Restlessness, snow, winds, and two equipment
malfunctions is what we encountered since leaving North Dakota.We left when we did to avoid forecasted snow,
wind and freezing temperatures so what did we run into? Snow, wind and freezing
temperatures of course! The storm that was supposed to track north must have heard about our plans to avoid it so it decided to head south and meet up with us.
From North Dakota we drove 6 ½ hours south to
Wood, South Dakota to meet up with a couple of friends from Wisconsin who were
spending the week deer hunting on the Rosebud Reservation. We had not
seen friends Kevin and Tom in over a year and although we told Tom, Kevin did
not know we were coming, the look on his face when he pulled in from hunting
and saw us was totally worth the trip! We spent two days with them and I was
able to tag along while they hunted. The second night is when we ran into the
nasty weather. It snowed most of the night and we woke up to 5 inches of snow
and 30-40 mph wind gusts. The snow stuck to the side of the slides and piled on
top of the slide toppers. I had to get up there and clean them off as best I
could before we put the slides in. Even with that when we pulled the slides in
a fair amount of ice and snow followed them inside the rig. Next up was trying
to get out of the field that we had parked in. It took us 3 runs in 4 low to
get up the hill but we eventually were back on the road. Hunting was great for the guys, overall they went 5
for 5 on some really nice whitetail bucks and had a great trip.
The picture says it all!
Barb got out and took a few pictures before the snow storm.....
The old grain building in Wood
Not sure what this building was
From Wood we headed west where our plan
was to drive 3 ½ hours to Custer where we would spend a couple more days
continuing our land search. As we were driving I commented to Barb that the
truck felt sluggish. I attributed it to the high winds and kept on a truck’in.
30 minutes later the engine light came on and displayed “Reduced Engine Power”
and immediately would not let us go over 30 mph which turned into 10 mph going
up hills. Barb got on the internet to try and diagnose the situation. At first
we thought it might have something to so with the cold and the diesel gelling
but it really wasn’t that cold (it was 18°) and according to the internet we
should have received a different warning message. The only thing she could find that was
similar to our situation had to do with air flow with a recommendation to clean
the Mass Airflow Sensor on the intake. The short term fix said to stop and let it
rest for a while and try it to see if engine power was still reduced. We limped
into Murdo, SD where we stopped at a Pilot fueled up and put in some diesel
additive (just in case) then parked and had lunch. After an hour we started the
truck back up and hit the highway hoping for the best. Although the engine
light stayed on we were able to go as fast as we wanted and made it to
Custer…Whew!
The Black Hills area probably has more campground per
square mile than anyplace we have been but arrive in mid-November and you will
find a completely different scenario. There was one park open in Custer; FrenchCreek RV Park so we called ahead to make sure we would fit….No problem they
said. Due to our delay, we arrived after dark and if there is one thing we don’t
like it is pulling into an RV Park in the dark. Luckily there was only one
other rig in the park and we were able to pull into a site without a problem.
The next day when we woke up we had no running water! We turn on the faucet and nothing, no water, no sound of the pump running....nothing. We were completely froze up. It had gotten down to 10 the night before and although we had the tank heaters on and the furnace ran on and off all night we were still froze up. It was supposed to get up to 40 that day so we headed out on our land search
after stopping by the automotive store and picking up some Mass Airflow Sensor Cleaner (who knew it even existed?) By this time the engine light was no longer
coming on but we cleaned the sensor anyway. When we got home that afternoon I turned on the water pump, tested the faucet and we had water! Everything had thawed and we were good to go!
We spent two days looking at different
pieces of property. With snow on the ground it added a different element to
what we were used to in the area made it look even more beautiful. You can expect to pay anywhere from $3,000 to $12,000 per acre depending on the view, location and whether the property has electric or water. Many of the homeowners in the area don't have wells and haul their water in using big tanks in a trailer or the back of their trucks then store it in an underground tank. We are open to this since it is a lot like RV living and we are already used to the concept of limited water and finding it when necessary. Ideally we would like a piece bordering Forest Service property with a view, a well and electricity but those pieces are on the high end ($10k-12k/acre) and usually larger parcels (40+ acres) which put them outside of our price range. Of the 20 or
so pieces we looked at 4 are still on the short list and two that we are seriously considering.....
