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Posts from the ‘South Dakota’ Category

Jul 22

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Big Storm, Minor Damage

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Summer rain and hail storms here in the Midwest can be something fierce.

This week an afternoon a storm cell quickly snuck-up on me, bringing heavy rains and ferocious winds.  Despite my best efforts to hastily retract the (Zip Dee) patio awning, I found myself wrestling with what was effectively a 20 foot sail.  While I eventually managed to retract, I did not do so without escaping damage … specifically the ‘claw hook’, which is a piece of connecting support bracket hardware.

Fortunately, the claw hook is seemingly designed to fail under certain circumstances; I suspect this design helps avoid even more significant damage .

A quick internet search pointed me to a parts dealer and within a few minutes I had a replacement part on its way.   The part was easy to replace and cost only $21.

Unfortunately, 2-day shipping from Utah set me back $20 dollars.

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Aug 27

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On Patrol

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Pushing west towards Colorado, we are back at our favorite Black Hills campground for the week.  Kelly is in San Francisco for the week, so it’s been just Lilly and me the past few days.  All is good through – I’ve been fortunate to have great neighbors supplying me with good conversation, they’ve fed me, and they have a big lovable dog that Lilly has completed ignored.

Speaking of Lilly … it seems she too has embarrassingly levels of adoration for this quickly campground – albeit less for its laid-back vibe and surprisingly nice bathrooms.  For her, this place is all about the field grasses steps from the camper.  Undeterred by aging barbed wire fencing, she is having loads of fun stalking field mice who dare enter her turf.

Fear not mice … Lilly and I are leaving tomorrow; the reign of terror will be ending soon.

Jul 20

Pesky Bugs

We’ve been settled at Big Sioux Recreation Area in Brandon, SD for the past few days and I continue to be impressed with South Dakota state parks – clean, well maintained, and offer spacious sites.

Kelly and I spent a lot of our youth in this area, so our time here has been busy catching-up with friends and relatives.  I must say it’s been nice to see so many people.

In other news … the heat has broken here in the southeast part of the state and now the bugs are out in full force.  Having been cooped-up for too many days in air conditioning, I was anxious to work outside while enjoying this nice campsite (electric only).  So, in an attempt to level playing field with pesky bugs I purchased this screen room last night ($45 at Walmart).

Because I wanted something highly packable, it is not perfect and only time will tell if this cheap product can withstand the rigor of regular use, but for now it seems to be doing its job helping to keep the bugs away.

Jul 16

Compromise

Road life as telecommuters is full of compromises.  For example, today is a travel day and we had to check out of the campground well before the end of our work day.   This being the case, we drove into town (Chamberlain) and found a shady spot under a tree within a nice quaint residential area.

As you can see in the picture above, Kelly is comfortable inside the air-conditioned truck conducting an interview while I sit in a lawn chair under a tree fending off unrelenting horse-fly attacks … which is nothing compared to the swamp-ass I seem to be developing in this humidity.

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