I departed Minnesota Saturday morning and had a very enjoyable drive down highway 23 to Sioux Falls and then onto I-90. I arrived in Mitchel, South Dakota mid-afternoon on Saturday. I targeted this spot because a great big Cabela’s store is there!
The Cabela’s store was easy to find and they had reserved the entire RV parking lot for little ole me. I spent a few hours wondering around the store. Lucky for me, I look horrible in all clothes – I find that to be an excellent de-motivator for purchasing clothing, no matter how great it looks on the hangar. However; my trip thru the store did cost me $150 in shoes, one of those over the campfire pie oven/cooking things, and some assorted supplies. I spent the night in the RV parking lot and woke up to a half a dozen other rigs that pulled in during the late evening/night. Thank you Cabela’s for recognizing the value of RV travelers and providing such a great spot and allowing overnight parking!
Thankfully, the only local TV station that I was receiving was the right one and the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 race was on early Sunday morning. Yay! So, I sat and watched the race. I’m not much of a Lewis Hamilton fan – not exactly sure why – so I was happy with the race outcome.
Why over the air TV? Well… I’ve not yet got my service area straightened out with Dish so I am unable to receive “local” channels via the satellite.
I then hit the road again – westbound on I-90. Fifteen minutes before the start of the Indianapolis 500 I rolled into a rest stop, raised the antenna, and found a channel airing that race. Wow – how lucky am I!?! So, I sat there and watched the entire race – what a treat!
By mid-afternoon I was truckin’ westbound on I-90 again and then the rain started! Lots of rain! Driving was fine but I was watching the streams of water building into large pools in the ditches and fields. By late afternoon, it looked like I was driving thru a flood zone. And then it happened. The passenger windshield wiper started looking odd, within a minute or two the metal arm itself was slapping against the glass at the far end of each wipe. I had to pull over and see what was going on before I destroyed my windshield. It only took a moment to see that the bolt holding the wiper arm onto the shaft was loose. I can fix THAT – says I! A couple quick turns with the wrench and oopsies… something was stripped! Ack! No wonder it wasn’t staying in place.
Thankfully they use a brass bolt to avoid stripping the shaft, which would be a major repair. So, off to my spare parts bin to find a bolt that would work. I put it on and cruised down the road. Another ten miles down the road and the same problem was occurring with the wiper. So, I stopped and tightened the bolt up some more. I was being super easy on it as the spare nut that I found was steel – not brass – and I really did not want to strip that wiper shaft.
After this final tightening and limited use of the wipers, I was able to make it to my destination – Box Elder, SD.
So, that’s the big story – the first failure of my new motor home! I am super pleased – probably a thirty-five cent repair!!
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