Dec 21, 2024

Decking Out the Presidents

Nov 15 - Dec 10, 2024

Rapid City, the City of Presidents, has lifesize bronze statues of all the presidents through Barack Obama. Well, they did put President Taft on a bit of a diet. The statue of Donald Trump, which was ready, will be installed two years after the end of his upcoming term. As the visitor center representative said, the statues are history, not current politics. 

Anyway, between November 15th and March 15th of each year, people are invited to adorn the presidents with hats, scarves, gloves, and other winter gear for those in need. Those who need simply take what they need. This fun winter tradition is now in its 10th year. We love it, and even made our own contributions. Bonus if you can identify the president. : )








Where Are We Going Next?  

Dec 14, 2024

It's Getting Cold

 November 17, 2024

Where do you winter? That's one of the top questions we get asked. So far we've spent winters moving around. We haven't gone to Florida, Arizona, or Texas for three months or more at a time. We do typically move further south or visit family, but we don't just stay in one area the entire winter. This year, due to some medical stuff, we're still in the Rapid City area and expect to be here for another three weeks. While we have yet to see snow, we are starting to experience some freezing nights. So how do we prepare for freezing temperatures?

We start with a heated waterhose. The hose is wrapped in a heat tape. A thermostat that measures ambient air temperature turns the heat on as needed. 

The campsite water spigot also needs to be protected. Our current campground has wrapped the water spigot and added a heat tape. Harold has also fashioned an insulation tent to drop over the spigot. this has come in handy since some campgrounds do not wrap their spigots, expecting the campers to completely unhook their water hoses when not in use. 

We also have an insulation wrap to place in the giant windshield if we deem it necessary. Typically the weather has to be well below freezing before we drag that out. 

Since we typically don't stay in place too long, we don't mess with skirting. However, a lot of seasonal campers will do so to help insulate. 

Inside, we're plenty warm with our heated floors and our hydronic heating with diesel burner kicking out the BTUs. 






Where Are We Going Next?