Heading East + GPS Review

Hi all, Dianne here.  Check out the "other" Falls Park in our adopted hometown -- (for the uninitiated, our former hometown (Pendleton, Indiana) also had a Falls Park and waterfall in town).  The park above can be identified by the beautiful pink granite that makes up Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  The falls are really gushing right now, due to all the rain that has occurred in this area.  


 In fact, the reason we went to Sioux Falls and not Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is due to the flooding Missouri River.  Record snow melt and flooding rains have closed many roads and campgrounds where we had planned to go.  Guess we'll have to make that trip another year.

Once we drove east from the Badlands a bit, the terrain flattened out and, though still pretty, started to become monotonous.  

I got the brilliant idea to play our iPod playlist using the dock.  Good idea, but just as we were really getting into some of our new iTunes (James Durbin) the battery in the dock failed, and then we were back to monotony.  Gotta remember to charge it before we hit the road!  

Once the music was gone, I got out one of our favorite road games.  We bought this auto bingo game years ago, when we traveled with our girls.  They never wanted to play it, but Roger and I over the years have used it from coast to coast, trying to get through all five pictures of every cube in a trip. We've never played it as intended (Bingo).  One year, on a trip home from Idaho, we even drove around the block in Pendleton, Indiana (our former hometown) when we arrived, in order to turn the last square (a barber pole that we knew was there).

  The picture above shows some of the easier squares.  As the cubes turn over to different sides, the items get more and more difficult to find.  What can I say?  I still think it's fun!  We tried audio books on one trip, but it made Roger sleepy -- not a good thing when you're driving a huge motor home down the highway.  

We intentionally crossed the Missouri River on I-90, feeling that was the safest area to get across. We decided to stop in Sioux Falls to get our motor home title updated (it was paid off in 2009, but still had the bank's  name on it).  While in the court house, we even registered to vote.  Hopefully we won't get called for jury duty in South Dakota in the dead of winter!


Roger here...  The trip all the way across South Dakota was actually Plan C.  After abandoning Roosevelt National Park due to water, Plan B was to cross the Missouri River in the middle of South Dakota on I-90 (which we did), and then head straight north on local roads to Highway 2 in North Dakota.  The night before our departure from the Badlands area, I did some checking on the computer.  Every county going north from I-90 in SD and ND on the planned route was under a severe flood warning along the James River, and further rain was in the forecast.  Some of the roads were surrounded by water to the point that cars needed to take turns crossing the narrow stretches.  Not worth the risk.  Besides, there was the mundane paperwork to take care of in Sioux Falls. Nice to have that done.  Nice to be able to vote again.  Back to Dianne...

No trip to Sioux Falls is complete without visiting the lovely park and falls, so while there we walked through the park and stopped for lunch overlooking the falls.

From Sioux Falls we headed north on I-29 and spent a $10 overnight (with full hookups) at the Dakota Magic Casino in North Dakota.  (R:  Finally, a night in North Dakota, albeit only one.)  We've never overnighted at a casino before.  It's probably a cheaper choice for us than wineries, because we're not tempted by gaming. We've read that it's a good deal.  Some are free, and the buffets are usually cheap for an easy travel meal.  


We'll probably stay at a casino again sometime, but might skip the buffet.  The food was plentiful, and they were featuring snow crab legs (all you can eat), but the waiting in line, cramped dining room, smoky interior, and just-okay food wasn't worth the hassle or the $15 each.  (R: I did a lot of grumbling waiting in the line -- lots of empty tables, but no hurry to seat people.  Also, I ate way too much greasy fried seafood that was not on my diet and not really that good.  I must admit, though, that the soft-serve frozen yogurt at the end of the meal was a highlight.  Tasted soooo good.)


I'll let Roger finish the blog with his review of our new Rand McNally RV GPS (spoiler:  he LOVES it!)


