Mammoth in new states of mind

Saturday, June 9th

Today, we got up early and hit the road by 8am. Our destination was Hill City, South Dakota, about a 6.5 hour drive. We headed out and made good time going through Denver, and then crossed into Wyoming. This was the first time for us and the Mammoth to enter this state, so we took a pic of the welcome sign.

Entering Wyoming for the first time!

We stopped in Cheyenne, WY to get fuel and eat some sandwiches, then continued on our treck. This part of the state is rolling prairieland, and not very exciting to look at, so mostly we listened to music and tried to entertain our minds as the miles passed by. There is not much evidence of civilization, either!

Wyoming landscape

After we stopped at a few small towns (Lingle and Lusk) to make sure we were good on fuel, we followed the GPS as she headed us towards the black hills of South Dakota, another state we'd never been to. The terrain definitely changes! We were began seeing the elevation change and soon we were in forestland and among rocky outcroppings of the Black Hills National Forest.

South Dakota landscape

We passed through the town of Custer, and then arrived at Rafter J bar Ranch, just before the town of Hill City. We got set up and enjoyed our dinner, then decided to explore the park. It's very large and spread out, with everything from tent camping and cabins, to pull throughs and secluded back-ins. 

Our site in the "Island" Section

Here's a little history of the park:

We also discovered another couple with a Landmark, that were also headed to the Gillette Rally. We stopped and visited with them for a few minutes, then headed back to home. 

Storm clouds rolling in

Not long after we got back to the rig, it started Thundering! it rained very hard at times, and the we had some brief hail, but overall, it wasn't anything more than we'd experienced in Texas. About 10:30pm the weather finally calmed down and we went to bed, exhausted from the day.

Going to Rally! Mammoth heads to Wyoming

Thursday, June 7th

Today was the day we'd been planning since last fall. We decided we'd attend the Heartland National Rally in Gillette, Wyoming. We worked very hard to get Mammoth prepped for the trip, including adding edging around the bed platform, replacing the bathroom fan/vent with a new Fantastic Fan, adding a tire-pressure-monitor system, and probably the most labor-intensive, washing and waxing the Mammoth!

after wash and wax

We headed out Thursday at 8am to Amarillo. We left home in pouring rain, which meant our nice wash job suddenly looked non-existent. Oh well, the wax did make the water roll right off, though! We decided to try out the new section of the George Bush Toll Road, which loops around east and north of the Dallas area. We purchased a toll-tag a few months back, which should help with the cost of the FOUR axles. It was a much less stressful drive than venturing through the heart of downtown, or taking 635, which is under massive construction. We had a pleasant trip, not too much traffic and no issues. The temperature was really unseasonable, in the 70s most of the way, and cloudy. An NO HEADWIND! We actually made it to Amarillo with less fuel stops. We arrived around 5, visited relatives, ate dinner and stayed the night. I did a little Hairball Creative work as well.

on the road

Friday, June 8th

We ate a wonderful breakfast with my relatives, and hit the road again by 8am. We stopped in Raton, NM to eat lunch, and arrived at the KOA near Colorado Springs at about 2:45pm. We got settled in pretty quick, and rested for a bit. Then we decided to head over to the Camping World, that is just a half-mile down the road. This Camping World does not sell Heartland Products, like some of the others. The store was well-stocked, but the arrangement of the parking area was in disarray. There is very little area for customers to park, as they had many repair candidates and/or used rigs filling up what should have been visitor parking. Oh well, we still didn't buy much since we'd been to the one near Ft. Worth just 2 weeks ago. We ended up coming back and having a quick bite before settling in. After a bit I decided we needed to take a walk to see the new rigs that pulled in after us, (including a Landmark!) and to go see about the Red Velvet Bluebell ice cream that was calling my name from the KOA camp store. We went for a walk, but the Landmark owners were busy getting set up... they didn't appear to be Owner's Club members, so we didn't interrupt. The temperature was a little warm when we got here, but has cooled off quite nicely as the sun sets. A little breeze also. It's supposed to be in the 50's overnight. We head to Hill City, South Dakota, tomorrow.

our site at the Colorado Springs KOA

Eileen at the Colorado Springs KOA

Eileen's Travels

Here's a little sample of Eileen and her adventures. 

