Plague of locusts? Fire from the sky?

After all the waiting at the Winnebago factor (and that is not a complaint about Winnebago), I thought we had that waiting stuff behind us.

As we rolled west, the unfolding winter weather event made it apparent that we weren't going to get much further.  We pulled into a small campground where had stayed years ago.  Nothing fancy, but they do have a laundry and good cable TV - something we'll need while we're hunkered down.  I paid for two nights... probably won't be enough.

The Black Hills area is getting hammered with heavy wet snow and wind; blizzard conditions.  Hazardous travel conditions.  As you move east (where we are), conditions change to heavy rain and thunderstorms.  We think we are just west of the area where the weather weasels are calling for a possibility of tornadoes.  Kind of the least bad of some crappy conditions.

I enjoy a gentle rain on the roof, in a boat or an RV.  It wasn't gentle overnight - it pounded.  The wind howled.  Predictions are for more of the same today and tonight.  Yeah, we aren't going anywhere.

I laid in bed, listening to the pounding rain... thinking about the big elm tree that is alongside us... on our northwest side... with wind coming from the northwest.

Have you heard that an approaching tornado sounds like "a freight train"?  Yeah, me, too.  About 7:00 this morning, I heard a rumbling sound - is that a Harley with straight pipes?  No, it now sounds more like a street sweeper.  Getting closer, it sounds like a low flying helicopter; a big one.  No, wait - it sounds like a freight train!  I opened a shade - nice MCD Duo Shades in our Aspect, but I digress - the trees outside weren't swaying any more.  The sound got louder... yep, it IS a freight train.  I didn't see the tracks when we pulled in and set up - it was sprinkling and I was scurrying.  The tracks are about 50 yards from our site.  No wonder the sound kept getting closer and closer!

Joan checked the hourly forecast for today to see when might be the "best time" to make a run to the store... and let me know what supplies are getting low... "You are almost out of hot chocolate."  This is serious.

Checking the forecast along our route, it looks like we might be here for a couple more days.  "No Travel Advised" for a couple hundred miles of Interstate in western South Dakota.

This morning on the Today Show, Dillon Dreyer (meteorologist) talked about "tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma, Tropical Storm Ana along the east coast, and blizzard conditions in western South Dakota - I have never seen all three of these happening at the same time..."

She hasn't traveled with us.  ;-)

My view this morning...

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...

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Radar

May 9, 4:50pm MDT

Weather In Motion®

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.

Free at last! Free at last!

I've heard that before... maybe it was when... I had a dream!

At 2:20, Joan said, "There's ours!" pointing out the window.  I put on my jacket and went out to visit with our new friend, Eric.

He went over everything they did to the coach... which was everything on our list.  Sounds like the seal around the slide out turned out to be a labor intensive repair.  They also did a couple things not on the list.  Nice.

I shook Eric's hand, signed the paperwork, and we were ... free.  Same as the price on this warranty work.  ;-)

Nothing but good to say about the service folks at Winnebago.  We knew we would be on "stand by" since we didn't have the advance time to get an appointment.  We were told it could be "up to a week" of wait time.  Turned out to be a lot less than that.  And once the Aspect went into their care, they went after it.  A good service experience.

We decided to stay here one more night, then watch for a weather window.

Of course, the parking spots on the pavement were all "blocked," but we hooked up the cargo trailer and have a nice long, level spot by the Visitor's Center...

Now, I need a nap.

Little Izzy asked, "Are we done?"

Yes, we are done.

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Izzy got to go for a walk this evening.  As we were heading into the coach, I heard the distinctive sound of a small displacement bike.

The sign here in the RV parking area says that the facility is patrolled by Winnebago Security.  Turns out the security officer who came by here was riding a Honda Trail 70...

Neat little bikes - the first small bike that was designed for the RV/camping market: the handlebars fold down and the bike is small enough to put it on a bumper rack on the back of an RV or truck.  Perfect for getting around this 600 acre facility.

Interesting visit...

One more early morning.

We rolled into the service center lot at 6:55, and joined the other motorhomes already waiting.  When the door opened, right at 7:00, I held the door for a gentleman; inside, he said, "These guys really do a great job."

"This is our first experience with the factory since 1991, and it has been good so far," I said.

Then he told me, "I used to work for Fleetwood, as a systems engineer.  I bought a Winnebago when we retired.  These folks do it right."

Yeah, that certainly says something.

While waiting in the customer lounge this morning, the nice lady I've dealt with each morning came to where we are sitting and said, "We order lunch to be brought in on Fridays - here's a menu from the two different places, if you'd like to get something."  Nice that they offer.

We are expecting to be done with service today, but I did get a pass for another night here.  Looking at weather along our route... they are expecting snow in the Black Hills over the weekend... 6 to 12 inches.  That is going to be an issue, 'cause we have to go through that area to get to our summer destination.  Timing.  Well, that and Mother Nature just showing who is in charge.

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Lunchtime came and went.  No sign of our motorhome.  We walked to the downtown area and had lunch.  It is downright chilly here!  The girl who took our order looked at us with our winter coats and asked, "Where are you from?"  She thought we were a bit overdressed, as in: coats, not fancy... it is around 50º with a cold wind.  Just under a mile walk.