Roger here, again....  What a difference!  Waldo rocks in so many ways!  He speaks clearly, thoroughly and logically.  We don't wonder about what he means to say.  There is a boatload of information on the display screen, including the current speed limit, our speed, miles to go, info about our next maneuver, and the ability to easily, look at the next three turns.  It is simple to program.  I have been using the POI (point of interest feature).  So far, all three of our camping destinations were POI's that were actually on the GPS, so programming involved only a few clicks. 


It is advertised to be programmed specifically for RV travel.  So far, that has been true.  When I made an adjustment to the route, Waldo recognized what I was doing, and immediately reprogrammed and did not insist that I make a u-turn.   Waldo verbally warned us of a speed zone ahead.  He also warned of some (not all) of the construction along the route.  I think this will be better after I update it on the Rand McNally website.  Oh, and the tether connecting Waldo to the 12 volt battery doesn't fall out and drop to the floor when we enter a heavily-congested area.  


Dianne again:  Here's a link to Amazon if you want to read reviews and learn more.  We bought ours directly from Rand McNally, because Amazon didn't carry them yet.  I think the price is similar.

We decided to continue to use Sacajawea in the car.  We may change our mind about that:  In Sioux Falls, she did not recognize the county courthouse as a POI, and she made several routing mistakes. She identified the destination on the wrong side of the street, told me to turn right when she meant left.  Ugh!  I was tempted to throw her into the falls, but that would be littering, wouldn't it?  

The pet photo of the day shows Bandido peeking out from under the driver's seat, where he had gone to spend quality time with Charlie (who was hiding under the driver's seat to get away from Bandido!)

Mickelson Bike Trail + goodby Sacajawea!

Roger here....  A disappointing morning, followed by the fun arrival of a new electronic toy....


The plan for the day was to load up the bikes, drive 15 miles to Custer, SD and do a five-mile (ten mile total) stretch of the (110-mile plus) Mickelson Bike Trail.  The Mickelson Trail is part of the Rails to Trails program -- the conversion of old railroad lines into lengthy biking and hiking trails.  I picked this particular stretch because it was nearby, and would afford us a view of the Crazy Horse Sculpture.  


The day started well.  It was sunny with a forecasted high in the mid-sixties.  Rain was predicted later in the day, but not during the morning hours.  As we approached the town of Custer, the skies clouded up and the temperature dropped.  By the time we unloaded the bikes, purchased our $3 permits, and biked to the trailhead there was no sunshine and the temperature had dropped to 50 degrees.  Oh, and a cold wind started blowing.  


I brought a thin windbreaker, just in case.  Dianne (being totally unprepared, in shorts and a thin t-shirt --  D.)  donned a bright blue rain poncho that was in the car, that seemed to inflate like a balloon when we started down the trail.  We figured that the exercise would keep us warm.  (Believe it or not, the thin poncho helped a lot by stopping the cold wind, at least when the wind was behind our backs.  It was a "Maid of the Mist" poncho from Niagara Falls.  I have no idea where it came from, because I've NEVER been there! -- D.)

The trail was smooth and very pretty, after we got out of town.  At the two-mile marker, we stopped to assess the situation.  My hands felt like ice.  Dianne was not happy about the gradual uphill ascent.  (Why are bike trails always uphill?  This was uphill all the way.)  We decided it was not worth being miserable on such a crummy day, so we turned around.  

We hardly pedaled on the two-mile return trip due to the gradual descent;  however, the wind was in our faces, and it was cold.  Here is a shot of Dianne upon our return.  She is standing between a painted buffalo and a bust of General Custer.  Notice the big smile -- very happy to be back.


Dianne dove into the warm car while I reloaded the bikes.  We decided to salvage the morning by having lunch in one of the many restaurants in downtown Custer.  We picked the Wild Sage Grill on the main street.  It was a good choice. The hot salmon wild rice chowder was delicious and warming.  I opted to try what I thought was a local dark beer named Buffalo Sweat.  Despite the name, it was actually pretty good.  I was disappointed when the waiter told me it was brewed in Kansas.  He told me that if I wanted a local beer, I would have to order a Pile 'O Dirt Porter, bottled in Spearfish.  After enjoying the Buffalo Sweat, I decided to wait for another time to drink a Pile 'O Dirt.