40 acres outside Pringle. We could live with this view.....
....or this one! 22 acres outside Hill City
A cute little Fixer Upper on 10 acres, ready for horses and chickens!
We ended up staying a day longer than we had anticipated
waiting for a package to arrive from MORyde which leads us to our second equipment
malfunction. We had new axles installed by MORyde in the spring of ‘15 and was not expecting any problems. So
imagine our surprise when I had removed each of the trailer tires to inspect
them and discovered that 2 of the 4 plastic hub covers were broken and rolling
around inside the dust cap. How long had they been like that?!?!? Again Barb jumped on the internet and found that
this is a known issue with the type of hub covers MORyde used for a several
month period in early 2015 and was sending replacements out for free. For now I
cleaned out the hubs, added some grease and duct taped the old covers back on
until I can get the new ones on. We have been watching the temps on our tire pressure monitoring system just in case.
The hub covers
The treads (white ring) had broken off and were still in the hubs
2 of our 4 new hub covers
The restlessness comes from the fact that Barb
and I have had a hard time relaxing and getting into FT RV’ing mode again.
After being busy pretty much every day in North Dakota for so long it has been
hard to get used to just chill’in. I have to say we both honestly miss the farm life
and being busy all the time but a little over a week later we are settling
down, reading books, going for walks and adjusting to being on the road again.
With another snowstorm forecasted that night, we left Custer and arrived in Casper 4 hours later just as it started raining, which later turned to snow. From there it looked like we had a one day window to get to Salt Lake before the next system moved through. The roads were good for the most part although we did run into some slushy ice covered roads early in the morning outside of Custer as well as in the higher elevations along two passes.
Some spots were a little sketchy
But then the sun came out and warmed things up......everything was right with the world again!
So after an 8 hour drive we arrived at the Cabela’s in
Salt Lake getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with….wait… there is no one
here…..both our kids have moved away! Boy, is this weird!
With the Holidays fast approaching Barb and I
have been thinking about Christmas and what to get each other. As of right now I
have no idea what to get her. She already has a toaster…. Buying Christmas,
birthday or really any kind of presents is stressful for me as it seems as though if
we find something we want we don’t have the patience to wait for the
appropriate holiday.
So as I ponder what to buy her for Christmas (I
am open to suggestions) I thought I would list some of the most useful RV and
non-RV related items we find we get the most use out of and would buy again. I
have provided links to these items using our Amazon link and as always we appreciate
it when you use our Amazon link on the right sidebar of our blog page when shopping and making purchases.
Our #1 item so far this year is our PizzaPizazz. Maybe it is because it is still so new to us or the fact that we have
been so inept at using the oven in our rig without burning anything. So far, in
addition to cooking pizzas we have prepared Tollhouse cookies and the ever
famous tater tots!
#2 was our Carefree Awning Sunscreen we bought while in
Quartzsite last year. We initially did not think we needed one but after buying
Barb’s inversion table we decided we wanted a little more privacy in the front
of our rig. It came with a bonus application that we did not even think about
in addition to privacy and reducing sunlight, it also deflects the wind and
makes it more comfortable to sit outside.
#3 Speaking of Inversion Tables, we bought Barb one last winter. Barb has a bad back and it helps relieve pain when she uses it on a regular basis. Not only that, it helps me relieve minor neck tension from time to time and have had multiple friends use it as well.
#4 Dyson V6 Animal Stick – Our most recent purchase Barb has been wanting one for over a year. Our in-house system does a horrible job at picking up dog hair, it was amazing what the Dyson is picking up the other vacuum missed.
#5 Epicurean Cutting Board - This is by far the best cutting board we have ever owned. These boards are durable, nonporous, knife friendly, and dishwasher safe.
#6 Solar Christmas Lights – Whenever we are
somewhere for more than a couple of weeks we set up our solar lights. It not
only creates a festive atmosphere, it helps us find our rig at night after
happy hour at a neighboring rig!
#7 Stainless Bowls with Rubber Bottoms - I don't have a lot of input on this one but when I asked Barb to name a few things that she liked that she would purchase all over again these were one of the first things she mentioned.
