WILLISTON NORTH DAKOTA TO STURGIS SOUTH DAKOTA & HAPPY TO FIND A NICE QUIET RV PARK

THIS IS THURSDAY’S POST

AND I EVEN CAUGHT THE SHADOW COWBOY IN THIS PHOTO OF OUR ‘DAYS END’ RV PARK IN STURGIS SOUTH DAKOTA

Unfortunately in my Thursday night tiredness I accidentally deleted my whole Thursday post so had to start all over again this morning.  Hate when that happens.

A FEW LAST PHOTOS OF SOME BUILDINGS SEEN IN THE CORNER GAS EPISODES…THIS IS THE DOG RIVER POLICE STATION ON MAIN STREET ROULEAU WHERE DAVIS & KAREN HUNG OUT

 

THE RED BRICK DOG RIVER HOWLER BUILDING & BURNED DOWN FOO MART ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE DOG RIVER POLICE STATION

 

A FREIGHT TRAIN ROLLS INTO TOWN & THE DOG RIVER HOTEL JUST A COUPLE BUILDINGS UP FROM THE POLICE STATION ON THE SAME SIDE

We think it was the cold that woke both of us up around 5 a.m.  Neither Kelly or I are hardy cold weather folks anymore.  I didn’t even get out of my P.J.’s, just pulled my clothes on over them.  No morning music & we didn’t even bother with coffee.  Knew if we could get the rig started we would have heat so made the decision to head on out of town & move further South.  Thanks again to our ‘battery boost’ it started.  Thought about trying to find an RV repair place in Williston but in the end we just wanted to get moving so off we headed right into the Williston morning rush hour traffic.  This seems to be a booming area so traffic was heavy but worse than traffic was all the road construction stretching for about 40 miles south down highway 85.  It was a nail biter all the way as we dodged & deeked around endless arrays of orange cones.  By the time we drove ourselves out of the twisting construction zones I was just about totally drained.

OUR HEAD HONCHO & JACK OF ALL TRADES CHECKS FOR A ‘RE-SET SWITCH’ IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT

Soon as the sun was up Kelly had the coaches manuals out trying to troubleshoot our problem.  She is such a patient person with things like that.  Plugged her computer into the cigarette lighter & clicked onto a couple RV forums looking for help.  Wasn’t long & she was on the phone trying to line up an appointment with an RV repair place to have a look at our problem .  Luckily she found one in Whitehead just West of Sturgis so that was our destination Thursday morning.  Found ourselves still kinda feeling down in the dumps about not only our electric problem but the whole trip so far.  We were at least bolstered by a bright sunshiny morning with reasonable temperatures.  It is very easy to feel down when one is overtired & stressed for whatever reasons which I’m sure many traveling RV’ers well understand.  

 

Pulled into Northern Homes & RV just West of Sturgis South Dakota.  They had the coach in their shop for half an hour & came back with the news our inverter is shot & we would need to replace it for a cost of $2,600 plus labor.  We said thanks but no thanks.  We will get a second opinion on that & I see a trip to Solar Mike’s over in Slab City coming up next month.  We trust Solar Mike to be honest with us.  Of course a trip to Slab City always means a stop in one of our all time favorite places.  Borrego Springs is just West of the Salton Sea:))

NICE LOOKING PARK WITH LOTS OF TALL AUTUMN FOLIAGE TREES

We were feeling so weary from days & days of stressful travel we decided an RV Park was in order.  Found a nice one right in Sturgis called ‘Days End’ at the intersection of highway 34 & I-90.  A few rigs parked here & there & nobody in the office so found us a quiet spot & shut er down.  Turns out we had full hook-ups for $23 a night.  Totally acceptable.  And Oooohhhhhh how nice to have running water again.  Ran an ordinary extension in through a window & we had electric.  I know I grumble a lot about crowded RV Parks but no crowding here.  It was off-season & we were happy campers.  Didn’t take us long to fire up a couple nice soothing hot showers.  We began feeling human again as our weariness quickly began to fade.  Optimism quickly returned:))

STOPPING AT THE OFFICE TO REGISTER

Our plans for the morning are to hop into the Jeep & head off to see MOUNT RUSHMORE, the town of Custer & take us for a drive through the Black Hills.  Kelly is still battling a cold & low energy levels so we’re probably going to stay here a few day, relax & just soak up some nice weather while it lasts.  Gonna enjoy some Park facilities as well.

Sturgis itself seems to have a lot of bars, saloons, & various eateries.  Pretty little town with an old main street off to one side.  If Sturgis sounds familiar it may be because of the annual motorcycle rally here every year.  Summer of 2015 will be their 75th year holding this big event.  Thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts plus a few bad dudes probably thrown in for good measure too.

