2018 Summer Trip West

[JEBar]

of the 3 types of shooting skeet, my favorite is Trap ===> https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=tr ... &FORM=VIRE .... we try to make every effort to shoot Trap at Jay Henges shooting park in Missouri .... while in South Dakota we often visit a Sporting Clays range ====> https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sp ... ORM=VRDGAR .... my least favorite is Skeet Shooting ====> https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sk ... &FORM=VIRE .... there is a firing range near where we spend the winter that has a Skeet course that I try to visit at least once each winter ....

[Mags]

Thanks for the video references. Don't think I would like Skeet either, too may targets in the air at the same time. Sport looks interesting giving variety with moving from station to station.

[JEBar]

my wife and I went back over to Jay Henges this morning .... she pushed the button to activate the thrower .... I fired 125 rounds and towards the end, the heat and humidity were really becoming oppressive .... we are pretty much ready to pull out in the morning for a drive that should take us from St Louis all the way across Missouri to Kansas City where we plan to turn north on I-29 to Nebraska City .... as per Garmin, we will cover just over 400 miles and should take something over 6 hours .... for us, that's a pretty long day .... while on the way back from Jay Henges we happened onto a Shell station with a posted price of $2.949 for diesel .... that's the lowest price we have seen on this trip so we've topped off our tanks .... we averaged 10.1 mpg for that 500+ miles .... our plan was to take on fuel tomorrow somewhere on I-70 before we get to Kansas City but that will no longer be necessary .... we have just over 700 miles to go .... we now have plenty of fuel in the tanks to cover that distance

[Mags]

Safe travel to you.

[PT7]

I'm going to guess you'll come into Kansas City using I-70 West. 'Tis an often-traveled major highway from St. Louis area to KC.
When you connect to I-29 heading north to Nebraska City, you'll pass by another east/west highway, MO-152. That road is about a dozen miles or so north of I-70. As you do pass MO-152, just look to your right and wave. I live about 6-7 miles west of I-29, and 1 mile north of MO-152. We'll probably see the same jets taking off/landing at the KCI airport during your drive-by!!!

Safe travels!
PT7

my wife and I went back over to Jay Henges this morning .... she pushed the button to activate the thrower .... I fired 125 rounds and towards the end, the heat and humidity were really becoming oppressive ....

And yes, JEBar, the current heat and humidity here are exceptionally oppressive. Can't believe you sent 125 shotshells down range in this weather. Definitely you are a tougher fellow than I. I won't even tell you what my car thermometer read today!

[JEBar]

Safe travel to you.

good wishes appreciated

[JEBar]

I'm going to guess you'll come into Kansas City using I-70 West.

yep .... 70 to 435 just east of KC and take it to 29 .... we enjoy driving under the big jets coming in so low over the interstate .... will most certainly wave on the way by ..

And yes, JEBar, the current heat and humidity here are exceptionally oppressive. Can't believe you sent 125 shotshells down range in this weather. Definitely you are a tougher fellow than I. I won't even tell you what my car thermometer read today!

my shotgun of choice is an '80's model Remington 11-87 .... it has undergone several modifications designed to reduce felt recoil .... those mods include replacing the OEM recoil pad with the best Kick-eez pad, installing a Mercury Recoil Suppressor in the stock, honing the barrel's forcing cone, and having the barrel Mag-na-ported .... as one who has only recently been able to stop taking blood thinning meds, recoil has long been an important consideration for me .... it is truly one that is "fun to shoot" .... all that being said, the last round of 25 pretty well did me in .... I reached a point where I had no interest in another round ..

[JEBar]

you meet the nicest folks in a crowded restroom .. .. thankfully, our 6 hr 50 min / 420.5 mile day drive from St Louis to Nebraska City was uneventful .... the same cannot be said for most of the time since we got setup in Victorian Gardens Campgrounds .... shortly after we finished eating, there came an unexpected knock at the door .... the CG owner was going door to door notifying folks that a tornado warning had just been issued for this area .... a quick look at the sky confirmed that this was not a false alarm .... shortly thereafter local warning sirens were sounding, campers emptied, and everyone headed for the designated restroom building .... link to local weather alert that may be time sensitive ===> http://ncn21.com/uncategorized/tornado- ... oe-county/ .... as noted, one meets the nicest people in a crowded restroom .... heavy rain, some hail, strong wind, tree limbs down, thankfully no damage done .... once it past we returned to our camper and are finally settled in for the evening

[PT7]

I've been watching the Nebraska City area pretty closely on KCMO local weather. Our four counties in NW Missouri were under severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches, too. Within the next 2 hours or so there is the potential that storm system will head toward the KC metro area.
It's 9:30pm now and temp is still about 90* with extremely high humidity. The watch is forecast to end around 1am. Nothin' but hot.

