Riding Rapid City

South Dakota Tracking Seems to Work Well
Well, we had planned to tour Mt. Rushmore today, after a very pricey RV park stay (Rushmore Shadows) but when I started the engine it made some clinky-clanky squeak noises that did not sound promising.  With Memorial Day coming on we knew the chances for a quick repair were slim.  We found that all available RV parks seemed to be in the over-40-dollar category.  We tracked down a couple of repair shops.  The first one was fully booked and wouldn't be able to even start on us until maybe Tuesday.  They were good guys but we hoped to be away from here before then, so we tried #2, Eddie's Freightliner Service, who was able to get us in by about 2 PM and get started on it.
I'd opened the interior engine hatch and used a wooden stick to listen to the various spinning devices on the engine:  Water pump, alternator, power steering and air conditioning compressor. I decided it was the alternator.  I had thought at first I would just buy a new one at the local el cheapo parts place and replace it myself, but after poking around and looking at the complexity of the serpentine belts, I decided we would bite the bullet and see if Eddie's might not be a better idea.  They just finished replacing the desired alternator and announced the nasty noise is still there and that it's coming from the "pollution pump", that useless little government mandated device that pumps outside air into the exhaust system to help the engine pass emissions testing.  Invariably they fail after a few thousand miles, and this one has many thousands on it.  We're hoping they can get the additional repair done so that we can sleep in our own stuff again.
ANYWAY - whilst all this repair was going on, we unhitched the bikes and rode around town a bit, stopping for a Dairy Queen treat on the way back.  Coming back towards the RV shoppe, we went through the local Central Fairgrounds and spotted -- wait for it -- RV camping spots, all unoccupied!  We had just passed the fairgrounds' office so we rode back and enquired if we could rent a space there.  Sure enough:  $25 a night, electricity and city water only, no sewer or cable TV.  But, at about HALF the cost of the tourist trap versions, I signed up for 2 nights.  Now all we have to do is get the RV back...
We only got in several miles on the bikes (Jacque on her Catrike and me on my 2-wheel recumbent) but it was, as usual, very enjoyable except for the busy intersections we endured trying to get to and from Eddie's.
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 8.77
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  2.6 MPH                                5.7 MPH                   21.1 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
  1 hours 55 mins                     1 hour 32 mins         27 minutes