#8 Cordless Drill Kit – Learning what tools are
needed while on the road is challenging at first. I have tools that I bought in
preparation of FT’ing that I have never used. I do however frequently use my
cordless drill and the Driving Kit is a must have as it includes every bit I have needed so far.
#9 Yeti Tumbler/Can Coolers – We bought both the
Yeti 20oz Rambler and the Colster. The 20oz Rambler keeps your drinks cold and
your coffee hot and we get a lot of use out of them. The Colster not only fits
12 oz cans but it works for bottles as well. There are less expensive knock
offs, not sure if they work as well but we are very happy with ours and would
buy them again.
#10 Lasko Ceramic Heater – We don’t use it a lot
as we are rarely plugged in but those times we are the Lasko comes out of the
closet and keeps us warm and toasty while saving propane!
What's your favorite RV or non-RV related purchase for the year? It might give me an idea for Barb's Christmas gift and if you are ordering from Amazon and make your purchase before December 23rd, you
might have one of our RV friends pick your order!
By the way Barb..... if you are reading this (I really don't think she does) my wish list includes a wireless speaker for the TV that I can put behind the recliner so I can hear what is going on without having the volume maxed out...
Well, really the farm.....which got me to thinking....what’s the difference between a ranch and a
farm? When I think of a ranch, I think of a huge spread of land with a
predominant livestock operation, while when I think of a farm I think
predominantly of croplands and perhaps a dairy operation. Curious, I looked up
the terms using Google and confirmed my initial thoughts: a farm is an area of
land primarily used to growing crops with a small focus on rearing animals
while a ranch is just the opposite. What made me think of this title was one of
the activities we took part in this week. Moving some livestock!
We have occasionally seen cattle drives where
cattle were being moved from one location to another but we had never taken
part in one. The day started with no plans to move cattle at all. There is
never a lack of things to do on the farm, in fact there is usually more things to do than
there is time in the day. We had plans to work on some equipment and get out and do some
field work. Then Chris received a call from one of their neighbors asking if
they would be willing to help him move his cattle from one pasture to another.
Without hesitating he said we would be there and the three of us jumped on some
4 wheelers to help. This simple fact truly amazes me and makes me love this
area and culture even more, a neighbor calls for help and you drop everything
you are doing to help them out. That’s just the way they roll around here.
The cattle drive itself was very interesting,
there were 4 of us on 4 wheelers and two people in vehicles. The role of the
two vehicles was to have one in front of the drive and one in the rear to alert
traffic while the 4 wheelers were there to guide the cattle, round up any of
the cattle that wanted to break away and generally keep them moving.
The first challenge was to even get the cattle
moving. The cattle were bunched up along the edge of the fence where we wanted
them to start and the fence was taken down so we could get started. Even though
the fence was down they did not want to cross that imaginary boundary to leave
the pasture. It is very difficult if not impossible to get cattle to do
something they do not want to do, the key is to get them to think it is their
idea to do it. So we sat there for about 20 minutes until one of them finally
decided to walk out of the pasture and the rest quickly followed.
Refusing to cross the imaginary fence
The first leg of the drive took the cattle down a
blacktop county road for about 2 miles. There was minimal traffic with probably
only a dozen cars slowly passing through the herd. We tried to keep them in the
ditch as much as possible but there were stretches where the terrain forced us
to use the road through certain sections. By the time we had gone ½ mile the
faster cattle were way ahead, the slower ones were way behind and we lost one
of our vehicles who had to stop for a cow who stepped in a large hole and just
laid down in the ditch and would not move. Another thing I quickly learned is
that nervous cattle get really “loose” and they start crapping pretty much
constantly so you have to watch yourself!
Finally headed down the ditch.......
....and onto the road!
That's a dump truck sneaking by ahead on the left
After the first two miles we turned onto a
gravel road so the traffic was really minimal but now the slower cattle were
really slow and we were probably stretched out for almost a mile. In all it
took us over 2 hours to move them the 5-6 miles to their new pasture. The cow
that went down eventually got up and made it back an hour or so after the rest
and it was another adventure I can cross of the bucket list!
As much fun as that was the primary focus this
week was to get out hunting as much as possible between farm chores. We got out
duck hunting several times and although the weather was way too warm we did
manage to get our share of ducks throughout the week.
