Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Class of 2014 Graduation!

If you follow RV Dreams forums you would know what I mean by that title. But we are finally on the road and have received our diplomas (drivers licenses) in South Dakota!


Heading out!
Sunday was filled with more packing. We thought we had packed everything and just needed to grab our suitcases and the dogs and head over to the trailer. Well, we got packed up...one laundry basket full of bedding, one full of items from the fridge, our duffle bag and suit case, a cooler for the road plus three small totes we forgot about in the garage. Once it was all loaded up there was no room for the dogs! So it was over to the trailer to drop this load off (Thank you to Gloria for the awesome breakfast!) then back to pick up the dogs. I unloaded the truck and went back to get the dogs (30 minutes each way) while Barb put everything away. Word of advice.... When you finally get down to the bare minimum of what you think you need, cut it in half, then cut it in half again. We have way too much stuff!

Barb managed to stuff everything away and we were on the road by noon headed for South Dakota. We stopped twice to double check things like when one of us would ask..."Did you latch the bikes?" (they weren't latched). Luckily Sioux Falls is only 5 hours from us so we pulled in about 6pm. We definitely need a check list for opening, closing and packing things up. Although we have had a horse trailer with living quarters for years, this is our first RV so we are learning some things as we go.

One minor catastrophe.....one of the overhead doors had opened and you cannot see it with the slides in. The problem is when we opened the slides the door got caught and took a little chip out of it. Could have been a lot worse and lesson learned.


Who has the keys?
Lesson #2....take the keys out when you get out to check something. Daisy loves to push the lock button and just stare at you while you try to get in. Luckily Barb is well aware of this little trick from her years of hauling a horse trailer with Daisy and is constantly reminding me to grab the keys. I need to get an 3rd set as I know this is going to happen.


In a previous post I listed our "must haves" and "nice to haves". I forgot one thing..... an additional mirror on the passenger side so Barb and see the back of the trailer while I am turning corners. More than once while turning corners I would try to look in the passenger side mirror only to see the back of Barb's head as she too was looking to make sure we were clearing the corner!

Sioux Falls went seamlessly. We stopped at the mail forwarding service and picked up our mail and filled out our vehicle registration information. Then it was off to the DMV to get our drivers licenses. We filled out the paperwork, provided our passports, SS cards, 2 pieces of mail and our hotel receipt and within 20 minutes we had our drivers licenses and were South Dakota residents!
 

This is when we could see the road!
Then it was off to Salt Lake, it was a two day trip that was both beautiful and horrifying. If you have never driven Hwy 44 through the Missouri River area of South Dakota you have to do it. The horrifying part was between Cheyenne and Laramie Wyoming were we got caught in a snow storm going over the mountains just east of Laramie. It was 6am and white out conditions, Barb was driving and could not see the centerline or the white line on the shoulder. Twice the truck and trailer slid sideways trying to maintain traction going up the grade. Stopping was not an option because once stopped you would never gain traction to get moving again. So she put it into 4WD and rode the rumble strip (at least we knew where we were on the road!) at 25mph for 10 miles to the Happy Jack rest area. We waited it out for a few hours and descended the 5% grade into Laramie.

We made Salt Lake last night but still encountered several white-knuckle stretches across Wyoming where a snow storm would hit and the roads disappear! We will spend the next few days visiting with our kids and hopeful that is the last time we will be driving in snow for a long time!

12 comments:

  1. Yeah, how exciting! Sounds like the DL process went easily. I've been waiting for your post. BUT, that snow is CRAZY! I can just picture driving up that grade! Glad you were able to find a place to pull off for a while. Looks like you'll need a few extra keys for that rascally Daisy. I sure hope that snow tapers off as I'll be flying in a couple weeks from now to get my Drivers License. Enjoy your visit with the kids and keep us updated. I love the first several posts when folks first head out! Yeah, congrats again!!

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    1. You are right Debbie, we will need to make those extra keys but we will probably wait until we really need them. Good luck in SD, let us know how it goes.

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  2. Wow, that sounds like a wild and crazy few days! We have never driven the rig and truck in snow, and can't imagine what that is like. Hopefully there is nothing but dry road ahead of you now!!

    Enjoy the beginning of the journey! It's a great life, but there's something especially exhilarating about the first few days and weeks. :)

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    1. Being from Wisconsin,the snow itself is not a huge issue but when going up a mountain and the backend cuts loose, that is another story!

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  3. Being from Florida I love to see the snow but don't want to drive in it! Word of caution, don't ever put canned cokes in an upper cabinet. First time I opened the cabinet after a drive one rolled out and exploded all over everything!

    Have fun with the family.

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    1. Good advice on the coke cans, we have not had anything like that happen yet but at the rate we are going I am sure we will!

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  4. Glad you made safe, the pics looked scary! First days of travel are nerve racking even in good weather. Welcome to graduation, time to hit the prom and party!

    Scott

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  5. Hooray, congratulations on your new DLs and residency! As far as the horrendous driving conditions go... Yikes! I can't even imagine it. So glad you guys made it to SLC safe and sound. Enjoy your visit. :-)

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  6. Congrats to you guys as your adventure begins. Drive safe, slow down, and ENJOY!

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    1. Thanks Allen, these first few weeks are kind of rushed since we are on a tight schedule. We are going to relax at the end of this week and visit the Oregon coast.

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  7. Just found your blog yesterday. We are signed up for the RV Dreams Spring Ralley May 2017. Looking forward to meeting other potential fulltimers like us. I back tracked thru your blog to see how yall first started and some of the selling home, stuff and all that went. We are starting the downsizing now. We have a LOT of Downsizing to do. I have not made it yet into your 2016 posts, so I am hoping all is still going well.

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  8. Oh and one more thing, with us being from Houston Texas area. None of us Houstonians know how to drive in Ice and Snow, that is evident everytime we get ice (rarely snow) tons and tons of wrecks. Driving where yall did would scare the bejeebies out of me and everyone driving around me.....

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