Friday, September 30, 2016

They said the "S word" on TV this morning...


No, not that "S word"... the young weather guy on the local morning show said, "A chance of snow in the Black Hills on Wednesday."

I knew there was a reason we are heading out today.

Little Izzy got to be outside while I put utilities away...


With the coach ready to go, I backed it up, then hooked the cargo trailer to the CR-V.  I gassed up the coach at the Hart Mart store, and we hooked the circus train together...


Lights checked, tow set-up double checked, we are ready to roll.  I checked the "All Honda Channel" to make sure everything was rolling properly...


There are two other channels on this in-dash TV: the All The Right Side, and the All The Left Side channels - they come on automatically when I use the turn signals.  ;-)

Today was supposed to be sunshine, light southerly breeze, 0% chance of precip...


We had overcast all the way, and a strong wind right on the nose... they did get the direction mostly right.  Checking weather along the way, some places were getting rain.  We missed out on that, but we could see the rain shafts to the west.

Leaving the Black Hills, we also said good-bye to the fall colors...


Into Nebraska...


Some might be surprised that Nebraska also has hills...



And, some color along the riverbeds...


Parts of western Nebraska top 4,000 elevation.  Some bluffs...


There is plenty of agriculture...



The traffic was mostly light, but we did go by a couple convoys of farm equipment heading north, and taking up more than their lane; backing up traffic in the other lane.

Joan went old-school today...


That is called a map.  In the days before iPads, there were books of these maps called an atlas.  Since we are on no schedule, Joan is looking for the scenic roads, with potential for nightly stops.

Fields that have been cut, dressed in fall colors...


We called it a day fairly early.  This campground offers Passport America... starting tomorrow (October through April).  Yeah, I asked - "I just work here, and I don't want to get in trouble with the boss."  The park is 90% empty.

We stopped to fuel up before going into the RV park - first time since we left Texas that we found gas for less than $2/gallon.  Good thing, that wind on the nose gave us our lowest MPG to date.

We'll be on Central Time tomorrow... early stop today, get out early tomorrow, lose an hour.  Yeah, no schedule.


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Izzy really wanted to go for a walk.  This ain't Hart Ranch... no paved sites, no asphalt roads, no large grassy area between sites.  This park has gravel roads, gravel sites, and weeds that have been cut so there is something that resembles grass between the sites that are really close to each other.  I tried to explain that to her - she didn't care.  So, we went for a walk...


Not sure what that weed is she's sniffing, but she really likes it.  And, she was fine with walking through the dusty gravel (more dirt than gravel).  She is now spending a lot of time cleaning between her paw pads, though.

A big coach with a color-matched trailer pulled in next to us.  It is beautiful...



I think his cargo trailer is the size of our coach.  The guy hopped out, pulled out a folding chair, opened the door for the exterior TV, and lit up a nasty-smelling cigar.  Smelled like someone shit in an old gym sock, and lit it on fire.  Fortunately, we didn't have any windows open on that side of our coach... where he was sitting closer to ours than his (I did mention that the sites are close together).  Then, started talking loudly on his cell phone.

Joan turned on our a/c - no smell and it muffles his noise.  No big deal - I'm sure the flies will drive him inside soon.  ;-)

Yep.

While out walking Iz, we saw another couple... he was walking the dog, she was walking the cat.  We didn't get too close, but I did comment, "I thought I was the only one walking a cat around here."

The lady said, "Your cat is much bigger than ours."

Hers looked like a kitten.  Izzy kinda puffed up her chest... "Yeah, I'm a big girl!"



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello Jim - Kenmore Air had a float plane go down this morning in the San Juan Islands, your summer stopping grounds. I believe 4 were on board plus the pilot, and all survived. Flight originated in Seattle, with stops scheduled at Lopez Island, then Roche Harbor. On the news segment, your whale watch headquarters building was shown in the background. For some reason, the plane quickly sank, so not sure why the pontoons didn't keep it afloat unless they were punctured. Anyhow, you can read about it on any of the Seattle news sites. I guess a fishing boat was passing nearby and plucked the passengers from the water.

Have a safe drive south - really enjoyed the pics of the Black Hills and your scooter routes.

Greg

Captain Jim and the Blonde said...

Wow, bad news about the Kenmore plane. Glad everyone got out - that water is brutal cold.