Severe Weather

Severe Thunderstorm Warning
High Wind Warning
Tornado Watch
Flood Warning
Flood Advisory
Flood Watch

I guess you can say we are having some severe weather!  We are fine and quite comfortable. 

While we knew that we were expecting some rain and high wind this afternoon, we decided to take a drive up to Rapid City this morning figuring we would be home long before the bad weather hit.  Our door latch/handle broke over the weekend and we wanted to see if we could find a replacement.  Nope, we had to order one from Petersen Industries and are having it shipped to us.  While in town, we stopped at Cabela's and Sam's Club, had lunch and got diesel.  As John was finishing up getting diesel, thunder and lightning started up as did the heavy rain.  We heard on the radio that Custer had softball sized hail - YIKES!  I called the campground's office and was told that they had small hail and lots of rain.  Whew - we were happy to hear that.  The drive home was rather treacherous with heavy rain and good sized hail.  John had to pull over once as visibility was so poor.  As we got half-way back to Custer, John said "Well, this is a stressful drive home".  How true.

Sheesh, we are so ready for good weather. 

Update for the past week

We've had fog, rain, thunderstorms, severe weather with a tornado warning, and bits of sunshine (rare).  Thursday it wasn't suppose to rain but was cloudy and breezy and John was itching to go fishing!   We headed up to Center Lake around 9:30 a.m. to take the inflatable pontoon boat (Sea Eagle Foldcat 375fc) out for its true maiden voyage.  It takes a bit to get it all set up but with teamwork, we are getting the hang of it.  Once out on the water, we were catching trout . . . some really small to some 12 to 14 inch long chubby ones.  Since we catch and release, we aren't limited and easily caught over 30 trout between us (we lost count).  I really enjoyed the whole trolling bit which was a lot easier than in the kayak.  The electric motor is so darn quiet that there is no distraction from the peace and quiet of being on the water which I really enjoy.  It was also nice to be able to easily chat with each other and assist the other with their catch.  I don't think we are going to miss the kayaks one bit.  We must have been enjoying ourselves because before we knew it, it was 3:30 p.m. and we were starving.  I had brought snacks only as I didn't think we would be on the water that long (another lesson learned).  When the fishing is good, one doesn't pack it in early!

Friday, we took the boat up to Stockade Lake with plans to be off the water at noon before the thunderstorms rolled in.   We were trying our hand at bass fishing - what a bust.  It was windy, cold and not even one nibble.  As we headed in, we got to see an Osprey fly over us with a fish in his talons and land in a tree to enjoy his meal.  Glad he had luck fishing.  We were off the lake at noon and as we headed home, it started to sprinkle so we had good timing in getting off the water.

John is working on fixing some barbed wire fencing during his work shift this weekend.  Last night on my shift, I checked in some campers as business is starting to pick up.  Hard to believe that next weekend is Memorial Day weekend - let the campers arrive. 

Sunshine on our shoulders

Today was an absolutely beautiful day with a high of 60 degrees.  Whoo hoo!  We went into town and everyone was commenting on the beautiful weather.  The locals are more than ready for good weather as they have all commented that eight months of winter is enough.  We've only had two weeks of winter and we couldn't agree more.  

We had Customer Service Training to attend at the high school.  Just like last year, their chosen speaker was very entertaining and had a good message about attitudes.  Like we told Paul, our campground owner, having a good attitude is no problem when working in the campground.  I guess it would be more difficult if one was working retail, restaurant or motel/hotel.  

The gorgeous weather had us pulling out the chairs to sit in the warmth of that elusive golden orb.  We have really missed sitting outside simply enjoying our surroundings.  The blue skies and sunshine has kicked in John's desire to go fishing.  It is already on the agenda to go up to Rapid City on Monday to purchase our battery for the trolling motor and get our fishing licenses.  I told John that it is a good thing that we have the inflatable pontoon boat because if we still had the kayaks, we would be waiting a while or shore fishing.  No way would I walk into the water up to my thighs right now to launch the kayaks - talk about cold.

Talk about elusive sun, tomorrow is suppose to bring showers and/or thunderstorms.  Sure hope they are wrong.

Snow Day

Official records said Custer received 5 inches of snow but we only recorded 2 1/2 inches before it started to melt once it got above freezing. Our high for the day was 35 degrees.