Eileen is carved out of a pine tree with a chainsaw. Various sizes of these wooden bears are often seen for sale along the side of the road near Ruidoso, NM, carved by local artisans, typically Native Americans. We picked one up a number of years ago for the house, and decided we needed one, smaller in scale, for our "house on wheels". We had our Heartland NorthTrail 21FBS at the time. The first pic of her by the Christmas Tree was when we bought her, back in 2008.

Exploring and Winning? Well, maybe not winning cash.

Saturday, May 19, 2012 (continued)

Today we decided to run an errand or two, and then go to the Peanut Shoppe to get some treats in Calera. We went to WalMart to look at the RV accessories and a rug or two for the Mammoth, then over to Lowes to look for some smoother edge molding for the bed platform. We found some things, ate at Chili's then headed to the Peanut  Shoppe. We like this place, as they have lots of confections: Peanuts, Cashews, Pecans, Almonds, etc. all made into pralines, brittle, or covered with chocolate. They also have canned fruits and veggies, jerky, and dried fruits, as well. It is hard to get out of there without drooling. Too many choices. Here are two things we picked up, but I bet they are nearly gone by the time we get home!

Score!

Tony says I fit right in here!

Good view of the casino hotel

Good view of the casino sign

After our running around, we came home and enjoyed a nap and some down time. We decided to head over to the casino for their buffet for dinner, and see if we could win some trip money. We didn't hit it big, so we headed home, and enjoyed just relaxing for the evening.

Lobby of the Casino, water and light show

Waiting for the shuttle, back to the RV Park

At the entrance to the Casino

Sunday, May 20, 2012

After another night on the Sleep Number Bed, I can say WOW, that's a great bed. I highly recommend it! I still tossed and turned some, but seemed as though I slept longer in one place than I usually do in the Mammoth. And no aches and pains from sleeping 'wrong'! This morning was a lazy start, we both surfed the web, and talked about various things, including our upcoming trip to Wyoming. We decided to stay a little longer for the Wyoming Chapter Rally, being held in Cody, WY, so then I was on the phone making reservation changes.

At one point the radar looked like rain was approaching us, so I asked Tony to move the trim pieces out of the back of the truck that we had bought yesterday. While I was getting ready, he went out to do that. But after 30 min he hadn't returned, so I went out to look for him. I found him, chatting with the neighbors, so I sat down and we visited for about 15 minutes. Tony never meets a stranger, it seems! A little later, he was out experimenting with his camera, when he met the couple a few sites down that had a Heartland Big Country. They wanted to see our Sleep Number Bed, and Tony said they had a neat office setup in their rig he wanted me to see, so we went down and visited with them. They are Southeast Publications Reps. They sell and create the ads for the campground maps that people get when they check-in to an RV park. Nice folks! We then showed them our bed. We must have visited for at least an hour, learning about the business and chatting about RV adventures.

After lunch, Tony decided to go back to the casino to try his luck again. I opted to stay at the rig, take a nap and do some work. His folks were driving up to play for the afternoon, so he was going to meet up with them. About 5:30, Tony came back. He didn't bring home any loot, but had a good time. While he was gone I did some of the prep to head home, so it wasn't such a big chore. We ate dinner, then got ready to leave. 


Here's the ever-popular Eileen, posing with the Casino hotel in the distance (between the bushes).

We pulled out about 7:00, and headed home. on the way, the solar eclipse was visible as the sun was setting into some thin clouds. I tried to get a pic, but there was limited sight lines at 60 mph through the rolling countryside! 

Solar eclipse at 60mph

We pulled in about 9, got the rig unloaded and crashed. Kitty was very glad to see us, as usual!

All in all, a great little getaway.

