Florida to.... SD and back, kinda..

Taken a couple pictures and am almost done with the family/friend side of the Texas trip.

Made a quick stop to swap some stuff and am really getting excited for Palo Duro tomorrow night.

 

It is amazing how fast time flies when you are on the fun side of these trips... I will try to post an update shortly with some pics, but in short...

Left DFW uneventfully.

Went to Palo Duro, spent over 24 hours with no cell service and loved it...

Then went to drive to CO and ended up stopping at a national park of a Volcano That was cool and I got a couple pics I will share.

Then I went to Colorado Springs and stopped at Rak Attack to solve an issue I found with my configuration.

Stopped outside of Denver and scratched my plans to sleep in my RTT aside a private airport I have contacts at and ended up staying in a friends spare room. So good rest, good shower and supplied with some food.

Finishing work right now so I can head to Cheyenne for a bit before arriving in Hot Springs tonight.

 

What a week..!

As mentioned, work released me last Friday and i drove to LA to spend time with family. We didnt get out to see much due to all the heat advisories.

I ended up taking the truck in for an oil change, while also having them throw on new wiper blades due to significant window buildup.

Side note, I will add them as I think of them... this leg of the trip averaged 13.8 MPG's.

 

After a day with the fam, I drove into shreveport and opted for a hotel room.

Woke up early and headed to TX!

Spent Sunday/Monday with friends in the area. Tuesday morning came early as I closed out my central Texas time and headed to Palo Duro.

13.7 MPG average for most of this trip.









Time to cool off and plan out the night.

 

Night time in Palo Duro..... It was in the low 70s, I woke up to 62.... Sunset was bright and annoying... but those stars.... Man I miss Texas...

 

Woke up, had to inflate a couple tires and take Banjo for a walk.







Vehicle loaded, dog loaded, time to head to Denver!

On the drive, I got distracted by a freaking Volcano.... like, WTF? So, we had to stop.





Ok, back on track and heading to Denver for real this time....

MPG's: 13.5

 

Up in Colorado Springs, I stopped to get a mount to put my tracks on together to make room for something else I am working on.



Made it to Denver and got invited out to dinner with old friends and ended up crashing at their place.



Then off to Hotsprings, SD. Averaging 15.3 MPG (wish this was normal, just not their gas prices)

 

Wyoming was as beautiful as I remembered. What I did not remember was that wind! Holy crap I got moved around a bit.







And then I made it!

 

Got to Hot Springs and was ready for bed! But we walked the neighborhood and took some time to enjoy the area:











Since getting to moms, I have put the truck to work moving stuff places... Ran some errands with her and thankfully, got the truck unloaded. More to follow in a couple weeks when I get up in the hills and then get back on the road.

 

Ah the state line on Hwy 18 between Lusk, WY and Edgemont, SD.

 

Yes sir! My first time (in memory) that I went in this way before.

I was actually laughing with my mom about this being the longest I've been in SD and not been in Rapid City.

Beautiful but boring drive.

 

Keep it going Logan. Safe travels.

 

Love to see it , keep the pics coming and let us know of any hidden gems you find!

 

I’m very familiar with that area since the RR has some operations in Newcastle, WY and we use that route a lot to and from Edgemont if a crew needs to get there via roads. The drive north from Mule Creek Junction (rest area you turned east at onto 18) is just as boring and desolate.

Looks like we’re in for more rain this evening, man this summer has been an odd one!

 

The rain just stopped and thankfully the hail last night wasnt bad. I am still working on cleaning moms yard up from the hail damage a couple months ago.

There were a lot of desolate roads and lost signals, but man I loved the drive. Looking forward to the upcoming trips when the others arrive, but currently enjoying not filling my tank every few hours lol.

 

Thank you and will do! The volcano was unexpected and awesome! Only real issue I had was I was not prepared for hike that in the local climate. I will go back on the next road trip, properly set up for it.

 

Thank you sir!

 

I love how all routes avoid the toll roads in Oklahoma. Fuck the Toll roads

 

Got some work done yesterday and moved some stuff for the family.

 

Took some time today to explore some hunting areas and goof off a bit. Beautiful weather out here today.

 

Was looking for you to ask this question to but noticed I never responded to this...

So firstly, yes sir. I work with (now) a variety of sized warehouses to add technology to reduce their footprints. Well, in short anyway.

Now for me being needy.... I have my retrax closed driving all around the black hills. The bed is staying dry but that red dust is all over my bed and appears to be coming up through the tailgate gap. Have you solved for this or noticed the same for you?

I found rubber seals, but they look like they sit high and would be damaged by anyone trying to do actual work with their bed so I was curious on your take?

 

It’s a truck, it is going to get dusty. I haven’t worried too much about it. Usually blows out most stuff at highway speeds after being on dirt.

The only thorough solution involves a car wash in my experience.

 

Fair points. Normally i dont care because everything in my bed is designed to get dirty, rinse off and store. But this trip I am moving a bunch of stuff for family and they dont do the same as I do. So I wanted to ask. That said, the hoses here work just as good as back home. So I will stick with my plan. Thank you sir

 

Yeah gravel roads just get everything dirty. Not much to be done about it unless you have an enclosed trailer.

 

Fwiw, there are tailgate seals that only rise up about a 1/4" from the actual steel or bedliner surface height. I don't have one, but I have seen them installed. Good luck! Safe travels!

 

I am completely out of words from what just happened. I saw a news article earlier today and couldnt find it, then boom... I hear people nearby are seeing the northern lights... I will try to make a YT video of the movement, but here is the stills of my night!!!!!!

 

It’s been a great year for seeing the aurora borealis.

 

So I have noticed! But this is not something you get to say when you live in Florida LOL.

But it was awesome to see!

 

8 second no audio video from tonight.

https://youtu.be/AqiU-4HVmb0

 

Glad you got to see it!