Yesterday I called the Ford Garage, in Rapid City to check on the status of our van. The engine has been repaired, and parts have been ordered for the the heater/AC unit. I had asked the shop to fix the AC/heater, as the system has developed a vacuum leak. As a safety feature, the heater control operates on vacuum from the engine, to make the internal switch between the different heat or air-conditioning modes. If the vacuum system develops a leak, or has a faulty device in the system, the heater automatically will change the heating system to defrost. Our vans vacuum leak had been so bad, that when the AC was on, and I pressed on the gas pedal, the AC would go off, and the heater would switch to defrost, and this would stay that way until I would take my foot off of the gas pedal and coast, and then the AC would come back on. In the cooler climates, the vacuum leak wasn’t a real problem, but when the temp is in the mid 90s, it becomes a bit of an issue.
The repairs will be complete on Friday, and Joe the Service Manager wants to deliver the van that evening, here 50 miles away. Joe said that he has a favorite fishing lake just outside of Wall, and he is planning to go fishing after work, so it works out for both of us.
Anne-Marie and I walked into town to do some more exploring. We checked out all of the stores across the street from The Wall Drug Store. Gift shops, jewelry shops, leather clothes, fine artwork, and the inexpensive tourist trinkets, there were stores for every taste.
It seems that buffalo burgers are popular in every restaurant, and Anne-Marie had one a few days ago, same as beef but leaner. We had lunch in a small restaurant/bar and returned to the trailer.
Later in the afternoon we walked to the local meat market, about a mile away. We saw a Killdeer in the city park, on our way out, and it seemed to follow ahead of us for 200ft, across the parks parking lot, and we walked away. On our return trip through the parking lot, the bird was making quite a commotion, and getting closer than 10ft of us. I stopped and was surveying the ground in front of me for the nest, quite often the nest has no material, except for the egg, and it is spotted and blends in quite well with the gravel.
The Killdeer was turning her back to me, and dropping low to the ground, and doing the broken wing dance, all the while screaming at me.
If you zoom in on the picture, you can see that she is screaming and is incredibly stressed. I couldn’t see the nest, and Anne-Marie encouraged me to leave, because this bird was stressed. We left the bird to her own territory, and continued our walk.
Our friend Steve, who has had a blog for five years, encouraged me to continue the blog, and learn to use the tools, that make the blog easier, and that the blog will provide hours of entertainment and enjoyment every day. Yesterday, my computer was tired, I was tired, I wrote about 400 words of a story, and this program wouldn’t publish the story, and it wouldn’t save it and it lost it. I got depressed, shut the computer off, and went to bed. I seem to still find frustrations with the blog.
There is a neat car/bike in the RV Park, and they have been driving around town, getting a lot of looks.
It looks to be a Volkswagen powered vehicle, with a motorbike front, and covered with a Ford Model A body. It even has a trunk on the back for storage.
The whole outfit is hauled on a trailer, pulled by a motorhome. Pretty classy.
It is so hot outside.
I looked at the Weather Channel to see what the Temp was outside, and it is 108deg here in Wall. No wonder that the air-conditioning can only get it down to 87deg inside the trailer. From all that I have read about Airstreams, is that the single air-conditioning unit only drops the inside temp 20deg, and if we had two, perhaps down to the 70s. There is even a heat advisory till 7PM. The inside temp is 87deg, but it is a lot cooler than outside, and it is comfortable, fans seem to help.
I have walked a couple of miles today. I walked to the local meat shop this morning, and bought some locally made brats, and Anne-Marie has them cooking for dinner, and I walked to the local grocery store and back, for at least a couple of miles for the day. During the next six hours the temp is expected to drop to the mid 80s.
The tow truck arrived to take the van to the Ford dealer in Rapid City. The service desk said that it should be done this afternoon or tomorrow, and that they have worked out a delivery if it gets done today, but tomorrow it might not work for them. The RV Park owner here in Wall said that he would provide transportation for us if needed.
Seems that its all working out for us, and we are walking distance from downtown here in Wall South, Dakota.
Anne-Marie and I toured the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall South Dakota this morning, and we then toured a portion of the Badlands National Park, until problems developed with the van.
Our van had a pop pop pop sound when I started it, upon leaving a viewing outlook. I opened the hood, and listened to where the exhaust leak was happening at, and it was the passenger side, and seeing what it was couldn’t be done, because of too much stuff in the way. I have a code detector, the check engine light was on, I checked the codes right there in the parking lot, and the code was 0303 misfire cylinder three. The local garage in Wall, didn’t feel that they were equipped for the repair, so the van is being towed to Rapid City, South Dakota, to the Ford Dealer for repairs. The exhaust leak sound, the misfire, and the code reader, all indicate a blown spark plug. The unplanned expenses are $250+ for towing the van, and the ford dealer says $500+ for the repair. We will know more after the van gets in the shop.
