On Way to Custer

After my couple days and a final morning going through the outside backyard of Wall Drug, it was time to head out. I already shared the aftermath of the storm and the overturned RVs encountered on the way. Scary reminder of the force of nature. But the change in weather was immediate and the skies were clear and off I went.

Well, the skies may be clear, but the road and winds were a constant challenge. I was bucking constant 15 mph winds with frequent 25 mph gusts buffeting my nice, high RV. 😳 Not anywhere near as bad as yesterday, but still I was hoping for better. Plus all the steep hills. My mileage went down to 7 mpg!! 😳

I can’t say it enough, going up and down these long or short steep hills, takes planning. At every single hill the decision is made as to whether to increase speed to get a running start or not. If you are coming down a hill before the next one ( as is often the case) to what extent do you accelerate? I do NOT want to lose control downhill on an unexpected bump in the road, or cross wind, that would have no impact on an auto, but would on an RV.

The next challenge, is how much to push it to maintain speed or not, going UP the hill. My goal is to try to reach the peak without stressing the truck overly and not slowing down too badly, which also stresses the truck!! 🤔 I have worked out a system that seems to work . I have Turbo Boost for my Disel. It’s numbered 1 thru 4 on my gauge. Each number is X10 for pressure per square inch exerted. ( Don’t ask me for more details, but it helps the oxygen flow to burn fuel efficiently) I keep the accelerator at a level where the gauge rides in “2” when going up inclines, no matter the speed .

On steep hills that go on forever, I will often end up slowing down to 45 mph , (along with other semis and RVs) , then the transmission will downshift and the truck seems to just “walk” up the hill with new vigor. As you get to the crest of the hill, it’s quite the pull…and then Bam… you’re over!! Accelerator relax.

BUT, don’t relax yet! What’s on the other side? Am I now going to be going downhill shortly? How steep is the decline? Should I accelerate at all, or just let the momentum pick up the speed? At the bottom is it flat or another hill ahead, or is there a curve and if so, how sharp .. And on and on and on….. So you see where I’m going with this. Hills are not fun. 😳 No relaxing, daydreaming driving allowed.

There were sections of highway where we were on a plateau that went for miles. It was a relief in one way but you really got blasted by the winds then. You’re really at the mercy of winds and hills in South Dakota!!

Truck Trouble

I’m not too far out of Rapid City, when I get a surprise. On my dash appears a wrench and then that flashes off and on flashes the words like, lowered engine power. What??!! Well I could feel that I was slowing down to 45 pulling the RV. So that was scary! I put on my four-way flashers and lucky for me there was a sign that said “rest area two miles ahead” !! Was someone looking out for me or what! 👼 So I pulled in and went online. The info said it could be a sensor but the way to reset it was to turn the engine off for a moment or two and then turn it back on and it should reset. Sounds like what we do with our phones and computers. And it worked! On my way. Everything normal again.

I had about 26 miles south to the area of Custer State Park. As I’m going down that highway off of the interstate, I get about halfway there, when the wrench and statement come back on. I have to pull over on the side of the road and do this again and off I go again. So I was finally able to get in and get settled into Custer State park. Whew!! Then I started sending texts back and forth with Nathan to sort this out. At least it wasn’t too far to Rapid City to get it diagnosed and fixed. 🤞

Assorted pictures from the day…

After backing in my RV , I got a surprise when I went inside,!

And there was one more surprise!! After an hour or so, the campground host came around to check everybody in. Lucky me!! I found out I was in the wrong campsite! 🤦 Another first! I kept reading my email confirmation info wrong ! Had to hook up, pull slides in and move down about five sites. At least it was another good site!!

NOW can I relax?