Mammoth goes to get away

Friday, May 18, 2012

We decided we needed a trip to test out the new Sleep Number Bed that we bought, in anticipation of our longer trip this summer. We opted for a place we've been before, but is an easy drive from home and is a nice park: Choctaw RV Park at the Choctaw Casino, in Durant, OKlahoma. 


A little history... We decided that before we install this new Sleep Number Bed mattress, we should complete a mod we saw on the Heartland Forum: add vinyl tiles to the mattress platform, and this will make the surface slicker and easier to move the mattress when we are changing sheets, as well as protect the mattress from the rough surface of the wafer-board. We also decided to upgrade our vent fan, and replace the door window frame and glass with a new one.


Well, the first new vent fan was a fiasco, as seen in the previous blog. We returned it, and decided to try the same brand, but the variable speed version. I found a good deal on eBay, and bought it. It took 9 days to get here from Indiana, and we installed it, much more quickly this time, and with less fuss. Unfortunately, it was just as whiny as the last one, and reverse low did not work at all! So, back to the seller this one goes, too. I guess we'll have to spend a little more to get a good quality replacement.


We were able to successfully install the window in the door in about 5 minutes. However, it took an hour and a trip to Home Depot to get the old one out! We had taken it out last fall, thinking we could paint the frame and reinstall it. We had some mishaps during that process, and the results were never that good looking. Now we have a nice black framed window, which complements the other window frames very well.

New window frame and glass

The Sleep Number Bed arrived in two boxes, and had to be assembled. It has two air chambers, hoses, a pump, foam for the outside edges and center support, and the fabric "box". I was able to assemble the mattress components on the floor in the house, and test it out. It was much easier to do this at home, rather than the confines of the bedroom in the Mammoth. Once it was ready to go in, we decided to add the vinyl tiles to the bed platform. We found some tiles that would complement the cherry wood, and were not that expensive. They were quite easy to lay down, and didn't take long at all. Somehow I miscalculated and we were short 5 tiles, but [another] run to Home Depot solved that.

Boxes of Bed

Bed assembly

Adding the vinyl tiles

We decided to put the pump for the bed in the compartment under the platform. It is plenty big enough, and out of the way. We decided to route the air hoses through the thin wallboard of the compartment and then up through the bed platform, so it could take a more direct route to the head of the mattress. We also cut a hole into the outside wall to route the pump's power cord close to the outlet.

Pump under bed

New holes for cord and hose routing

Hole in bed platform, where hoses come out.

Cords exit base of bed

All that, to say, mods to our Mammoth always seem to come up, but we enjoy working on it in between trips!


Now back to the trip! We have had Mammoth at home for a few weeks while we did the mods, so we pulled her out to the street (Thursday evening) and had her ready to go when Tony got off work on Friday. Since I'm self employed now, I was able to get most everything ready to go, so we could head out the door as soon as he got home. We got on the road about 3:45. The only excitement on the trip was when an impatient pickup decided to pass us, just as we were slowing for a car that was turning left in front of us. It looked like the truck just missed plowing into the turning car, and startled us pretty good. But he never even hit the brakes, I guess he was able to swerve enough to miss the car. It would not have been a pretty sight.


We arrived and got set up, had dinner, then went for a walk around the park. It was very pleasant, with the temps cooling off just a bit and a good breeze. We met our neighbors in a motor home, they are from McKinney. There is a rally going on here too, and the other side of the park is filled with motor homes, a camping club from Oklahoma.

In our site

View of the sunset

After our walk we watched the Rangers beat the Astros on TV, and turned in for the night. We each adjusted our sides of the Sleep Number Bed, and settled in. It's nice to be able to adjust the bed to "just right" for me!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

This morning we got up and discussed our 1st night sleep on the new bed. It was great! Tony said he slept well. I tossed and turned, but I always do our first night in the Mammoth. But I still feel better rested with no aches and pains, which is a first! Tony cooked sweet rolls, and we enjoyed lounging and the peace and quiet, till about 9AM. Then the noise started... landscaping crews were trimming the bushes! Yes, they need to be trimmed, but at 9AM on Saturday?


We'll see what the rest of the day has in store for us. 

