Day
6 – 5-17-15 Sunday We awoke to rain about 5AM and checked our
Weatherbug app to see lots of rain coming so we decided to break camp
before the ground where we were setting got any softer. The rear
stabilizing jacks had already pressed the 6” block of wood I put
under them into the ground about 6” so I knew the ground was
already soft. You just don't want to get a heavy motor home stuck in
the mud. Getting them out is not a pretty sight and can cause lots of
damage if not done properly. We quickly got everything ready and
departed the campground at 5:15AM. It was still dark and raining
lightly. We don't normally drive in the dark especially when it is
raining – not a good combination but sure didn't want to wait until
daylight and chance getting stuck.
We drove for about an hour and stopped for fuel and to get breakfast just after daybreak. It continued to rain and after another 50 miles or so the crosswinds really picked up and was making the driving less than fun. After an hour or so of the very high crosswinds, estimated to be about 40MPH we began to hear a flapping on the roof over our head. We were near an exit so we pulled off and pulled into a truck stop to check out the problem. I could see something flapping on the roof but could not figure out what it was. There was an 18 wheeler parked beside us and he let me get up on the front of his flatbed trailer to look. It was the wings on the TV antenna beating the roof. In our haste to leave this morning I did not position it correctly before lowering it to the roof. Lesson learned. I corrected that and we departed again and drove for another 20 miles or so and the drivers mirror began to move and vibrate. Again we were near a pull off so we stopped to re-position and tighten the mirror. The wind was so strong it was all I could do to pull the door closed when I was getting back inside. We finally made it to our destination of Sundance Wyoming which is 420 miles from Souix Falls SD. We sure were glad to get there. The crosswinds cut our fuel mileage down over 2 MPG.
We drove for about an hour and stopped for fuel and to get breakfast just after daybreak. It continued to rain and after another 50 miles or so the crosswinds really picked up and was making the driving less than fun. After an hour or so of the very high crosswinds, estimated to be about 40MPH we began to hear a flapping on the roof over our head. We were near an exit so we pulled off and pulled into a truck stop to check out the problem. I could see something flapping on the roof but could not figure out what it was. There was an 18 wheeler parked beside us and he let me get up on the front of his flatbed trailer to look. It was the wings on the TV antenna beating the roof. In our haste to leave this morning I did not position it correctly before lowering it to the roof. Lesson learned. I corrected that and we departed again and drove for another 20 miles or so and the drivers mirror began to move and vibrate. Again we were near a pull off so we stopped to re-position and tighten the mirror. The wind was so strong it was all I could do to pull the door closed when I was getting back inside. We finally made it to our destination of Sundance Wyoming which is 420 miles from Souix Falls SD. We sure were glad to get there. The crosswinds cut our fuel mileage down over 2 MPG.
The
area between Souix Falls SD and Sundance WY which is just a few miles
into Wyoming is some really beautiful county. The land in SD is wide
open spaces with rolling hills. Some of the land is tilled but the
majority that we saw was grazing land for cattle or hay. Hardly a
tree in sight except near the homes on the ranches. There was nothing
to block the winds from whipping across the interstate. As we neared
Rapid City we could see more hills and less open land and it got even
hillier in Wyoming. The campground where we are stopped is named
Mountain View RV Park & Campground. We have a beautiful view from
the windshield of the MH of the mountains around us. It would be nice
to explore the area but not this trip. We are 2017 miles into our
trip.
After
we setup and relaxed for awhile and had a cup of coffee I
re-positioned the mirror to get it more to my liking and then
discovered the hose to the windshield washer on the driver's side was
broke so I replaced it. I had replaced the one of the driver's side a
couple of weeks ago so I had some more hose. If this is the only
problems we have on this trip I'll be a “Happy Camper”.
I
checked the weather forecast with Weatherbug again and a 30% chance
of snow is predicted for late tonight and temps down to 32 degrees.
Last night we were running the air conditioner and tonight it will be
the heat.
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