Another new experience

Well, it got so bad I had to fix it........ the fan belt is squealing, a lot.  It's been going on for a couple of months now.  I've stopped at half a dozen dealers trying to pick up a belt, but no one stocks it.  I finally ordered one out of Toledo and picked it up when I got in town.  My plan was to con my friend Al and brother-in-law Kerby into helping me install it.  Kerby had other ideas, "Oh just spray some WD40 on it.  That works every time."  It didn't help when Al opened up the back of his coach to show his engine, he has a side mount radiator with a Cat engine, and the fan belt and all the filters were right there at your finger tips.  But not MINE!  You can barely see the engine through a little crack in the battery compartment. 

So, I relented to peer pressure and sprayed WD40 on the belt, and yes it did work!  Until a few miles down the road from Kerby's then it started up again.  I think that was his plan all along.  That was two weeks ago and it's been getting worse each day.  Sandy decided she wanted to alter our plans and go into Canada for a few days, so I had to get this thing fixed!  

I drug out the blue prints for the coach, Winnebago is great for blue prints, you can download the whole set, and I noticed an access hatch right above the fan area.  So that night I unscrewed everything and checked it out.  Piece of cake!  The next morning, after I dreamt how to do it, I started into my new experience as a Diesel Mechanic.  It wasn't too bad!  I had to borrow a half inch ratchet from a fellow camper to crank the belt tensioner back, but other than that it was OK.  It took us an hour, with Sandy on top of the engine and me below (I could say something here......).  After a shower, off to Canada we go!

Back on the road again

We are leaving South Dakota, but I wanted to pass on a few ideas for your next trip.  SD was very tourist friendly.  Each store we went into, be it Walmart, gas station, or an art gallery, the people were glad to see us. They greeted us when we entered and wished us a good day when we left.  We both noticed it, and it felt good!  A park ranger told me that the Rapid City area expects $3 million each year for one week,,,,,,, Bike Week, and if you need a bike, there is a Harley store in every town.  But even when you visit during off times, they are glad to see you. 

We left Custer State Park and re-located 50 miles north to Spearfish, to be closer to jumping off on our next day of travel to North Dakota.  I chose Chris' Camp out of the Good Sam Campground Directory, very good choice.  Full hookups, WiFi, and cable TV for $32., and they offered all kinds of suggestions for seeing the local sights in our limited time frame. We said we wanted to go to Deadwood, so they suggested the Spearfish Scenic Byway and mapped out several water falls that are really flowing right now.  It was a good trip!  

We did make it to Deadwood and had a nice stroll through town.  There must be 50 casinos in that small town.  It's a place to stop and see on your travels.

 Of course, you have to visit the #10 Saloon, where Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back during a card game.  They re-enact that and gunfights in the street throughout the day.  We enjoyed Kevin Costner's casino called The Midnight Star, with it's movie memorabilia theme.

My suggestion is, visit SD!

More Bear stories

This is our last day in Custer State Park, so we went rock hunting.  They have lots of Mica in this area, so most of the rocks have a sparkle to them.  But I wanted to share some more Bear stuff from yesterday, these are some videos that I had taken of the baby bears.

These guys were just too cute!    

These two were busy french kissing.

Sometimes you just like playing by yourself.