Back to the customer service lounge, and no new news.  Little Izzy is ready to move on.  I get that.  But, we're in it, now.  We'd like to get everything done and not have to make another trip for service... for a while (I am realistic).

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My buddy, Mike sent me a text around 2:00, asking if we were outta there.  My response:

Sitting... Waiting... (sigh).  No idea when... IF.  Every once in a while, someone comes out of the service door - every head in the waiting room looks up, hopeful... only to have their hopes dashed... Oh, the agony of not knowing... Why?  Why?  Why?

Other than that, we're fine.  ;-)

Bingo...

We got the call; 9:40 - I came right inside the service building and waited for Eric, the tech, to show up.  He seems friendly and competent; I explained the issues we would like addressed, he shook my hand, we put Izzy into her carrier... and we are "homeless."  Well, we are in the customer waiting room with a dozen or so other folks.  There is seating for three times that many.

Eric couldn't ride with us in the motorhome to be able to listen to the banging sound - they don't allow that, apparently.  So, hopefully, he will be able to drive and pinpoint where the sound is coming from... we think we have it narrowed down.  He said he'd take another tech with him.

The other issues are all things that the dealer didn't fix.  Not much of a list, really; just frustrating that, of the 4 things on our list, 3 of them were "looked at" by the dealer.  Twice.

Eric said, "We'll have your motorhome back around 3:00 to 3:30."  He didn't say the work would be completed at that time.  He brought a rolled up carpet piece to put down on the floor, and put plastic over the driver's seat.  I appreciate that they take care with customer coaches.  I've seen them do this with each coach as we watched them drive away.  And see owners head for the service lounge.

And now we wait again... not in our cruising condo.  There are vending machines, a microwave, a couple TVs, and bathrooms here in the customer service lounge.  Little Iz is in her carrier.  I have seen people walking dogs around here, but don't see any in the waiting room right now.

Looking around...

There is a parts area (second photo above) where you can get stuff for your motorhome, shirts, caps, etc.  There are old posters (magazine covers, ads, etc) on the walls in here; this one made me laugh...

An early ad from Winnebago, with a "sleeper trailer" that "Sleeps 9!"  In a 14 foot trailer.  Oh sure, it has "an Upper Bedroom"... did I mention: 14 foot trailer??  That is always the question from people who don't RV (or boat cruise): how many does it sleep?  No matter the size of the conveyance, our answer is always: "Two... and a cat."  That's it.

On the tour on Tuesday, we walked through one of their original travel trailers and an early motorhome.  They've come a long ways.  ;-)

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We fed Izzy and walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch.  Well, you would think it was nearby, looking at a map.  The entrance to the restaurant is nearby - then you go back another 3 blocks to actually get to the place...

Yeah, it's back there in the trees, somewhere.

Back from lunch, we sat at a table near the TV, until the service manager called my name... I held my breath, hoping to have good news.  Not yet... they saw what looked like a wallet in a dash cubby-hole, and he asked if I would "remove the temptation."  Not really an issue - it is a card holder that has our membership cards and RV related cards.  Still, I took the opportunity to go back to get it, so I could take a look at what was being done.  The banging noise has been fixed (a bracket in the compartment over the cab) and extra reinforcement added, and the rear/side cameras are functioning (replaced a faulty connection).  Two other items they are working on, so we may not be done today.  The service manager said, "If not today, we'll have you on your way tomorrow."

That's a plus.  Izzy is being patient in her carrier, but there is a hair-trigger there that goes from passive to snarling in .02 seconds.  She may get that from me.  ;-)

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3:00 rolled around and motorhomes started filling up the parking in front of the service center.  When ours showed up, I went out to visit with Eric.  Three of the four issues are done - they plan to get back on it first thing in the morning (yes, another early day).  "I hope you have you on your way tomorrow," he said.

Yeah, I'm hoping so, too.  Forest City is a nice town, but we are anxious to move on.

We took the coach on a test drive, looking for bumps - no rattle/banging... that is a very good thing.  The rear and side cameras work like they're supposed to.  Another big plus.  I'm hoping the fix Eric did on one of our underneath storage compartments is good... but, it is raining too hard for me to want to go out to see!  On the bright side, we got parked, leveled, and plugged in before the rain hit.

I was hoping a big coach would park next to us to block some of the wind...

Nope - he is smaller than we are.  And didn't get settled in before the rain hit.

The rain is really pounding!

We're next...

I checked at 7:00 - no change in the list.  We unplugged and took the coach to the Rally Park to dump and top off fresh water.  Then, a drive to the local grocery store... we are stocked up for the wait, but hope they get to us soon.

Rain and a cold wind this morning while I was outside dealing with the holding tanks.  It wouldn't be a fun day on the road today, anyway.  ;-)

On the bright side, we got our parking spot back on the blacktop... one guy has taken up two sites with is "holding chairs", another has his orange cones out.  Under their parking guidelines, it says no holding sites... I have no doubt that this would be a no-win situation for Winnebago to try to police that.

Through the window...

Little Izzy relaxing on the dash, with a view out the windshield...

On one of our walks, Joan picked a sprig of lilacs...

The "vase" is one we used on the boat that suction cups to the window.