South Dakota Badlands

We left Sioux Falls on Sunday after being there a week. We're heading west towards Rapid City for a few days before we head to Gillette, WY, for the Tiffin Rally.  We decide to stay at the Circle 10 Campground which is just 3 miles north of the entrance to the park. It is a good place to be parked as we can drive the car into the park.

Here's a big shout out to our National Park system, which is enjoying its 100th birthday this summer. When we were in Acadia National Park in Maine, I got a senior pass for $10. That has to be one of the best bargains there is (many RV'ers will relate)! This is the second time we've used the pass for entrance to a park.

We were stunned by the beauty of the Badlands. That changes with the amount of sunlight, clouds, rain and other weather conditions. There was a ranger program on Sunday night so we went and learned about the park, animals in it, types of birds here, and many more facts. There were also telescopes with a resident "astronomer" to show us the moon (we could see the craters) and the moons around Jupiter.

Monday morning we got up early to walk the Cliff Shelf Trail and after that to go on the Geology Walk with Ranger Pam.  I'm going to let a few pictures here do the talking....

This is one sign I do not like to see! Fortunately, we didn't see any rattlesnakes.

Andy on the Cliff Shelf Trail stairway.

This was the end of the trail on the Geology walk. Ranger said to obey the sign and there is a big drop off after it. 

One word - Beautiful! 

Remember that scene from (the movie) RV?

If any of you have seen the movie "RV" with Robin Williams, you'll remember the scene when he attempts to drain the tanks and has a blowout. We had a similar experience yesterday morning although not as bad as in the movie. (Thank God!)

After breakfast, I went to use the facilities and upon pressing the foot pedal to flush, I had a spout of liquid (containing God knows what) shoot up from the toilet onto me, the sink, walls and floor. (That might have been the loudest scream yet coming from the confines of the RV.)

Our best guess is that our holding tanks were full- although our gauges showed 66%. Maybe gauge failure, maybe not level, who knows? Andy went out to dump the tanks and the problem was solved. We'll have to switch to tea leaves to more accurately judge how full the tanks are. :)

On our way...Part Two

One thing about RV'ing is that it's never dull, or as we say, there is always a Plan B. Let me go back a couple of days. We had called to confirm our reservation in Sioux Falls. In the process of doing that they called us back, said they had overbooked and could we come on Saturday instead of Friday? We said sure, that was fine. We figured that we would boondock (dry camp, no hookups) in a Walmart parking parking lot. So while on our way, we called ahead to Walmart to see if they allow overnight parking for RV's. (If you've been reading this blog, you know that this is not a sure bet.)

The answer we got was yes. While I was waiting to be transferred to customer service, the call got dropped. We arrived and parked at the far end of the lot. After we got caught in the rain (and hail) we thought we would just hunker down for the night. After a while, I heard a knock at our door. Two managers had walked out to the motorhome to tell us that it's against city ordinances for us to park overnight, and that if the cops came by and spotted us, we would definitely get a ticket. I told them that we had called and been told it was OK. They were very apologetic, said they would look into it, and helped us find a place where we could park overnight. These people went above and beyond - they certainly didn't have to do it! This Wal-Mart has definitely earned all of our grocery business while we are in Sioux Falls. Things happen, and we realize that. Their attitude in helping us out made the situation much more bearable. Thanks, Kristi and Jeff!

On Our Way...

Today we're leaving the Treasure Island Campground and heading to Sioux Falls for a week. Now it's starting to feel like we've really started our great adventure. We've turned in Andy's car, and are leaving with all of our possessions (other than those in our POD) in the motorhome and a few in the car.

Storms are forecast for today so we're trying to avoid as much of that as we can. However, there is no way to avoid them. When we arrive in Sioux Falls, the sun is shining again. We decide to go to Dakota Post to pick up our mail. After doing that, we decide the car needs a bath. (Getting towed behind a motorhome seriously gets your car filthy when it rains.) When we get done with that, we stop to eat. As we come out of the restaurant the sky is looking very ominous again. Sure enough, we get caught in a downpour on our way back to the motorhome. Unfortunately, I had opened the windows and the vents in the bathroom to get air circulating. Well, that meant that we had two wet bathrooms and also wet bedding because the window on Andy's side was also open. LESSON LEARNED, the hard way. The good thing about these lessons is you only have to do something dumb ONCE in order not to repeat it again.

Changes

Now that we've recovered from the move, we're settling in to the RV lifestyle. No more stocking up or buying in bulk! Combining two households means we had two sets of cleaning supplies, (4 bottles of Pledge, anyone?) two sets of bathroom supplies (several tubes of toothpaste including the travel size), two sets of kitchen things (like Ziploc bags), etc. Getting the picture? There is only so much space to store things in the RV. I was used to buying things on sale or if I had a coupon, all because I had a place to store them in the house.

We'll work through current supplies as best we can. They say it takes 21 days to develop a new habit. We'll have to consciously THINK when we buy things from now on.

A NEW Chapter

May 15.2016

Today is the first official day of our newest adventure-we are now full timers! A lot of thought went into this decision, but the biggest change is getting rid of our bricks and mortar, and committing to living and traveling in 450 square feet of space.

We were lucky to have wise advice on our home, with it selling in a 2 day time span. Since then, we have purged and purged and purged, rethinking what we want to keep (those items will go in a Pod) and what we don't want or need anymore. Bottom line, we have too much STUFF, like everyone else in America (or most everyone!). As a former professional organizer, I consider myself an organized person. But you can be very organized and still accumulate things sitting on shelves in your basement. We've given LOTS to Goodwill, and found good homes for things. And, only so much will fit into the RV. I'm sure we'll be re-thinking things as time goes on.

Our first stop is Mystic Lake Casino while we finish packing up and cleaning the house. (We'll close on the 23rd.) The next stop will be Treasure Island Casino. Casino RV parks are very reasonable and Mystic Lake is a nice campground with cement pads and grass and trees between the spots. (We're hoping that Treasure Island will be as nice as Mystic Lake.) We celebrated our new lifestyle by having dinner at the Mystic Lake Buffet tonight.

More adventures to come.......

Update

I've had surgery and am recovering well, getting used to doing things mostly with one hand. We're sidelined for a bit because of my hand and the therapy I need. Stay tuned for more adventures!