Sunday began with the promise of a hot one, and did it ever deliver....well over 90° F at its peak, but that story will come later. I started the big Detroit Diesel 6v92 around 8 am, disconnected the shore power, and stowed the cord. Next up was to do a 3 point turn in order to back up to our trailer in order to drop the tongue on the hitch after 2 weeks disconnected. We were on our way within 30 minutes heading back north up US-16A for two short miles before merging with US-16 which took us the rest of the way to I-90 in Rapid City.
I might mention at this point that we did NOT insert the VW into the trailer since we only had 30 miles to drive to Campingworld situated about 9 miles west of Rapid City just off I-90. Why you might ponder? Well, we had a date to pick up our new Splendide 2100xc washer/dryer combo. TLE had one of our walkie talkies in the VW with her so we could communicate instantly should the need arise. About 10 miles out from Campingworld TLE came on the radio to tell me she had checked the internet to see when the store opened, and had determined that the store was NOT open on Sunday....wait, what? I acknowledged her transmission, but still determined to push on anyway. We arrived at Campingworld to a mostly empty parking lot around 9:30 am. I quickly disembarked the Newell and walked over to the store doors to see what the daily schedule was.....the sign on the door indicated the store hours on Sunday were 10 am to 5 pm, so I breathed a sigh of relief....only 30 minutes until the store opened.
Our friends Claude and Gail were already at Campingworld by prior arrangement, awaiting our arrival....they had spent the evening before at the local fairgrounds in Rapid City, so only had a 10+ mile drive to Campingworld. They were down in Kansas the last two weeks allowing Gail to visit with her son, and Claude to fly home to Oregon to attend the 100th birthday party of his mother.....
She doesn't look a day over 80....amazing!
......TLE snapped this picture of our rig west bound on I-90 just before we exited for Campginworld......
....well, contrary to what the internet said (just because it's on the internet does not mean it is true), the store employees began arriving just before 10 am. Within minutes I had made arrangements to purchase one of the 6 units in stock, and made arrangements for their warehouse guy to use his forklift to extricate the defunct Splendide 2000, and lift the new 2100xc into the Newell door.....
.......from beginning to end it took us just one hour forty-five minutes to make the exchange, and complete the connection of the new Splendide to hot and cold water, drain hose, vent, and power....
......as well as reinstall the pantry doors, and shelving....there she is, our new Splendid Splendide......
....we were back on the road before 12 pm, and by 1 pm we were parking in our reserved sites at Spearfish Campground (city park)....they actually had one back in site that would fit us without dropping the trailer......
.....we are back up against the local bike path with Spearfish Creek just a few feet beyond that......
.....Rich and Marnie recommended this campground, which I never would have found without their local knowledge. At the time we arrived the heat of the day was reaching its zenith at around 95° F.....by and far the hottest day we have experienced since we left Wittmann 2.5 months ago...by the by the temps in Wittmann have been exceeding 115° F lately.....glad we are where we are!
As soon as we plugged into the 50 amp pedestal we had both A/C's running to cool the Newell interior. Within a few minutes I was cooling down in our shower. By 5 pm we were driving over to downtown Spearfish in search of good draft brews, and good food, which we found at RedWater Kitchen, which sits directly next door to Spearfish Brewing Company....Spearfish Brewing does not sell food, which we wanted so we opted for alfresco dining at Red Water Kitchen, who also had numerous local brews on tap, including a few Spearfish Brewing offerings. Yelp gives them 4 stars on 61 reviews, and we would be right there, too.
TLE ordered a local blonde ale, and I a coffee bean stout....both where exceptional. For our entrees TLE ordered their Citrus Grilled Shrimp (a rather large appetizer), Claude and I their Shrimp Pasta, and Gail a hamburger.....it was the perfect alfresco setting with great food, adult beverages and even better conversation. By the time we had paid our bill it was going on 7 pm.....where did the time go?
The requisite 'usie'....
....and 'footie'.......😉
....it was a great day with a lot accomplished in spite of the heat....and the heat story continues.....we initially turned off the rear A/C around 9 pm, and went to bed around 10:30 pm....by 11:30 pm we tired of the hot, hair dryer like air coming in the bedrooms windows, and turned on the front A/C as it was 90° F in the bedroom.....we left the front A/C running until almost 4 am when it finally began to cool, so we turned off the A/C and opened up all the windows....thankfully it will be only 78° F Monday.....whew! Got to get further north ASAP!
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What a great day! Happy Birthday to Claude's mother! She looks amazing! Cute pic with her knife and little attitude! :) Spearfish looks awesome and your beers and inner great! Nice place, the city park! So great to see people simply enjoying :)
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