THIS STURGIS MOTORCYCLE SHOP SELLS ‘INDIAN MOTORCYCLES’

Now to address that ‘comment’ in our Shout Box questioning my honesty.  The comment’s writing style & tone looked familiar!!   First, as I have mentioned many times in my posts I use Facebook at the end of each day to drop my daily post in.  That’s it.  I sometimes get a few comments & ‘Likes’ so I go back in the morning to have a look.  Unless Kelly mentions to me about something she has seen on Facebook & I don’t use it & am not active on it.  And two, I had a Twitter account about 3 years ago which I used like Facebook to drop my posts in at the end of each day.  Hadn’t done that for a long time & thought I’d start again a couple months ago.  I have never sent a Tweet other than my post at the end of the day…………………………………     

KELLY TOOK THIS PHOTO OF PHEEBS THURSDAY NIGHT

GROANER’S CORNER:((  You may not know that many non-living things have a gender. For example:
1) Ziploc Bags -- They are Male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them.
2) Copiers -- They are Female, because once turned off, it takes a while to warm them up again. It's an effective reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but can wreak havoc if the wrong buttons are pushed.
3) Tire -- Male, because it goes bald and it's often over-inflated.
4) Hot Air Balloon -- Male, because, to get it to go anywhere, you have to light a fire under it and, of course, there's the hot air component.
5) Sponges -- Female, because they're soft, squeezable and retain water.
6) Web Page -- Female, because it's always getting hit on.
7) Subway -- Male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.
8) Hourglass -- Female, because over time, the weight can shift to the bottom.
9) Hammer -- Male, because it hasn't changed much over the last 5,000 years, but it's handy to have around.
10) Remote Control -- Female. Ha! You thought it'd be Male. But consider this -- it gives a man pleasure, he'd be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know the right buttons to push, he keeps trying.

WEYBURN TO ROULEAU SASKATCHEWAN (CORNER GAS) TO WILLISTON NORTH DAKOTA…ELECTRICAL PROBLEM WITH THE RIG!!

THIS IS WEDNESDAY’S POST

We were in no hurry this morning but it’s still hard to break old habits & we were both again wide awake & all bushy tailed by 6 a.m.  Internet connection was good so I was able to peruse a few blogs & leave a few comments for a change.  Aunt Jean on her early morning walks can see the constellation Orion in the sky but I was thwarted from seeing it this morning by a heavy cloud cover overhead.  However I did catch a sunrise over Weyburn. 

NO COLOR ENHANCEMENT

With no idea of what to expect at the former CORNER GAS TV sitcom & recent movie site we slowly moseyed our way up highway 39 to Rouleau Saskatchewan & how nice it was to FINALLY have a day with no heavy headwinds to do battle with.  Not too bad a weather day actually.  Sun & cloud & not freezing cold.  Highway 39 runs between Weyburn & Moose Jaw.

HEY BY GOLLY LOOKS LIKE WE GOT US A SAGUARO CACTUS GROWING OUT HERE IN THESE HERE PARTS

If your afraid of heights you had better steer clear of Ivan’s latest post.  He’s literally got himself ‘hangin out’.  With summer employment now over he & four footed Hailey will soon be on the road south.

 

Here’s an interesting article GEORGE sent us a few days ago regarding Canadian Snow Birds & property/home owners in the States.  FREE AS A SNOW BIRD? MAYBE NOT  More rules & tightening regulations coming down on we Canadian folks who enjoy our time south of the border.  We see some hand writing on the wall here which causes us to pause & gaze into our sometimes forward thinking but often foggy crystal ball.  May be looking at some decisions soon…………..  

 

HEY MOM HOW’S ABOUT IT’S MY TURN IN THE FRONT SEAT OK……..

Rolled into the little town of Rouleau Saskatchewan around 10.  No problem finding the  site.  I had already checked it’s location on Google Earth.  Approaching the movie set I could already see there was no activity there.  Windows were boarded up & the buildings were abandoned.  Well why wouldn’t they be, the series was over way back in 09 & the movie wrapped production back at the end of July.  Parked the rig on a gravel road beside the derelict buildings, got out & walked over.  I already felt a forlorn sadness growing.

HERE I AM LEANING ON ONE OF BRENT’S GAS PUMPS THAT ISN’T THERE ANYMORE

I THINK THE ‘RUBY’ IS CLOSED FOREVER:((

I heard someone had bought the set & opened a Corner Gas gift shop inside.  It was obvious the shop had closed & it’s understandable.  Who’s going to come here.  I was overcome with a level of sadness as I walked around ‘The Ruby’ & the ‘Corner Gas station’.  Grass growing up here, an old Pizza box there along with other bits of litter.  Couldn’t even look inside anywhere.  I had had visions of maybe being able to go inside the Ruby this morning & sit at the counter where the gang gathered, maybe even sit at one of the booths.  My sadness deepened & I had a hollow feeling.  I knew seeing the set like this was to be totally accepted & yet…...  Took me a little while to understand where my overall sadness & disappointment was coming from.  Then I clued in.

