About halfway between Custer and Rapid City is Hill City, home to the 1880 Train on the Black Hills Central Railroad. Railfans no doubt already know (and will correct me if I get any of this wrong) that the 1880 Train runs from Hill City to Keystone and back, recreating the experience of riding an early 20th-century train (except with narration, of course). Continue reading
From day one, it seems like the Incorrigible’s plumbing has been bound and determined to leak. First the water filter blew out, drenching the area under our cabinets. Once that was replaced, it took two trips back to the dealer before the unit stopped dripping. Almost as soon as we finished that repair, the water heater’s regulator valve went south on us. Designed to release excess pressure inside the hot water tank, this valve turns into a very poor faucet when it wears out, allowing water to first drip, then pour out the side of the tank whenever the water is turned on. When ours blew its top, we had a fountain of water spraying out the side of the Incorrigible. Thankfully, replacing it is a relatively easy do-it-yourself repair requiring a bit of elbow grease.
The day after the water heater was declared fit for duty, another joint under the sink began spraying water, resulting in another two days of soaked carpet. Something was clearly amiss in the watery guts of our motorhome.
We got the answer from a fellow RV traveler; we needed a water pressure regulator. Here’s something you won’t always find out by reading the RV traveling guides and that the dealer often won’t mention: water pressure varies wildly from campground to campground and city to city. It may look the same coming through the tap, but while most RV water systems are designed to accept a maximum pressure of 80PSI, city water can be flowing at well over 100PSI in some cases. Most RV manufacturers don’t recommend going over 50 to 55PSI. Especially on older RVs like the Incorrigible, overpressure is just asking for blown gaskets and leaks.
The solution is to install an external water pressure regulator. These simple, screw-on regulators attach between the city water hose and your water tank, and help to keep the water flowing at manageable levels. Some RVers make their own, but ready-made regulators are available from Camping World and other RV outfitters. Expect to pay between $15 and $30 for a serviceable one.
In unrelated news, we have stairs again! The power actuator which broke back in March has finally been replaced. Apparently it’s a common thing; on ours, the aluminum arm which extends and retracts the steps simply broke. After fifteen years of use and abuse, this is perhaps not a surprise. Kwik-ee, our stairs’ manufacturer, makes offers repair and replacement arms for the unit; removal and replacement is a process involving minimal effort and just a little bit of profanity to get the new actuator arm lined up. Just when we thought it wasn’t going to go back together at all, everything fell right into place. The temporary-replacement Rubbermaid folding plastic steps have been relegated to the understorage.
Also unrelated: readily-available firewood and a decent-sized fire pit with a grate mean that many of our dinners are cooked over an open flame. The lack of recycling facilities means that many of these fires are started with the credit card statements that Amex and Chase insist on sending to us even after we went paperless. Somehow, that’s weirdly satisfying.
Custer is just 70 miles from Sturgis, South Dakota. Toward the end of July, this means only one thing: the Sturgis rally.
Known simply as “Sturgis” to its friends, the Sturgis motorcycle rally is an annual gathering of two- and three-wheelers that’s been going on for 69 years. Attracting mostly Harley riders, this event almost doubles the population of South Dakota for two weeks in late July-early August, and is too big to be contained by just one town. Events and attendance spill over into neighboring cities, and Custer is no exception.