After lunch we dropped by the post office to pick up our general delivery mail.  It was full of goodies, including a french press coffee pot for boondocking (camping without electricity), a new battery for our computer, and a new and improved GPS for the motor home.  


We said a not-so-sad goodbye to Sacajawea, our old GPS, relegating her to possible use in the car.  Like all GPS units, Sacajawea frequently made poor routing decisions.  My nickname for her in those instances was Sac-a-sh__.  I am sure that the new GPS will also have instances of bad judgment, but there were other problems with Sacajawea.  Take a look:

1.  Hard not to notice the scotch tape! The tether connecting Sacajawea to the 12 volt outlet no longer stays in the port located on the bottom of the unit.  Without the tape, gravity causes the tether to drop out of the unit.  The tape (lovely isn't it?) works most of the time, but fails on bumpy roads at least once per trip.  This usually happens when I need to know what lane to be in, in heavy traffic.  Shoving the tether back in the port and rebooting all over again is the only solution, and of course, you should not do this while driving.


2.  The battery no longer holds a charge; therefore, it must always be tethered with the tape to the 12 volt battery.


3.  Take notice of the left-hand side of the unit and the bottom right-hand side of the pedestal.  If you look carefully, you can see two ends of a long piece of scotch tape.  It is no longer possible to tighten the mounting mechanism, so the unit swings back and forth on the pedestal.  It obviously does me no good if I can't see it.  The scotch tape holds it in place.


4.  We paid a bunch of money to have her reprogrammed last year so that she would know about new or reconstructed roads.  She goes nuts when she thinks we are driving off-road.  Unfortunately, the upgrade did not seem to make much of a difference, AND now I cannot mute her on the touch screen.  When we don't follow her directions, we are forced to endure an endless stream of, "Make a U-turn, when possible," with no reasonable means to tell her to shut up.  She does not listen to voice commands.  If she did, she'd probably tell me to piss off.


4.  The suction cup that holds the pedestal no longer works well.  Sometimes she just tips over like R2D2 did in Star Wars. 


5.  Sometimes, when programming her, she misreads the letters that I press.  For example, I press "S", she says "T".  Arghhhhh! 


6.  Finally, I am beginning to feel sorry for her.  It is time to put her to rest.  The old girl just doesn't need any more of my verbal abuse.  And, I also think that she is intentionally doing things to get back at me.


We have recently been reading about Rand McNally's new GPS system that is specifically programmed for RVs -- the TripMaker RVND 5510.  Dianne read so many good things about it on the RV.Net message board, that we found money in our budget to order one.

It has a lot of advantages over poor Sacajawea.  


1.  You can enter the size and weight information for your RV and it will automatically avoid routes that don't accommodate it -- underpasses too low, roads too narrow, turns too sharp.


2.  You can plug it into your computer to load road construction information that the unit will warn you about.


3.  The screen is larger and easier to see.


4.  You can request separate RV Points of Interest that include RV-friendly gas stations and restaurants.   


5.  It will warn you, in advance, of steep grades, sharp turns, and speed limit decreases.


6.  It will show you a picture of the exit sign, before you get there enabling you to know for sure what ramp to follow.


7.  The tether port is on the side, no more gravity disconnects.


8.  The battery holds a charge.


9.  The screen stays in place and does not tip over.


10.  We don't have to buy more scotch tape.

I spent the afternoon entering our RV information and preferences, and programmed our first trip -- very simple and intuitive.   I then mounted it on the window to the left of the steering wheel.   


I know it will also have its flaws, but the fact that it will only route us where our RV can go is a definite safety upgrade.  Can't wait to use it and find out what else it can do.


We did, of course, name it.  Since I programmed it to have a male voice, we are calling it WALDO -- as in the comic strip,  "Where's Waldo?"  In our case, we will be saying, "Where are we, Waldo?"
(Here's a link to the discussion about the GPS if you want more info:) -- D.


http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25038544.cfm


The pet picture of the day shows Chaplin reluctantly sporting the bandana that Dianne tied around his neck.  Look at those sad eyes.