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The Incorrigible’s our house, and who leaves their house alone? Constant redecoration and upgrading are a part of having your own place.
After the mud of Michigan and Nashville followed by the dust of Austin and the sand of Baker (not to mention who knows how much dreck before we owned it), our Dolphin’s carpet was starting to look like it’d be more appropriate in a crackhouse than our house.
So, in a fit of pique one weekend, we ripped it out. This was not an easy task, but this was no small fit of pique, either. Removing an RV’s carpet requires, in addition to the usual carpet-pulling exertions, unbolting the furniture from the floor. Our couch was held in place by eleven large bolts that go into the under-storage. A lot of crawling around outside was required to negotiate them loose, but we were rewarded with a bare wood floor.
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The twin cities of Deadwood and Lead (pronounced like the verb, not the element) are about seventy miles from Custer. Deadwood has a rowdy history (you’ve seen the HBO series, right?), and these days it’s heavy on the casino-and-tourist-trap side. This surprisingly small city is tucked away in the Black Hills, and if you blink you’ll miss one of the better attractions.
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Man! We’ve been busy! Between our usual work and the workamping job, plus home-improvement projects, the summer sped past. We hit the bricks to visit a few more of the sights of the Black Hills before the season slipped away completely.
Within a few miles of the Big Pine are the Four Mile Old West Town and the National Museum of Woodcarving. Taking in one outdoor and one indoor attraction seemed like a good way to spend a day off, so we did just that.
The Four Mile Old West Town is named for the stagecoach and mail stop that was once there, and is (not surprisingly) about four miles outside of Custer. The exhibit includes a boardwalk and a collection of over 50 furnished Old West buildings. Read More →
As we contemplate our second winter in the RV, we’re naturally looking back to last winter, and considering all of the things we learned from that experience. Full-timing presents a special challenge, especially if you’re not planning to hie yourself immediately to the bottom of Florida or Arizona on the first of October. We spent most of last winter closer to the middle of the country (you know, where they have weather) and it’s looking like this winter’s going to be the same. With that in mind, I thought I’d throw together a few Things They Might Not Have Told You about staying in your RV in cold climates: Read More →
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). Read More →
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.
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The signs were there; little rips in plastic bags here and there, scattered crumbs and an inexplicably hyper cat, but we didn’t want to admit it. We were in denial for the better part of two months, in fact. When we discovered that a bag of chocolate chips had been ripped open and all of its contents pilfered, however, it was time to face the facts: the Incorrigible had a mouse. Read More →
Our first stop was the big one, of course: Mt. Rushmore. Rushmore is one of those tourist attractions that somehow doesn’t seem real, because it’s so frequently featured in movies. It’s got the same sense of quiet unreality that visiting, say, the Death Star might have. We kept having to tap ourselves on the shoulder and say, “Wait, that place is REAL?”
Is it impressive? No doubt about it. Will you ask yourself “why” as you mill about with thousands of tourists? Almost certainly. Will you partake of a buffalo hot dog and peruse the massive gift shop? You’d better; after all, you’re here, why not go for it? Does Jefferson look kind of like our friend Henry? Yeah, he does. Read More →
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