Elkhart, IN

How a service rodeo at Elkhart, IN feels

We're setting in Elkhart, IN (Elkhart Campground) awaiting repair (this coming Tuesday) of another catastrophic hydraulic failure.  Second time within six months.  Third time in two years.  Happened Tuesday.  We broke a hydraulic line going to the door-side rear leveling jack.  Break appears to be at or near where the hydraulic line exits the body of the trailer to extend down to fittings on the leveling leg.  Not sure how it occurred.

Of course this leads to canceling a couple of other planned service appointments (just like last April).  If we're fortunate, we maybe able to get a few additional critical items repaired & complete some necessary preventive maintenance before we need to leave for doc appointments in Virginia.  We've discussed leaving the trailer here so work on it can continue and going on to Virginia.  This would be the third row in a year we would do this, and it's getting old.  So the current decision is to stick around and try to get as much done as we can before we absolutely need to leave.  From here on out, the very first service appointment of our service visits will always be with the hydraulic folks when we come to Elkhart.

Otherwise, we're doing fine.  Took a short walk today around the lake at Fidler Park in Goshen, IN.  Used the last of our Smiths (Kroger) fuel points from Jackson, WY to fill the truck with diesel.  Had a nice easy stop at Gallops Truck Stop (Bristol, IN) on US 20 to fill the DEF tank.  Plan to go see the Downton Abbey movie tomorrow.

We'll continue to hang out here until Tuesday when we move next door to a shop (Total RV) that can fix out hydraulics.  Thanks for dropping in and checking in on us.  Until next week, David

Lanesboro, MN

Part of the F-O-S (GS) Rally at an evening campfire.

Part of the trail near Decorah, IA

 We're back in the land of wireless connectivity after eight days at the Folks-on-Spokes (Gulf Shores) rally (Eagle Cliff Campground & Motel, Lanesboro, MN).  Internet connectivity was poor at best, so we're now getting caught up.  The rally was held along the Root River Trail.  As usual, we ate out too much and ate too much at the potlucks.  And then there was pie...

Eagle Cliff Campground

We had a great time visiting with everyone.  Donna got a bunch of bicycle riding in.  I got a few miles in myself.  We also got a tour of the Mayo mansion in Rochester, MN plus a trolley tour of Rochester.  We visited restaurants such as The Ol' Barn (Lanesboro), The Porch (Rochester, MN), Home Sweet Home (Lanesboro, MN), and The Creamery (Rushford, MN).  Pie was at Aroma Pies, Whalan, MN - a must stop.  There were other places, but I can't recall their names.

It takes a lot of effort to set up these rallies and organize the daily activities.  We appreciated everything everyone did to help people like us have a good time.  Eagle Cliff Campground was an excellent place to stay in the area.  We're told the motel was adequate.  It's an easy 0.6 mi ride to the Root River Trail from the campground.  We'll probably go back when we're in the area.

Today we left Lanesboro and followed in the remnants of Imelda to De Forest, WI (Madison KOA) for an over night stop.  Once, again, we're in that "if we're east of the Mississippi River and traveling, it must be raining" mode.  Madison, WI water logged.  Weather forecasters had indicated that Imelda would move into eastern Wisconsin/western Michigan by midday, today, but it slowed just so we could drive in it.  We plan to move a couple of hours south tomorrow before heading into Elkhart, IN on Tuesday.  Trailer service rodeo starts 9 AM Wednesday.

So that's it from us.  Thanks for dropping by and checking in on us.  Until next week, David

P.S. Yep, we had issues traveling along I-90 in eastern South Dakota week before last.  Friday's trip (September 13th) was to be a short hour trip to Sioux Falls, but it took us about three and a half hours to navigate the detours to get to the Sioux Falls KOA.  We left Mitchell, SD that Friday morning traveling west a short bit before heading an hour north, then turning east to I-29 where we turned south for Sioux Falls.   We never really got out of flooding the whole detour, but the roads were open.  Lesson learned:  Flush the GPSs & call highway patrol.

At Mitchell, SD

We're on our way to Lanesboro, MN for the Folks-on-Spokes, Gulf Shores bicycle rally.  We left the hatchery Monday with stops at Dubois, WY; Casper, WY; Hill City, SD; and tonight at Mitchell, SD.

