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.