View of the Tetons

We lucked out and got Memorial Day weekend off.  So us and tons of other people went to the Grand Tetons.  Actually, we were just out getting our bearings and seeing what's around.  We traveled from Moose to Colter Bay on Saturday taking walks along String & Leigh lakes (and seeing our first elk of

the season).  Sunday's outing was lunch at Jackson Lodge and a hike along the Christian Pond trail.  Thought you'd appreciate some of the pictures we took.  As is true with all national parks, the pictures don't do it justice!

In other news, we're settling in at the hatchery.  We've now got a couple of days giving tours under our belt.  Most people stopping by are just curious as they've driven by many times, but just

never stopped in.  A few are just passing time waiting on a plane to arrive or a spouse to finish shopping in Jackson.  Either way, it nice to meet people, hear about where they're from, and what they're doing in the area.  Then there's those who come to fish in the pond.  Pretty interesting range of people we've met, so far.

Anyway, we've had a good week.  Thanks for dropping by and checking on us.  Until next week, David

Welcome to Teton County!

 If you're not following us on Facebook, you missed one the most "like" and commented on postings I've made in a long time.

Background: In foul weather, I'm big on posting pictures of the weather we're experiencing including our RV GPS, our trailer tire pressure monitor, and the weather radar on the Sync screen.

Crossing the Togwotee Pass near the Continental Divide on US 26 caught us both off-guard.  While we did have some nice travel days, the default was for us to travel in rain.  Such was the case, yesterday, as we travel to Jackson, WY.

 So rain was expected, and we did expect to see some large chunks of snow in the shady crevices of the mountains or left over piles of snow from the snowplows as we approached the Continental Divide.  We didn't expect this!

For those who like specifics, it's a warm 37 degrees outside.  It's a mixture of rain and snow falling.  And we're only about 9,800 ft above sea level.

People were still snowmobiling!   One lodge's parking lot was full of of snowmobiles - maybe as many as a hundred (available for rent??)  It was clear that snow activities were still in full swing.

Togwotee Pass, Wyoming

As I posted on Facebook, "Welcome to Teton County"!

Jackson, WY

After leaving Devil's Tower, we made the drive over to Casper, WY for the weekend.  We took a day off, then moved on to the Longhorn Ranch (Dubois, WY) for a couple of nights before arriving at the fish hatchery near Jackson, WY yesterday.  It's been a rough ride for the trailer, but we all made it.  There were days I wasn't sure we would!

Top three photos are of the Jackson National Fish Hatchery.  As you can see, Donna's made a friend already.  We're here as tour guides, and we're just beginning to learn the ropes of what we do here. 

We've also made a trip into Jackson to visit the Visitor Center, get our library cards from the local library, and get some groceries.  Jackson already a busy place.  It'll get busier, I'm sure! 

Lots to do in the area.  Hiking opportunities abound.  The bicycle path runs along the highway as a separate paved path.  We can bike into town, or into Grand Tetons Natl Park.  Pretty good climb into the park from here! 

I did want to give you some pictures from the Longhorn Ranch Lodge & Campground near Dubois, WY.  It came highly from some RV friends.  If you take a moment to read the campground reviews, it gets tremendous marks.  It's in a neat setting located between US 26 and the Wind River.  As one reviewer noted, it's a beautiful spot under trees in an area that's not know for trees.  I'm not a big one for being under trees, but it was a nice spot to spend a couple of nights.

Dubois, WY is small western town along US 26.  We're there before the summer tourist season starts, so some businesses hadn't opened for the season.  It appears to be a great place to use as a base for the area activities.  Easy place to walk.  We got to try Elk sausage, too.  It was mixed with pork and seasoned a little warm.  Good though.  We'd probably get it, again.  Also got to try bison sausage, too.  Both worth a try if you get the opportunity. 

One of the more interesting things we noticed driving along US 26 was how the northeast side of the Wind River appeared to be badlands (picture to the right).  However, the southwest side of the river is green and comes across as high, rolling foothills of the Wind River Mountain Range.  It's almost as if the river is following a fault line and separating two different landscapes.  I found it to be a very unique landscape.




So that's our week.  We're here for the summer and looking forward to getting to know the area.  The other couple volunteering here are real nice and very knowledgeable of the area.  We're going to enjoy getting to know them.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  Until next week, David

Devil's Tower Natl Monument

Having only visited the monument for a couple of hours on an Escapees Escapade HOP back in 2013, I've always wanted to return and stay a day or two at the tower.  We selected the local KOA for our stay.  You can walk to the visitors center from the campground, but you will do some serious elevation climbing to get there.  We chose to drive and park in overflow.  We're here during preseason, so nothing's all that busy though tour buses are passing through on a routine basis.