But glad all is well....both for your travel day, and for the camraderie in the Victorian restrooms!

you meet the nicest folks in a crowded restroom .. .. thankfully, our 6 hr 50 min / 420.5 mile day drive from St Louis to Nebraska City was uneventful .... the same cannot be said for most of the time since we got setup in Victorian Gardens Campgrounds .... shortly after we finished eating, there came an unexpected knock at the door .... the CG owner was going door to door notifying folks that a tornado warning had just been issued for this area .... a quick look at the sky confirmed that this was not a false alarm .... .... are finally settled in for the evening

[JEBar]

the first 4 pictures show the storm as it rolled in last night at Victorian Acres .... pictures 5 & 6 were taken this morning .... they show the bath house where we all took shelter .... Victorian Acres is about 5 miles due west of I29 ... this morning a couple of miles north of where we got back on I29 we came upon 5 semi trucks laying on their side that had been literally blown off of the road by the storm .... best guess, the 5 trucks were spread over about 200 yards long .... a few miles up the road we came upon a 6th semi on its side that had been blown off 29 and down an embankment .... along the way we saw several building with blown off roofs and what appeared to be some campers flipped in a campground we passed .... it quickly became very clear that we were very lucky .... 5 hr 5 min / 317.6 miles after leaving Victorian Acres we are in Estelline .... the weather is wonderful ... this is the first time we can remember that we've completed our full setup on the day we arrived here, pictures 7 & 8 .... after going "uptown" to eat with one of my wife's brothers and his wife, we are settled in for the evening .... they are calling for it to get down to 48 tonight ..


PT .... we understand that KC had some rough weather as well .... hope you guys are OK

[PT7]

Yes, there were some strong storms nearby, but missed my Northland area and was focused just north of KCMO. Here there was lightning, thunder, rain & wind, but not heavy-duty stuff. Actually wish I had a little more water in my rain gauge. My friend who lives about 15 miles northeast of me (toward you guys way up north) had over 3 inches of rain, and stronger winds. The weather can be pretty wild at moments during tornado season.

BTW, the blown-away semi trucks you mentioned were reported on ABC new tonight. Glad you missed all that stuff!

So thanks. All is well. Enjoy that nice weather now.
Take care.
PT7

the first 4 pictures show the storm as it rolled in last night at Victorian Acres .... pictures 5 & 6 were taken this morning .... they show the bath house where we all took shelter .... Victorian Acres is about 5 miles due west of I29 ... this morning a couple of miles north of where we got back on I29 we came upon 5 semi trucks laying on their side that had been literally blown off of the road by the storm .... best guess, the 5 trucks were spread over about 200 yards long .... a few miles up the road we came upon a 6th semi on its side that had been blown off 29 and down an embankment .... along the way we saw several building with blown off roofs and what appeared to be some campers flipped in a campground we passed .... it quickly became very clear that we were very lucky .... 5 hr 5 min / 317.6 miles after leaving Victorian Acres we are in Estelline .... the weather is wonderful ... this is the first time we can remember that we've completed our full setup on the day we arrived here, pictures 7 & 8 .... after going "uptown" to eat with one of my wife's brothers and his wife, we are settled in for the evening .... they are calling for it to get down to 48 tonight ..


PT .... we understand that KC had some rough weather as well .... hope you guys are OK

[JEBar]

good to know that you folks are OK .... I suspect that we were very lucky to get through the area of the toppled big rigs when we did .... big wreckers where just arriving .... I suspect that once they were able to go to work, lanes would have to be closed and traffic backups would quickly grow

[RanchRoper]

Stay safe everyone.

[JEBar]

6-13-18 .... the sun came up on a truly beautiful morning in the neighborhood .. .. pictures of our site where we are scheduled to be parked until early August are shown below ....normally our first day would include completing our setup but that's all been taken care of .... after breakfast we made a 40 some mile round trip shopping run to Brookings .... both of our sons are bringing their families out here this week .... we just got word that our oldest son and his family just landed in Sioux Falls .... it will take them something over an hour and a half to get to where we are .... our youngest son and his family are slated to leave home driving around noon tomorrow ..... they are both coming to visit relatives and attend the town's Rodeo .... our whole family is really looking forward to the next week ....