We got quite the variety of birds; Geese, redheads, buffleheads, scaup, pintails and gadwalls
I got out bow hunting a
total of 7 times and saw deer almost every time. Anytime I get out is
special as I never know what I am going to see. Like the time I had 1,000
snow geese land within 100 yards of me (check out video below), or the time a coyote came within 20
yards and ate a couple of apples in front of me and never knew I was there. Who
knew coyotes ate apples?!?!? 6 of those times I saw does/fawns,
small bucks or nothing at all but the day before rifle season opened I was fortunate enough to
harvest a nice 10 point buck we had seen on camera several times.
Video of Snow Geese
Coyote poses with an apple in its mouth
I caught up with this guy 10 days after this picture was taken and now have a freezer full of venison!
Dakota and Daisy are really starting to bond. For those of you who know Daisy, you know she has to be sitting on or touching someone pretty much constantly in fact she used to lay or sit on top of Bailey all the time. Although she has not taken to laying on Dakota, she does love to sit on her.
Dakota did have one naughty moment when we left her out of her kennel when we went to watch football over at Chris and Holly's. She did not like the fact that we left her alone and she let us know it........
$50.00 later we had a new remote
Barb has been busy with crafts, projects and other activities. Apple pies, apple strudels, chocolate chip cookies, crocheting, making a new tie blanket, bingo nights in Minot and has even taken to woodworking! Copying a template from Dino and Lisa, she used a jig saw, drill and belt sander to make a clothes dryer that connects to the ladder on the back of our rig. (Bob and Deanne, if you are looking for the small strip of plywood you had in your loft, you now know where it is!)
Barb can tie a mean knot!
We had dinners over at both the Finken's and Sobieck's, Holly fixed chicken fajitas and Deanne invited us over to dinner one night for our second ever meal consisting of Fleischkeukle. We first had this meal several years ago in October of 2014 when Deanne first introduced us to this German dish. Since this introduction we have seen it on several menus as we have travel the country and enjoyed it both times we had it. She also got a new car! She has wanted a VW for a while and she finally pulled the trigger the day before we left. Well deserved..... We got out to dinner with Bob and Deanne the weekend before we left to.....wait for it....a brewery! We traveled to Minot where we had dinner and a few beers at Souris River Brewing. Thanks guys!!!!!
Deanne and her new Bug!
Last but not least there is the never ending farm work. So many different things to do.....Taking advantage of the unusually warm weather, Bob and Chris started preparing the fields for next spring. Harrowing, Pro-Tilling, pulling more fence and cutting and burning dried up sloughs. The Finken family has been farming many of these fields since 1916 and there is a constant ebb and flow with the lands. In this part of the country there are countless potholes and sloughs throughout the area. On wet years they can lose hundreds of acres of croplands, on drier years following regulations they are able to reclaim some of the sloughs back to farmland. One method of reclaiming the sloughs is to break up the ground around the edge of the slough and start it on fire. Using a propane torch, my job was to go along the edge of the sloughs and start them on fire. Once lit, I watched the edges to make sure everything was contained in the burn area.
Before burn........
After burn....ready for tilling
This is what happens when you get too close to the water...
With the warmer than expected weather, we were able to extend out stay and extra 10 days but with snow and extended cold weather forecasted for tomorrow it is time to head south. So after 7 weeks,we packed everything up said our goodbyes and headed down the road. The Finken/Sobieck crew probably thought the cold weather would never get here and push us south and were probably doing the "Happy Dance" as we were headed down the driveway. We had a great time and the time flew bye. We are going to miss everyone, thanks for everything and see you next year!!!!!
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of
activity. We have not gotten out hunting but we are still enjoying ourselves with the farm work. Several back to back days
of dry weather allowed Bob and Chris to harvest the remaining soy beans while I
carted and transferred the beans from the combine to the semi-trucks. I could
tell that both Bob and Chris were relieved to have the last of the crops off
the fields so they could now focus on other chores around the farm.
They combined during the day.....
....and at night
But they got it all done!!!!!
There were several large rocks and a fence line
they wanted removed before the fields were prepared for the spring
planting. Although I had plenty of experience removing rocks and fence when we
owned our hobby farm, we did not have the cool tools to make these jobs so much
easier! They have an attachment for the bobcat that digs, lifts and secures the
rock so there is virtually no physical labor involved. In fact, this is
probably the first time I have ever enjoyed removing rocks from a field!
