to that since I found a route that goes TOTALLY around Chigago.

And our average MPG for this beast since we bought it this winter?  A solid 11.5 MPG.  Sometimes it is 12, and sometimes it is 11...but the average since we have been keeping track (since we bought it) is a solid 11.5mpg.  Outstanding!  Especially since diesel is right around the same price as regular gas now...and even cheaper in some places.  SWEET!

On the way we hope to visit some friends, see Niagra Falls, and arrive in our camp in upstate NY by July 1st.



Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 16, 2019 at 11:34am

We are about 25 miles from Mount Rushmore...but camping in the National Forest doesn't look very promising.

We are going to try one of the campgrounds near Mount Rushmore...I called, and they said there were 3 "first come first serve" sites available, but I doubt they'll still be there when we arrive in a couple of hours, being Father's Day and all. Our alternative plan is to just drive to the Memorial, where they have 10.00 RV day parking (but you can't stay overnight)...see Mount Rushmore...and then drive back to I-90 to a Flying J a few exits down the road.

Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 15, 2019 at 9:16pm

We tried to check out Little Bighorn Battlefield, only to discover that it wasn't a historical site, but a town built around where the battle took place...so that was a wash.

So we just pressed on. Next year, since we passed the signs for it, we'll check out Devil's Tower...but this year we are running short on time if we want to see Mount Rushmore, visit our friends Jimco and Lydia for a day or so along the way, see Niagra Falls, and be in camp for the Sterling Renaissance Festival in Sterling, NY by July 1st.

We made it all the way to a Pilot in Rapid City, SD today, and are staying here for the night. We are SUPER close to Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills National Forest...so tomorrow we'll try to get into a campsite in the National Forest for a couple of days, and see Mount Rushmore!

Honest folks...we have LOTS of pictures that I'll share...eventually.

Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 15, 2019 at 10:39am

So it looks like we'll be stopping on the way to Mount Rushmore to see the Little Bighorn Battlefield. Not sure there will be much to see, but it is right off the highway, so why not?

This Flying J in Hardin, MT doesn't have a dump station or water...but there is a Love's Travel Stop off this same exit, so we'll see if they have a dump station there. If not, hopefully the next Flying J on the way to Mount Rushmore has both.

Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 14, 2019 at 7:15pm

We made it as far as a Flying J, in Hardin, MT and fueled up...and decided to stay the night. And it is a good thing we did! Not long after we pulled in, with sunny blue skies...dark clouds rolled in with thunder and lightning, and it is now raining cats and dogs with tiny hail stones.

We are now at around 2900 feet in elevation, and it sure is easier to breathe than it was at almost 7000 feet in Yellowstone!

Tomorrow we'll be driving around 300 miles, which will put us at a Pilot near Rapid City, South Dakota...which is only around 30 miles away from the entrance to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills National Forest. We should be able to get a campsite in the park for a couple of days...I'm going to call the Ranger Station in the morning and see what the camping situation is.

Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 14, 2019 at 10:44am

We are about to hit the road for the next leg of our journey...destination Mount Rushmore!

Yellowstone was amazing, and we'll definitely be back next year. We only saw a fraction of the park, so next year I'm thinking we'll explore Grand Tetons and the some of the south side of Yellowstone.

The Jeep is already hooked up, so after a cup of coffee, we'll be back on the road.

Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 11, 2019 at 7:31pm

he caliper pins came in (albeit late at 3pm), and I walked up the STEEP mountain trail, about a mile but STEEP, to walk to the Post Office, where I was nearly run over by an elk cow running to the cry of her newborn calf...which was on the other side of me.  Yikes!

The hike DOWN the hill was a lot easier than going up...and the repair took less than 10 minutes.  I used blue Loctite on the threads so it won't happen again...and put the two spare pins in my Jeep toolbox just in case!

Then I payed for 2 more nights so we can see more of the park besides what we have seen so far.

So the Jeep is fixed!  YAY!!!!!!!



Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on June 11, 2019 at 10:46am

So the tracking numbers say that my bolts for the Jeep made it to Billings, MT, and that the package left Billings around 5am. But it isn't giving me a time of arrival. I REALLY hope they make it to the Post Office before they close at 5pm!

Kev

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