Mammoth goes South for a Family Reunion

Friday, April 20th, 2012

Well, it was time for the Heartland Chapter Rally in Spring, Texas at Rayford Crossing RV Resort, near Houston. Mammoth has never been that far south, so we were exploring new territory for her.

First, some back-story... We have made a few "mods" to Mammoth, to make our trips more enjoyable. One was the upgrade to the TV antenna, with a replacement head from JACK TV. It was supposed to be an easy install, but we could not get the cable to supply power to the antenna head, like it was supposed to. After trying nearly all day, we gave up. We think there was a problem with the cable between the amplifier and the antenna, in the ceiling. The second upgrade, we did quickly in the dark, right before the trip. A new exhaust fan for the bathroom, that was supposed to move more air and be quieter. Again, a simple replacement, without removing the outside vent cover. Well, in the dark (because the power needed to be off for wiring) it wasn't so easy. We got it installed, but it's actually LOUDER. something doesn't sound right, but we opted to leave it and deal with it in daylight. I also have another upgrade to do soon, a new window and black frame for the front door.

Well, we headed out about 1:30, in light rain, to Spring.  We saw lots of bluebonnets near Ennis, TX, but of course! It was the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival! The travel was fairly uneventful, and we actually drove out of the rain for a while. I was surprised how unpopulated the roadside is along I-45. Lots of trees, and tall ones at that! We also saw a place where wildfires had done some damage (probably last summer) and looked as though the fire had jumped the highway.  As we drew nearer to Huntsville, I began to watch the radar on my phone more intently. Severe storms were popping up and threatening our path. We got to Huntsville and the rain picked up, but we never saw anything remotely severe. However, we could tell there had been a lot of rain recently, as the road spray from cars and trucks made it hard to see. We also encountered a lot of roadwork! Nothing like having concrete barriers just outside the lane markers... no room for a Mammoth to breathe!

I-45 south, between storms

We found the RV Resort fairly easily with the help of out GPS, and arrived just at a clear spot on the radar. Jay Coffman, the Heartland South Texas Chapter Ambassador, came by to greet us and welcome us to the Rally. We decided we needed to stop the chat and get set up, as more rain was headed that way. We finished getting the outside set up just before another band of heavy rain came through. Although the Rally was officially started and many were gathering for a cookout, we opted to eat sandwiches in the rig (to get food in us quickly) and go visit after it stopped raining. We did go visit for a while, but then we were getting tired. We said goodbyes and headed to bed fairly quickly, as we had to meet at 8AM for a caravan to breakfast at Furr's in the morning, sponsored by Ron Hoover RV and Marine.

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

We got up bright and early to head over to Furr's. You would have thought we could have coordinated some carpooling, but nearly every rig's truck came along, and we formed a long caravan of pickups... Ford, Dodge, Chevy, GMC and Toyota were represented. It was quite a sight! After a delicious breakfast completely paid for by Ron Hoover, we lined up the trucks for a photo-op. "TXBobcat" took this from the front of the pack. We're the red dually truck in the right row, about midway back.

20 or so trucks at Furr's

After breakfast we ran to WalMart to pick up a side-dish for the pot-luck dinner this evening. We were originally going to cook a roast, but Ron Hoover offered to bring in Bar-B-Q, so we were to bring sides and desserts instead. After we got back, we visited with folks and rested, enjoyed a chat with the Ron Hoover GM, and took it easy. Tony decided to look into the antenna issue, and we discovered a loose coupler in the wiring in the ceiling. I was able to work it out of the hole where the crank attached, and Tony tightened and taped it so it shouldn't work loose again. Voila! the antenna works!

The temperature was PERFECT for windows open... in the 70's with a good breeze. We didn't run our AC hardly at all this trip!

Eileen likes seeing all the rigs!

But she loves HER MAMMOTH the most.

We were also able to have the Ron Hoover tech look at Mammoth's nose flex. Tony showed him what was happening, where caulk is separating when we hook up. The tech suggested longer screws -- There was not enough movement to concern him, but he said the screws can work out over time. We'll probably show it to the techs at Gillette, before we try anything.

