Saturday, May 9, 2015

The Heartland...


We left Forest City this morning.  Before heading out of town, we stopped at the Rally Park to dump our holding tanks.  In the past 36 hours, about 50 Class C units were lined up...




We saw these during our factory tour.  The guide told us they are heading to Alaska (they already have the Alaska license plates).  If you do a fly and RV rental excursion in Alaska, one of these may be your unit.  The info is on the back of these Class Cs...


We had breakfast before we hit the road.  Speaking of the road, going north out of town, it was lumpy...


It gave us the opportunity (?) to see and hear that the banging/rattling noise is, for sure, gone.  Not sure what all they did in that cab over compartment, but the motorhome is very quiet now.  In spite of the lousy road.  Seven miles north of town, we made a turn to the west...


... and blessedly smooth road - it was like riding on a magic carpet!  Nice to be on two-lane where the speed limit is 55 mph.  In Texas, the speed limit on a road like this would be 70.  And there would be a line of cars passing us at 80 mph.

It has been quite a few years since we have driven across the farmlands.  The fields are ready to be planted; nice to see that rich-looking soil...



And the small towns...


The nicely kept farms...




I was a little surprised to see all the wind generators...



We are trying to get as far west as possible before the weather turns to crap - a Winter Storm Warning in the Black Hills right now... up to 15" (up from the 6 to 12" we originally heard) of heavy wet snow and strong winds, gusting up to 50 mph.  No, we are NOT driving into that - I would like to get well into South Dakota, if possible.

Right along our route, a blast from the past...




We stopped long enough to get a sweatshirt... may be wearing that sooner than we thought.

It became clear from the weather forecast ahead of us that we weren't going to make it as far as we hoped; Joan pulled up Gas Buddy and found us the best price for fuel; 9 miles per gallon.  We stopped for a late lunch.

When driving our truck, it tends to stand above other cars in a parking lot - easy to see Big Red.  This parking lot was pretty full - we are parked out at the perimeter...


Yeah, way back there.  We do get our exercise after parking.

Heading further west, the sky turned dark; and down came the rain...


Time to find a place to get off the road; we may have to hunker down for a day or two...

-----------------



Issued by The National Weather Service Rapid City, SD

Sat, May 9, 2:41 pm MDT
  • ... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT SUNDAY...
  • A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT SUNDAY.
  • * TIMING... SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON... AND WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING.
  • * MAIN HAZARD... SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION WILL RANGE FROM 8 TO 16 INCHES IN THE SOUTHERN BLACK HILLS... WITH 20 TO 30 INCHES IN THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS.
  • * IMPACTS... TRAVEL WILL BECOME HAZARDOUS FROM HEAVY SNOW AND LOW VISIBILITY. THE HEAVY SNOW COULD ALSO DOWN TREE BRANCHES WHICH MAY RESULT IN POWER OUTAGES.
  • PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
  • A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL CREATE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS.