not a fun adventure!
NOTE- THE INTERNET HAS BEEN NON-EXISTENT FOR 2 WEEKS NOW, SO I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO POST OR ADD PICTURES- WILL DO SO WHEN WE GET DECENT INTERNET!
We arrived in South Dakota:
We stopped at a rest area/visitor center for a snack and to get brochures (TONS of brochures). When we got back on the freeway our tire pressure monitor went alarm off, so Jerry pulled to the side of the road, and the driver’s side rear tire on the trailer went flat in less than 1 minute- another adventure! Jerry would have changed the tire, but we were on the shoulder of the freeway, the flat tire was on the freeway side, and trucks and cars were zipping by at 80-85 mph! The speed limit here is 80 (love that- but not when you are sitting on the shoulder…)
First I called Good Sam Roadside Assistance- they said the coverage we have is for a bumper-pull trailer, not a 5th wheel trailer! How could this happen when we bought it at the same time we bought the trailer, so they wrote it up wrong at the dealership! We will be having words with Camping World when we get home! Then I called AAA- but our roadside assistance with them is only for our vehicles, not the trailer ☹. AAA gave me the names of a couple towing companies, so I called and made arrangements with one- they said the driver would be there in 60-90 minutes. An hour later they called back and said it would be 2 more hours- we were NOT happy campers at that point! Luckily, Jerry remembered we have roadside assistance with Geico, so I called them, and within 5 minutes they had us set up with a tow truck driver, and said he would be there in 60 minutes or less- and 45 minutes later he was there! He changed out the tire in about 10 minutes and we were back on the road- YAY GEICO!!!! And Steve, the tow truck driver! This is our view as we waited for the tow truck:
Spent one night in Salem, SD, then on to Rapid City to see about repairing/replacing the tire- we ended up replacing it
We drove past the Badlands- you can probably see why we didn’t stop, what with it being hot outside…
Yesterday we went to Mt Rushmore- it’s awesome!
They have a path that makes a loop and gives a different perspective as you go to the base of the mountain.
Along the way they also had a presenter who is a member of the Lakota tribe- he was wonderful as he shared songs and some history of the Lakota tribe.
The next day we had some problems with water pressure and the refrigerator, so we went into the town of Custer this morning to enjoy the Lions Club pancake breakfast and buy some parts at the hardware store. Then back to the trailer and Jerry worked his magic! Afterwards we went to the Mammoth Dig in Hot Springs- it was amazing! It is an ongoing archeological dig, and they have unearthed 61 mammoths so far! They are leaving the bones in place because they are fragile and they don’t want anything to happen to them.
Here are some tusks and a skull with the tusks intact:
Here is an entire mammoth skeleton, excluding the head:
The theory is that there was a sinkhole full of water, and the mammoths would go to get a drink and then would fall in, but were then unable to get out because of the steep sides. It was so interesting to see this site- we recommend it!