Before the Van broke, we had fun at the visitors center.
We toured the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall. Most all exhibits were very well done.
These two exhibits were incredible, and looked stop action real.
We drove out to the Badlands to see the wildlife, and had fun.
The prairie dogs seem to be entertained by us as much as we were by them.
Anne-Marie on the right, looking over a spectacular sight.
Anne-Marie shading her eyes, at the last outlook for us today. There were a few lone bull buffalo near where we toured, and this one wandered close to the road.
All works well till something gets broke. All of our friends who are full-timing in their RV, have at least one major breakdown on something every travel season, we do to.
We departed Sundance today, and pulled the trailer East to Wall, South Dakota.
For hundreds of miles in all directions from Wall, South Dakota, the Wall Drug Store advertising road side signs are scattered along the sides of the highway. I believe that one could have enough lumber to build another store, by gathering the signs up.
The store takes up nearly the whole block, and it is a destination for many. The street side parking was always full, and several parking lots were available for large rigs, and RVs. The main hallway or mall, has a lot of attractions, and every park bench has a mannequin already staged for photos. The mall has many specialty shops, from the inexpensive tourist gift shop to an art gallery with original paintings and sculptures.
These mannequins are playing cards, and a lady is in the mall, looking in. Out back in the alley, has activity areas for the kids, and another building with an arcade, and other kid friendly things to do. There may be five or six restaurants in this complex, and all seemed to be busy.
Anne-Marie signed us up for two nights here in Wall, and we will tour the badlands tomorrow.
Downtown Sundance Wyoming has some really neat old buildings, and a stuffed to the gills museum. Steve, Anne-Marie and I toured the downtown of Sundance yesterday, late morning, and finished with lunch at a local restaurant.
The old stone Sundance Bank building attracts a lot of attention from the visitors, as does the old school building. The Sundance Kid is portrayed by this statue, just outside of the Crook County Courthouse. Sundance got his nickname from his jail time in Sundance, from stealing a horse, saddle, and gun.
The Museum is in the basement of the Courthouse, and many of the exhibits are staged in small rooms, shown here is a portrayal of a ranch hands bunkhouse, and a kitchen-front room of a ranch house.
Anne-Marie looking at vintage dresses, and a display of vintage guns.
There was a display of items recovered from the Vore Buffalo Jump site, and many many arrow and spear points.
The country store had thousands of vintage items.
Today will be a travel day for Steve, as well as Anne-Marie and I. Steve is moving to Sturgis, South Dakota, and Anne-Marie and I are needing to get closer to our daughter, Sara in Illinois, so we will travel a little further into South Dakota, perhaps Wall, South Dakota. Our paths have crossed and uncrossed every year, and Anne-Marie and I have had many high energy tours with Steve, and we are looking forward to crossing paths again, before winter.
A volcanic intrusion is what built The Devils Tower. The geologists think that there may have been over a mile of softer soils and rock covering this area when this was formed, and erosion has removed all but the hardest materials, and the Devils Tower is what we have left.
Anne-Marie, Steve and I drove north to visit the National Monument yesterday morning, and this shows two views of the tower, quite impressive, the first is at the visitors center, second is from the northeast. The tower is a popular rock climbing site, as that is the only way to reach the top, but the Rangers had closed a few climbing routes, to protect nesting Prairie Falcons.
Once inside of the gate, we stopped and were entertained by a prairie dog community, Steve and Anne-Marie to the right.
We paused in the western town of Hulett for a few pictures, on our way to Aladdin for lunch at Cindy B’s Café.
The highlight of the day was a visit to this small site. The small visitor center is housed in a new log building, smaller than a house. The Vore Buffalo Jump excavation is in a small sinkhole in the prairie, owned by the Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation, and housed in this unimposing building at the bottom of the sink hole.
The American Natives used this site as a trap. They would herd or direct or stampede the animals to the sink hole, and the buffalo would tumble down the short bluff and be easier to harvest. There are over two hundred bluffs, or cliffs that were used in this manner in Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota. The earliest excavation is shown in the long trench on the left, and the current site on the right, with many items tagged.
A wide view of the interior space, and a small collection of arrow points, with descriptions of designs and dating method. The stone tools have been discovered throughout the dig.
We made a rest stop at this Visitors center just two miles from the Buffalo Jump, and we were amazed that it was setup with exhibits done as well as a museum.
Today we explore the town of Sundance, and visit the Crook County Museum.