Ron Hoover also brought some rigs for us to view, a Road Warrior and a Big Country.

Here's a view of one of the 3 rows full of Heartland rigs!

Heartlands as far as the eye can see

At dinner, we had a huge amount of food, fun, and fellowship. There were great door-prizes, including a Winguard Carryout satellite system worth nearly $600! We didn't win that, but wow, there were some great prizes and everyone walked away with something.

Drawing for door-prizes

A full house

After dinner, they took a group photo of all the attendees. When I see it posted, I'll try to get a copy and add it here.

After dinner, we hung out and visited with a large group near Jay and Stella's rig. They had a fire pit going, and we were glad, the temps dropped quickly when the sun went down. We had a lot of fun just chatting. Most of these folks are retired or soon to be, but they sure have energy! We decided to call it a night about 10:15, and we were the first to go.

A fun time under the stars, enjoying the fire.

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

We got up about 8 and had breakfast, then began our prep to head home. BOOO! We made quick work of it, as we hadn't had time to get too spread out. Tony was checking the tires on the truck, and noticed one was about 20 lbs low. That's not good! We decided we better get it looked at before heading out, so we went searching for an open tire place (on a Sunday morning!) We finally found a Firestone, and they got us in quickly... almost too quickly. They said it was a bad valve stem core, and they replaced it and sent us on our way. We ate lunch, hitched and headed out. 

Since we were running behind already, we weren't able to stop and see the Sam Houston Monument. I took a pic as we drove by.

That's one big ol' Sam Houston Monument.
Notice the TINY people at the base!

At our stop for diesel in Fairfield, I looked at the tires, like I always do. Hmmmmm. That truck tire looked low again! Tony checked it, and sure enough. Well, we filled it as best we could with the truck stop air, and began to look for a solution. We headed on, and I kept an eye to the side mirror to watch the tire. After a while, I again told Tony it  looked like it was low. We stopped and checked, and decided we'd need to find a good place to unhook and change the tire, or call our roadside assistance. We were not too far from Corsicana, so we stayed on the service road so we could go a little slower. As we grew closer to our proposed stopping spot, (A Home Depot parking lot) we discovered a run down gas station converted to a {Halleluya} Tire Repair Shop! And they were OPEN! We pulled in and asked for their advice. They quickly discovered a damaged valve stem, removed the tire and replaced it, and we were back on the road in no time. Whew! Talk about answered prayers. ;) All this tire "fun" delayed us getting home by about 2 hours, but I'm glad to say we had no ill effects because of it.

We got home about 6:30pm, unloaded and Tony took Mammoth back to storage. It almost seems like a dream, it was such a fast little trip!

Mill Creek for Spring Break

After our last trip, we took Mammoth in for a little cosmetic surgery. She had an area of delamination under the living room window, which appeared as a large vertical bubble, about 3" wide and 14" long. We took her to Blue Moon RV Repair, whom specializes in Mobile RV Repair work. They have a shop as well, so we took it there, so they could take their time looking at it. I had contacted Heartland about the delamination back in August, and they recommended we get it looked at, send pictures, and then they would see what they could do, based on that. After removing the window and sending pics, HL agreed to pay for the repair, and send the necessary replacement decals, at no charge. They based the reimbursement on how long they thought it would take, but Blue Moon's quote was a little higher. We were OK with paying the difference, and we were grateful HL offered to help. We got Mammoth back at the end of February, and were very pleased with the results. We always seem to want to GO when Mammoth isn't available... so once she was back, we became focused on getting out and camping again!


Thursday, March 15th, 2012

We decided once Tony returned from the Band Trip to Florida, we'd take a quick trip for the remainder of Spring Break to Mill Creek Ranch RV Resort in Canton, TX. We'd been here before in October, at the Heartland Rally. This time, we took our bikes and hoped to explore the park a little more.