The campground does fill during the weekend.  We saw a lot of people who are dropping by for the night though.  They stop, set up their rig, take a few pictures of the tower, go back in their rig, get up the next morning, take a few more pictures of the tower, then leave.  I guess that met their bucket list!

Anyway, pictures here are from the campground, then from the paved trail that circles the base of the tower.  The remaining are from the longer Red Beds trail (including more elevation to climb).  You see the Red Beds from the picture taking through the rear window of our trailer.

The paved trail appears wheel chair/power chair accessible.  There are some "speed bumps" on the paved trail that seem to be there to funnel water runoff.  If you're here for a short visit - say that 2-hour bus tour stop - take a walk along the paved trail.  You won't regret it.

Until we spent our second summer at Voyageurs Natl Park with a geologist as our visitor's center naturalist, I'd never given geology much thought. After that summer, I've always regretted not taking an intro class to geology.   The Voyageurs experience helped me appreciate geology, and I now appreciate the geology of any area we visit.

The tower is interesting because most geologists agree on what the tower is -

a magma plug.  They just don't agree on what happened around it.   From the literature there's apparently four ideas on what happened around the plug.  Two are based on it being a plug of a volcano.  The other two are based on a plug underneath the crust and not part of a volcano.  We'll probably never know.  But however it occurred, it makes an impression on you as you arrive.  It's easy to see why native americans consider it sacred.

Hopefully, you're able to take a few minutes and enjoy the pictures.  If you haven't been to the tower, go.  You won't regret the stopover.  David

Stop Over in the Black Hills

Rafter J Bar Ranch Campground

One of the original bldgs of the stage coach stop

We've traveled a couple of days further west since last week. I wanted to stop in one evening (Saturday) at Badlands Nat'l Park - and we did - but the rain,  low lying clouds, and fog made it impossible to enjoy being there.  We drove through the rain Sunday to get to Hill City, SD for a much needed, 4-day rest stop.  Suffice it to say that we were continuing our tour of the various types of mud of the west.

We felt is was unusual weather for the Dakota territory and the locals even complained of the weather.  What it did do for us was keep us cool and - after the rain - cut down significantly on the dust that we're so use to experiencing out here.

We're staying at the Rafter J Bar Ranch Campgound just south of Hill City.  It's a historical area having been a stage coach station, a mining company, a ranch

Flume Trail

(who'd guessed that from the name), and beginning 1964, a campground. It's our favorite  campground in the area being it's wide open with good areas to walk.

The rain and thunderstorms have stopped though an afternoon thunderstorm is always possible.  We've gotten out to see Custer, SD; walked the Flume Trail near Rockerville, SD; and visited Custer State Park.  We move to 

Flume Trail

Devil's Tower Nat'l Monument tomorrow.  The weather forecast predict's another stop I wanted to make will be rained out just like Badlands NP.  Maybe I can get a couple of pictures before it gets fogged in.

As history has always demonstrated to us, appliance failures and poor build quality by DRV has returned since last Thursday.

Flume Trail

First the fridge crispers started filling with water.  Towels placed at the bottom of one of the crispers would become soaked with water in about six hours.  Sunday evening we cooked our second Spendide 2100XC combo washer dryer.  It failed at the 40th month of ownership - same period of time to failure as our first one.  And arriving at Badlands, the rear trim had 

Flume Trail

- one again, came off the rear of the trailer and was dangling underneath the rear, door-side of the trailer.  There's nothing to attach the fasteners to.  New trim fasteners won't last a day's drive.  There's no physical structure to screw the fasteners into.  They're just filling a hole in the fiberglass.  Once that hole gets too big - say an hour down the highway - the holes enlarge, the fasterner falls out & the trim comes off.

We did solve the fridge issue. 

Custer, SD

Apparently, Samsung fridges are known for filling the crispers with water (condensate).  The condensate drain freezes as the condensate passes behind the freezer.  The blockage forces the condensate to backup and eventually flows into the crispers. 

Stockdale Lake, Custer State Park

There are several youtube videos on how to take the fridge apart and clear the blockage.  One even has a makeshift repair part you can make to help solve the issue.We gave it a shot.  We got a tool we needed, the wire to create the makeshift repair, crossed our fingers and went to work taking the inside back of the fridge apart.  With Donna's patience we were done in less than two hours.  We're currently on our third day with dry crispers.  It'll probably be several years before we know if we solved the issue or not. 