[JEBar]

6-15-18 ---- hot and humid pretty well sums it up .... the highlight of our day was or youngest son and his family rolling in .... all of us attended the local Rodeo---- very proud of our 8 and 5 year old granddaughters who took 3rd and 4th place in the Mutton Bustin' event .. .. 15 kids participated and our granddaughters were the highest finishing girls .... tomorrow promises to be a busy one

6-16-18 ---- with one of our sons and his family due to fly back home tomorrow, we tried to pack as much as possible in today .... following the morning 5K run and the rodeo parade, the guys went to a local sporting clays range and the ladies took the kids to the pool .... a mid afternoon visit to the town's Veterans' Memorial Park really had a positive impact .... rain showers blew through during tonight's rodeo performance .... excellent competition, Marueen's 10 year old great nephew took second place in the miniature bull riding event .... as wast the case last night when our granddaughters took 2nd & 3rd in the mutton busting, a solid section of family was there to cheer them on .... I didn't attend tonight's rodeo because we invited her family to come to the camper "for breakfast for dinner" .... 23 showed up for Western Omelets, pancakes, biscuits, and bacon .... very little leftovers and very positive comments .... we are now settled in for the evening ... heavy rain and thunderstorms are supposed to move in tomorrow .... that's pretty much the norm when we arrive ..

[JEBar]

6-17-18 .... the forecasted 100% of rain at 4PM has moved in with gusto a few hours late .. .. those who have followed some of our prior trips know that we tend to bring rain with us .... this trip is no exception .. .. we've been here 6 days and it has rained on 3 of them .... this area was suffering from a drought; at least for now, that seems to have been relieved .... unfortunately, the flight home for our oldest son and his family has proven to be far more problematic than their smooth flight out here .... a snafu in fueling their flight in Sioux Falls delayed their departure for Chicago sufficiently to miss their connecting flight .... consequently instead of flying from Chicago to Raleigh, they had to fly to Philadelphia so as to be able to catch a flight from there to Raleigh .... instead of arriving at 6 something PM they are now scheduled to get to there well after midnight .... long day indeed, specially with one of our granddaughters due to be back in school tomorrow morning and our for our son who has to be back at work ....

[JEBar]

6-19-18 .... another good/very busy day .... 50+ mile round trip to take defective 3 burner stove to FedEx and for some shopping .... Maureen took our son and his family on a mini tour of South Dakota State University ...while in the area we ate at Nicks (http://nickshamburgers.com/index.htm) ....talk about a history, its been in operation at the same location since 1929 .... my wife first ate there when she was 7 years old and she says the taste of the burgers remains the same .... reasonably priced, limited menu (http://nickshamburgers.com/menu.htm).... inside and outside seating .... very popular with the local folks and students at South Dakota State University .... on the way home we drove over to Minnesota where our grandson could get an up close look at a windmill farm .... later one of our sisters-in-law had arranged for our grandson to ride a horse for the first time .... that experience will be one he talks about for a long time to come .... later another 50+ mile round trip to watch a great nephew play baseball ... fun to see him play but his team was on the short end of the score .... we are now settled in for the evening with another busy day on tap for tomorrow

[JEBar]

6-20-18 .... another full day .... we ate lunch at a niece's home .... her husband and she farm over 2,000 acres .... our North Carolina born and bred grandson was fascinated by their size and variety of large farm equipment .... after lunch we returned to the camper and our son took his family west to visit with other cousins .... tonight we grilled South Dakota sirloins for 10 relatives, that's a lot of steak to cook on a Holland Companion ..Wink .. the Honey Mustard Steaks ===> http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 593#p61593 were a big hit, copies of the recipe were requested .... its rained off and on all day, we had to put out the awning for cooking and move a picnic table into the dry where we could eat .... thankfully, another good day

[JEBar]

6-22-18 .... our youngest son and his family pulled out for home around 8:30 this morning .... last report we had they were 27 miles from Nashville .... if they continue to make good time they should be home by 9 or 10 in the morning .... that's much time than my wife and I have ever made that drive .... after they were gone and we took a 2,500 step walk, since then things have really slowed down .... with the forecast for heavy rain tomorrow and continuing each day through Monday, we decided to replenish our grocery supplies .... a trip 45 or so mile round trip to Hy-Vee in Brookings took care of things .... tomorrow is the first day since way before we left home that we have absolutely nothing planned ..Smile .. next projected outing should come on Monday when we need to return to Brooking but this to to Walmart to fill some prescriptions ....

[The Wiz]

Be careful, tornado's possible according to the Weather Channel, in your area.