Cooling Our Jets in Rapid City

After enjoying five weeks with family and friends in Minnesota, we were ready to take off. We had ''planned'' a leisurely three week journey west with stops at the Badlands, Grand Tetons, Crater Lake, and Great Basin National Parks. Our goal was to be somewhere out west in order to experience the annular eclipse on Oct 14.

But we had to throw out the ''leisurely'' part of our trip to see the eclipse

when we found ourselves in Rapid City for a week seeking a fix!

While visiting Wind Cave National Park, an hour south of Rapid City, Baby Beest sprung a coolant leak ... not good, and definitely not driveable!

The first of three tows in the next five days ...

After getting it towed back to Rapid City and finding a shop that would agree to work on it ... not an easy feat when the Ram ProMaster engine has been modified by the Hymer van build-out ... we have been cooling our jets while they tried a few creative maneuvers to repair the leak. Yes, we needed two more tows when the first few repairs didn't pass the ''drive around town'' road test. But we're optimistic that the third time is the charm! Our recent road tests allowed us to check out the fix as well as explore the surrounding area.

The fall colors are in full bloom along the city trails.

We found a few breweries to try out as well as an outdoor concert one evening.

And I'm enjoying my history lessons as we walk around downtown with the lifesize statues of the Presidents of the United States hanging out at every corner.

I think that James Madison and I could see ''eye-to-eye''!

We're trying to stay positive, because this is the reality of our lifestyle. There are going to be fun times as well as frustrating moments. So as we wait out this current repair, I'm going to concentrate on and share some of the fun times that we recently enjoyed during our visit to Minnesota.

Wonderful moments like ...

Minneapolis biking with our sons and daughter-in-law,

Lunches and therapeutic gab sessions with girlfriends,

A pontoon ride with college friends who make the forty years since graduation seem just like yesterday,

Thursday morning bike tours around Rochester with our friend, Dave followed by a Mr Pizza lunch,

Fun fajita fiestas with friends,

Chance meetings with ''day brightener'' pals,

Cello concerts by our talented Godchild, Ella,

Bedtime stories with our ''adopted'' grandchildren,

A toast with my sisters, when we just happened to find ourselves in the same city at the same time,

Hanging out with camping buddies ... happy that our travel paths crossed once again,

A Labor Day lake gathering with other camping friends,

Delicious dinners, movie night, and quality time spent with my talented friend, Brittany. 

and just hanging out with Zoey, who had decided that she really wants to become an RV dog.

Thinking back on all the blessings that we have been able to experience because of ''van life'' helps put some of the difficult times into perspective, and also gets us thinking ...

What will our next season of retirement look like?

We often get asked, ''how long do you think that you will continue to travel?'' or, ''what does your next phase of life look like?'' This current ''bump in the road'' has started us (ok, mainly me) pondering those questions. Continuing van life ... Selling the van and pursuing international travel ... Settling down ... and where?

Spending time with cute grand-puppies like Pippy Longbody,

and Peter the Pug,

and feeling a sense of community with family and friends are strong reasons to settle down,

but memories of the amazing places that we have been able to visit because of our current lifestyle also pose very compelling reasons to keep traveling. 

Thankfully, our van is up and running once again. So, for now, we'll take it one day at a time, pondering our options while being grateful for the people who are always there to warmly welcome us back home.

PS: The opinions expressed about our future travel plans are the sole opinions of this blog author. Her travel partner currently just agrees that this break-down has been difficult and that we need to start thinking about what our ''next phase'' looks like. 

Of course, if he would happen to be in the market for a new travel vehicle, I think that I may have found him the perfect model at the recent antique auto show that was held last weekend in downtown Rapid City!

 

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