Unfortunately, we're gonna need help to determine if the Splendide can be repaired or just go ahead and replace it plus add money in the budget for a new one in 2022, 2026, 2030, etc

We've decided to let the trim just hang down underneath the trailer as a testament to others on the build quality of the DRV Luxury 5th Wheel Trailers.  We'll see what else happens tomorrow.

So that's our week.  Nobody died.  We've enjoyed our visit to the Black Hills, but it's time to move on to Jackson, WY.  Even I'm interested to see what I'll post on our first day in Jackson!  Thanks for dropping in and letting me vent.  David

On the Road to Jackson, WY

Tonight we're in a soggy Mitchell, SD as we make our way to Jackson, WY for the summer.  Normally, it's dry and dusty when we're in Mitchell.  Not this time!  We're fine, dodging rain showers, etc.  While we still struggle with the holding tank valves and still have our kitchen sink drain leak, most things are repaired.  We've managed to not break anything else since leaving Shipshewana on Monday. 

Leaving Indiana Interstate Enterprises was with mixed emotions, though.  We're impressed and grateful for all that they got done on so little notice with so much work to do on our unit plus all the planned work on other scheduled customers, somewhat disappointed on what wasn't accomplished, and - unrelated - just tired of the soggy mid-west campgrounds! 

The top priority was have a trailer safe to travel to Wyoming and back.  And that's what we got.  Here's what they got done:  cut off, rebuild & reinstall door-side suspension; service the suspension (both sides); check and repair any caulking ssues; work on front caps to fix a new gap in the side wall fiberglass; install new A/C (heat pump); repair trailer skirt damage from the suspension failure (no paint); realign door-side basement storage door; and install kitchen sink (fell out of the island counter on the way up).

All that took all week, but they got us out of there by noon on Friday (and everyone else, too).  Monday was a 2-hour stop at Bud's Body Shop to get the trailer axles aligned (they were impressed with Indiana Interstates' work).  Headed west from there.  Stopped at a new-to us KOA northwest of Chicago for the night.  Next night was Oakdale, WI.  Last night was in Fairmonth, MN.  And as I stated earlier, we're in Mtchell, SD for a couple of nights (give Donna a break!).

Pictures:
Top pic is from Badlands NP back in the early 2000s.  It's a digital copy of one of the few true 35MM pictures I've been able to hold onto from all the hard-drive & backup failures we've endured since retiring.

2nd from top - replaced trailer skirting.

3rd from top - I couldn't back it into the aligment shop, but their guy did it in about a minute and a half.  We always let them do it since we started going there a few years ago! 

Next to last picture - Mississippi River at Lacrosse, WI. 

Bottom pic - that's what we've done this week, travel on the edge of the heaviest rain.  Apparently, it's going to be that way for for awhile.  Maybe all the way to Jackson!

Sorry for the long post, but that catches you up.  Thanks for dropping by and checking in on us.  Until next week, David

Howe, IN

We're hangin' out in the Michiana area while the trailer's repaired by Cross RV/Indiana Interstate Enterprises.  They're booked and working on our trailer as they can.  I saw it yesterday while the door-side suspension was being welded on.  It appeared as if we're getting all new suspension parts for that side.  A new AC for us set in front of the trailer.  Not sure what work has been done besides the suspension.  Not sure when trailer will be completed, either.  Donna thinks Saturday.

To pass the time, we've taken advantage of the good weather and done some serious walking, eating out, and shopping.  The EZ Pass works great, and we've found we're on the Indiana toll road a lot.  It is the quickest way to get around in this area.  Not the smoothest road we've ever been on, but we don't have to drive through a lot of horse poop, either.  I've always avoided the toll road and not pay the cash tolls.  Lots more convenient to have the EZ Pass and just drive through the toll gates.

Plan is to leave the area Monday if the trailer is ready.  We've got a Monday morning appointment at Bud's Body Shop in Elkhart to have the trailer's wheels aligned.  If that all works out, we're headed west when we leave Bud's.  Plan to try I-90 to Wyoming.  Got two weeks to get to Jackson, WY. 

That's it for this week.  Thanks for dropping by and checking in on us.  Until next week, David

P.S.  When we arrived at Cross RV Monday morning, Paul asked us to guess what he had in one of the bays.  Obviously, we didn't have a clue.  Turns out they had another 2011 DRV Mobile Suites in with a broken front trailer frame.  Same issue we had last October.