It was very strange to have melting blobs of snow drop down on the roof of the rig while watching it snow like mad at the same time.  Sometimes it sounded like we had someone dropping onto the roof the rig and run the length of it.  I ventured outside to enjoy some of the white stuff - John stayed inside.  Here are some pictures of our winter wonderland:

 

Is this Spring or Winter?

Another cold day with snow flurries on and off all day.  A winter weather advisory has been issued with the possibility of 4 to 8 inches of snow - holy cow!  John and I say "bring it on", we are ready.  The snow actually started sticking to the ground around 6 p.m. so it will be interesting to see what it looks like when we get up in the morning.

Rapid City visit

As we had a service appointment at the Ford Dealership this morning at 9 a.m., we were on the road by 8 a.m.  It was raining as we left and the rained pretty much continued all day.  The service was completed by 11 a.m. with the news that we will need to purchase new tires before heading back out on the road.  We figured that this purchase would be needed soon, so we weren't too surprised.  When you make the drive up to Rapid City, you make the most of the trip.  We had lunch and did some needed shopping.  We got back home at 5 p.m.  so it was a long day.

Happy Mother's Day

I had a lovely conversation with my darling daughter this morning so my Mother's Day was complete. 
 

If you are a mother, we hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.  If your mother is still alive, we hope you took the time to let her know how much she means to you.

Cold Cold Cold

We were woken up at 3 a.m. this morning by the sound of our furnace running out of propane.  Now, we had the automatic switchover valve on the regulator turned on so that when one propane tank ran out of fuel, the other tank would come on automatically.  At first we thought it was working properly but then it started sounding strange.  John got up and went outside to turn off the empty tank and manually turn on the full tank.  Neither one of us was able to get back to sleep very easily.  When John took the tank up to have it filled, it was only half-empty.  So the $64 question is why didn't the switchover valve not function properly?  We had the valve replaced last year.   

It's been cold today - we reached a high of 38 degrees.  We have had snow flurries on and off all day.  At times, nearly white-out conditions and then the sun will shine and the snow will stop for a while.  After being stuck indoors all day yesterday, we stopped at Subway for lunch and then took a drive up to Sylvan Lake to see what it looks like surrounded by snow.  This is one of the most scenic lakes in the area.

As of this evening, most of the snow from yesterday has melted and the snow that came down today has not stuck around. Tonight we are suppose to have a low of 16 degrees.  This may be a new low for us.  The weather can warm up anytime now but based on knowledge from last year, we may have a couple more weeks of inclement weather.  John will start his first work shift tomorrow so he better bundle up. 

White Fluffy Stuff

When I woke up this morning, my first thought was I wonder if it snowed last night.  John greeted me with "Good Morning, we have an inch of snow on the ground and more is falling."  The snow continued to fall until almost noon.  Here is a couple of shots taken from our rig.

Later in the day we did get to see the sun.  The high temperature today was 37 degrees and the low tonight is suppose to 25 degrees.  Brrr.  Thank goodness our furnace is working well this year unlike last year when it took a couple of weeks to get it fixed.  

As we spent the day indoors, we didn't do much today other than some reading, computer playing, and me making soup.  We did get a couple more visitors welcoming us back.  John and I are so touched by all the warm greetings and confirms our decision to return to this wonderful place.  

Travel Day - Cinco De Mayo

Our time in North Platte, NE came to an end.  We have been watching the weather in Custer and decided that we had a window of opportunity to make the drive up before bad weather and strong winds took hold for a few days.  It was going to be a long drive (336 miles) so we got an early start and was on the road around 8 a.m.  Other than a headwind all the way, the drive was a pleasant one.

We saw one deer and a number of herds of Pronghorn Antelope before reaching the Black Hills.  We also saw our first bull Bison's as we got near Wind Cave National Park.

Driving through Custer as we headed to Fort Welikit Family Campground felt like we were coming home. Once we got to the campground, we checked out our site and were warmly greeted by Helen, a fellow workkamper who stays in the park year around.  We were very pleased to see that the ground was dry as last year the ground was very wet and soggy that caused us some grief in getting backed in to our site.  This time around, the backing in went without a hitch which was good as we had campers and fellow workkampers watching.

After getting settled in, we made a trip to the grocery store so I can make soup for tomorrow as it is suppose to be a wet and/or snowy kind of day.

Later in the afternoon, we were welcomed by Michelle, a fellow workkamper we met last year, and the campground's owner, Paul.  John and I were touched by the warm greetings and look forward to another summer in the beautiful Black Hills.