The entrance to Mill Creek Ranch RV Resort

Tony got up and gave Mammoth a quick bath, then took her over to the park while I was at work, and got set up. I joined him after work, arriving about 7PM. He was cooking hamburgers on the O-grill! YUM! They were wonderful. The park is very full of families and rigs of all kinds, from pop-ups to class A busses. Lots of folks riding bikes, fishing the pond, swimming at the two pools, walking dogs, and enjoying life. We ended up sitting outside and enjoying the mild temps, then we went in and watched a little TV before turning in for the night. There's nothing like being away from home, but in your own bed.

Lots of folks here!

Friday, March 16th, 2012

I left before sun-up to head to Dallas for work, while Tony took a leisurely day to do much of nothing, along with a few projects around the rig. He did some tweaking to our new sign to hang on the kingpin.

Here's our sign

When I arrived back to the park after work, he was cooking steaks on the O-grill! It was again, amazing. Food always tastes better in the Mammoth. After dinner, I worked on trying to get our USB Modem and CradlePoint Router set up, While Tony caught up on some TV shows he missed being gone in Florida. 

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Eileen in the shamrocks

This morning, Tony went to the donut shop in town to get breakfast. They have the most amazing apple fritters! We got dressed and went over to ExploreUSA, a local Heartland dealer. We like their lot, all of the units are open and you can roam around un-bothered by salespeople. We knew they had some Landmarks, as well as the new DRV Tradition and Thor's Redwood, so we decided to look them over side-by-side. 

We spent a good half-hour or more going through a number of floorplans from HL and a few others, but we still keep coming back to the Heartland San Antonio. It has everything we want for our next rig, when we are ready to upgrade... (NOT YET!) I was not impressed with the Tradition nor the Redwood. They just don't have the style and comfort of the Heartland products, and they cost more!?!

After we left the dealer, we stopped at Baker's Ribs, a regional chain for great Bar-B-Q. They also offer fried pies for dessert. We decided to split one now and save one for later. We tried Apple, it was yummy! We have Pecan for later. 

We roamed around Canton a bit, and explored the area. Canton is just like any other small Texas town, except the weekend near the first Monday of the month, when they have First Monday Trade Days. It's huge, with acres and acres of booths and items for sale. We've nto been, but we've driven through when Trade Days are going on. It's a mad house and crazy busy!

After we returned from exploring, we crashed back at the rig and took it easy. After a nap, we decided to get the bikes out and go for a ride around the park. Eileen wanted to come, but her feet couldn't reach the pedals.

Eileen and the bikes

A few of the cottages

The Resort offers something unique in that they sell cottages as well as have RV spots. There is a large, secluded area of the park where these modern-day mini-homes reside, and are only accessible via golf cart or bike. 

While we were riding around the area of the cottages, we saw an outdoor wedding being performed off in the distance. The Resort has a very nice lodge for receptions and parties, as well as an area with a gazebo, arbor and stone walkway, perfect for outdoor weddings. The accent color for the bridesmaids was of course, green! The groom better not forget this anniversary!

At the end of one of the "streets" of cottages was a fenced pasture. As we neared the end of the "street", we noticed we were the topic of much interest... from a small herd of young calves! I guess it was dinner time, and they were looking for their meal ticket. Sorry guys, we got nothin!

hungry calves

After our ride we put the bikes up and Tony cooked hotdogs on the O-grill. We decided it was so nice, we'd eat outside on the picnic table. We sat outside again for a while, and enjoyed the great weather. I keep mentioning the great weather, because predictions has said it was going to be raining most of the weekend. So far we've had no rain, and nice cloud cover that kept temps in the 70s.

Grillin' and chillin'!

Sunday, March 18th, 2012

We got up and Tony made french toast for breakfast. AWESOME! We spent some time just being lazy then decided we need to get moving to get out by check out, Noon. We were able to make quick work of it, and pulled out right at Noon. I followed Tony in my car, and watched the bikes... They did great, so i think we'll take them when we can from now on. Got Mammoth home and unloaded, ate leftover burgers, then took her back to storage. Wow, a quick trip, but much needed escape from the everyday work week.

Eileen says goodbye from Mill Creek Ranch RV Resort