Weather has not been kind to the eastern half of South Dakota.  We'd planned a stop about halfway across South Dakota at Kennebec, but that RV park was soaking wet and closed.  Though they'd let us stay as we had reservations, it was just way too wet for us.  Donna suggested we continue on to Mitchell and after a quick phone call, we started on our way.  Only problem:  that same phone call also warned us that I-90 was closed west of Mitchell.  We stopped at a rest area to get some suggestions, and we continued east.

Now, one would think that with two GPSs and two phones with Google Maps, the detour would be easy to find and follow.  Nope.  All those hundreds of dollars we spent on these "marvels-of-technology" and the annual subscriptions & monthly data to use them were totally useless.  SiriusXM TravelLink for the in-dash nav?  Didn't have a clue (and rarely does, so no surprise there). Garmin RV GPS with links & antenna for local travel info?  Useless.  (and apparently for the first half-hour to hour of use on Wednesday morning, the Garmin couldn't find a single city in South Dakota, either.)

Google Maps should come to the rescue, right?  I mean, we've got two of those darn android phones.  Wrong!  Yep, it knew I-90 was closed from Plankinton to Mitchell.  So off it sent us through Plankinton and a side road to US 281.  Looked good as it would route us around the backup at the actual closure at exit 310.  Only problem:  the main road from the interstate into Plankinton was also flooded!  Try "Turn-around, don't drown" when there's no place to really turn around with a big rig.  (Local news now indicates that Plankinton is pretty much shutdown tomorrow.  Guess someone finally got around to going there and took a look.)  And we wouldn't have been there if the piece of horse manure electronics and app had done it's job.  All the data that Google knows about Donna & I, but it's incapable of following a known detour???  Really???  And this is the technology people are planning to use for navigation on autonomous vehicles???  Really???

Best piece of info:  the map the lady at the visitor center gave Donna with written arrows showing the way around the closed interstate.  Let's see Google (or any of these other companies) use that on their autonomous vehicles!

Oh, and guess what?  As I write this, I-90 - according to local news - is now closed from Mitchell to I-29 in Sioux Falls.  We made be here a little longer than plan!  I mean, Google Maps indicates that I-90 between Mitchell and I-29 at Sioux Falls is closed, but suggested "steps" are - you guessed it - along I-90, anyway.  Yeah, that'll work...  Hooray for technology!

Until next week, David

One last trip into Yellowstone

Osprey, String Lake, GTNP

Horse ride taking a break, String Lake, GTNP

 As the crowds are dwindling down here at the hatchery, we've gotten an extra couple of days off.  We decided to go into Yellowstone, spend a couple of days there, and stay inside the park in one of the lodges.

We started out taking one last walk around String Lake Monday (Labor Day) before going into Yellowstone.  After that, it was a picnic lunch at Colter Bay, then check in at the Elk Lodge at Grant Village.

View from Inspiration Point, YNP

Tuesday was a walk along the north rim trail of the Canyon area, lunch at the Canyon grille, and a stop at Lehardy Rapids (known for trout jumping during spawning season).  Wednesday was a drive along the Madison River with a walk along the board walk at Two Ribbon Trail (shows the regrowth after the 1988 wildfires), a stop at Gibbon Falls, a drive along Firehole Canyon, lunch at the Old Faithful Geyser Basin, and a walk to the Natural Bridge near Bridge Bay.

We returned to the hatchery today.  Overall, we found Yellowstone still busy (still too many people for our taste), and parking is in very limited supply at the popular sites.  Campgrounds were full, and only the Grant Village Lodges had any rooms available.  Tour buses in full force our two days there.

We had a good time, though.  Now we're looking at coming back over the winter at some point in the future just to see the difference.  We'll see how that works out. 

Duck, Lehardy Rapids, YNP

This is our last weekend to work at the hatchery this season.   The other volunteer couple has left.  Donna mowed one last time as we ran the gas out of the volunteers' lawnmower.  Donna cleaned the hummingbird feeder one last time.  Tonight we're watching football and awaiting thunderstorms to arrive.  Interesting how the weather gets back to raining just when it's time for us to travel.  Oh, well...

Anyway, I've put some highlights from our three-night stay in Yellowstone. 

Ducks, Lehardy Rapids, YNP

Hope you enjoy the pictures.  I'm off to see how many moths I can kill.  Until next week, David

GTNP = Grand Teton Natl Park
YNP = Yellowstone Natl Park

Lehardy Rapids, YNP

Gibbon Falls, YNP

Natural Bridge, Bridge Bay, YNP

Madison River, YNP