That's one big rock!
Next up was a ½ mile fence line that they wanted
removed. Again, they had an attachment for their tractor that did most of the
work for you. After walking the fence line and removing all the post
connections you simply hook the fence line up to fence wheel and use the hydraulics to slowly start
winding the wire onto the wheel.
Fence winder, one cool invention!
Barb even got in the action when she used the
rotary mower and Case tractor to chop up 20 acres of oats residue!
Barb getting some tractor time!
One of my favorite tasks was continuing to use
one of the semis to take Canola to the elevator. Previously I had just driven
the unloaded semi back from the elevator. This in itself was a learning
experience as unlike any other manual transmission I have driven you don’t
shift these trucks using the clutch. Instead you have to “RPM match”. It takes
a while to get the knack of this and if you miss a gear or cannot find a gear
you may have to come to a stop, use the clutch to put it in gear and start all
over again. This is not something you want to do on a busy road! Luckily this
never happened to me (yet) although there was definitely some gear searching going on
a time or two!
Next came driving the truck while it was loaded.
Having 60,000 pounds of grain on your truck really changes the dynamics of
starting, stopping and even taking corners. It really gave me a new appreciation
for the truck drivers out there.
Arriving at the grain elevator is another
experience in itself. As you pull in you have to scan yourself in so they know
which farm to credit the load to. Then you to pull up to the “Probe Station”
for your two probes. You pull up until they turn on a red light, you stop and
an automated arm dips into the front hopper and takes a sample of your grain.
The light then turns green and you pull up a little further and stop so they
can probe the back hopper. Among some of the things they check for are moisture
content and overall grain quality. You could be docked if any of these
things are outside their specifications.
Once the light turns green again you pull up
onto the scale and scan your card again accepting the weight.
Coming in at almost 87,000 #'s
Then it is on to the dump station. These
certainly are not like the dump stations we are accustomed to while full
timing. They are long tall buildings with grates on the floor. Once you are
inside you stop, park and get out and open the hopper doors dumping the canola
into the grates.
Approaching the dump building
Opening the hopper to dump the canola
Once empty, you head out to the exit scale where
they weigh you again and you get your ticket which details your weight and
grain quality.
Going out at 27,000 #'s
Then it is back to the farm to load up and do it all over again.
Depending on how long you have to wait in line to dump a round trip can take
anywhere from 2-3 hours. Add the 30-40 minutes it takes to fill the truck back
at the farm and you can make 2-3 roundtrips a day.
There is a lot of waterfowl headed south and we will get back into the field hunting in the next week or so. The other day thousands of Sandhill Cranes flew over no doubt headed to south Texas.
Sandhills headed south
The deer activity picked up the last two weeks
and we checked the cameras several times to see what was in
each of the areas. It is like Christmas every time you check the cameras as you
don’t know what you are going to get! We have seen everything from pheasants,
raccoons, coyotes, fox, squirrels, deer of course and the occasional moose!
This little guy stopped by for a photo op
North Dakota Prairie Moose?
This deer should be in the circus!
These two were not getting along.....
Then of course there are the monster bucks.......
Sequoia is doing well and we could not be
happier! We changed her name to Dakota as it is one of our favorite places and
is rolls off my tongue better when giving commands in the field. I figured if I can respond to all the different names Barb calls me she can learn one new name. She is a very
smart dog and is already responds to it.
We have been working with the retrieving dummy
2-3 times a days and she is doing awesome! We took down the ramp and although
she is not as agile as she was with the ramps she is getting in and out just
fine. We have been working on introducing her to new noises and environments
and although she is initially nervous, she gets calmer and calmer with each
repetition and as you can see she is becoming quite comfortable within our rig!
Which is more comfortable.....the couch or.....
....the recliner?
Barb is becoming quite the Sushi Chef! She has been to two sushi classes in the past few weeks and we have been having some delicious sushi!
Caterpillar, Dragon and a Fried Roll
She also finished her crocheting project, something I honestly did not think she would get done in the next year.
Last but not least, she got her annual haircut! Holly was able to get her into her stylist and she looks even more beautifuller, if that is even possible......