I KNOW THESE PHOTOS WON’T MEAN MUCH TO MOST FOLKS BUT THEY MEAN A LOT TO ME & I KNOW YOU WILL GET A KICK OUT OF THEM JIM…SOMETHING FOR US TO TALK ABOUT AT OUR NEXT COFFEE BLOW OUT

 

I WAS JUST FEELING PLUM SAD STANDING HERE

Watching Corner Gas for the past 3 or 4 years in it’s re-runs I had like many fans become a part of the gangs ongoing shenanigans & buffoonery.  No matter what was happening in the this crazy frightening world or my life I knew I could always take half an hour out of any week day & catch Lacey, Hank, Brent, Davis, Karen, Emma & Oscar at their comedic best.  Standing in front of the Ruby today remembering all the tom-foolery that went on here & all the great happy feelings I felt with each episode I knew why I was sad.  The heart of Dog River was gone, the fire was out & I was standing in the stark hard cold reality of what once was a bustling happy place.  But hey, the happiness will live on forever in all the episodes & upcoming movie to be released December 3rd.

 

 

 

BYE BYE CORNER GAS, YOU WILL LIVE ON IN THE HEARTS OF ALL YOUR FANS

It was about a hundred miles from Rouleau Saskatchewan to the U.S. border.  Rough road for much of the way.  Just a border crossing station in Regway & nothing else.  No town, no houses, no nothing, just the station.  Two 18 wheelers ahead of us for less than a 10 minute wait.  Two border guys waved us up.  Nice young fella stood outside my window & asked the customary questions while the other fella ran our passports through a computer.  Fellow talking to me asked if he could come inside & I said yes.  Soon as he came in the door whatever other questions he had were over.  He spotted Pheebs & right away he & Pheebs were best Pals.  Pheebs really knows how to turn on the charm.  Everybody who meets Pheebe loves her & the border guard was no exception.  In fact he even wished me a happy belated Birthday.  Had seen the date on my passport I guess.  He talked to the Pheebs for half a minute then wished us a good trip.  We were on our way & finally back in the good old U.S. of A:))  Time was 11:55 a.m. & we were in Montana.

OUR FRIENDLIEST BORDER CROSSING EVER:))

Took our leisurely time heading due south stopping in a little town called Plentywood for a load of fuel.  Less than an hour later we crossed into North Dakota heading for a place called Williston.  Found us a level spot in a Walmart & shut er down for the day.  I think Tuesday’s battle with the wind still had a grip on us.  We was whupped & Kelly is down with a sore throat & not feeling the best.  In the morning we will head south to the Black Hills area & Custer South Dakota.  Plan to spend some time there seeing whatever it is we can see.  Had this post almost set to go Wednesday night but all of a sudden ran into an unexpected electrical problem with our rig concerning the Inverter.

MOTORING THROUGH MONTANA

 

We had noticed earlier in the day the rig’s battery was getting weaker starting the rig right up.  Then parked in Williston our water pump quit working.  Also noticed none of our in house electrical plugs worked.  Couldn’t charge the laptops & mine was out of juice.  Kelly pressed the inverter button & our dash radio quit working.  Outside steps wouldn’t come out.  Our 110 electrical system was stone dead.  And when I tried to start the rig it was stone dead as well.  Luckily we have a ‘battery boost’ switch on the dash & I was able to start the rig using the house batteries which the panel showed fully charged.  Now what to do:(( 

Needless to say we were just sooooooo totally discouraged & depressed that something we didn’t understand had gone wrong again.  Didn’t want to take a chance on using our furnace so we spent a very cold night.  We were so down in the dumps we even talked of just cancelling our whole trip & heading back to Bayfield.  Decided to get some sleep & make a decision in the morning…………………….

 

THIS WEDNESDAY POST CAME TO YOU THURSDAY FROM THE ‘DAYS END’ RV PARK IN STURGIS SOUTH DAKOTA…HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED ON TODAY’S POST YET BUT I’LL TRY TO HAVE IT FOR THE MORNING

GROANER’S CORNER:(( On my first day working at the gas station, I watched a senior co-worker measure the level of gasoline in the underground tanks by lowering a giant measuring stick down into them.  "What would happen if I threw a lit match into the hole?" I joked. "It would go out," he replied in a very factual manner.  "Really?" I asked, surprised to hear that. "Is there a lack of oxygen down there or some safety device that would extinguish it before the fumes ignited?"
"No, the force of the explosion would blow out the match."