SNOW!

The morning we were set to leave Black Hawk, SD, we awoke to a bit of bad news. The forecast had been for lows in the upper 30s; however, the low was in the upper 20s with a wind chill of 22! We were running our little electric heaters indoors, but we had taken no precautions with the water and it had frozen. Fortunately, the day was clear and the temperature was high enough within 30 minutes to thaw our water supply.



When we were in cold temperatures last January and February, we enclosed the water hose in foam tubing and dripped the faucets. The spigot froze at one of the RV parks, but we had no freezing. This year, since we plan to be in Wyoming and Colorado for the next few weeks, we stepped up our weather-proofing a bit more. We purchased heat tape and inserted it between the water hose and the insulation, then wrapped the end connections with insulated felt wrap and the #1 RV repair tool - duct tape.

The first night in Wyoming didn't test our new system much - the low was in the 30s and the indicator on the heat tape was on for a bit in the morning. The next night will tell us more with the lows forecasted for the upper 20s.

Snow started falling around noon, much to the boys' delight! They were out in it every minute until we drove over to nearby Sheridan for a few essentials and a little sightseeing.

The busy downtown area of Sheridan boasts a long row of shops, many with a western theme. We then found our way to this famous mansion, Trails End. Built in 1913 for the Kendrick family, the 13,478 sq ft residence was donated as a museum in 1982. Also on the grounds is a healthy sized carriage house (over 3000 sq ft).
We turned back to Buffalo and stopped near Story to stop by Fort Phil Kearney. Clearly not a day for browsing around with the 35 F temperatures, we at least could envision how difficult life in the region must have been. We could not imagine the conditions with several feet of snow for months! At least the battles with the Indians must surely have been a bit less frequent!

Here's a glimpse out the window at the falling snow - a little blurry since we were travelling 60 mph.

Back at the campground, we found snow was beginning to stick! We were greeted by the campground namesake wooden Indian having no trouble guarding the swimming pool.

Back at the RV the snow had dusted the grass areas and covered things that held no ground warmth. The boys were elated, they could scrape up a few snowballs and track each other in hide and seek. The play was fast and furious until supper and we were able to chalk this up as pretty good day.