Oshkosh Or Bust 2021 Day 5, 6 and 7 July 23 to 25, 2021
Oshkosh Or Bust 2021 Day 5, 6 & 7
Sorry about not posting anything over the last couple of days, been busy driving and then of course the first day of Oshkosk/ EAA. But away we go!
Friday morning started off pretty early as I began to prepare to depart the area, I began to get my stuff together and repack my truck for the trip to Casper once I picked-up the camper.
I was getting anxious to get on the road, so I decided to check out of the hotel and go and get my truck washed and vacuumed out before picking-up my wife later in the day. That took about 20 minutes, during which time Mary from “Adams” RV Repair called me and told me that the Camper was ready for pick-up.
After getting that message I hauled butt over to “Adams” and found the camper sitting outside ready for me to hook up and get on the road. I went inside the office and spoke to Mary and settled up the paperwork and any remaining payments. I once again thanked her and her team for taking care of me so quickly. I told Mary to look at my photography page and to pick a picture that she would like and that I would have it printed and framed and sent to the shop. It was the only way I could show my appreciation and gratitude.
Once out of the office, I proceeded over to the camper and hooked it up to the truck and then proceeded to make my way out of town, but before leaving town, I headed over to the local “Wal-Mart” and picked-up a few things that I needed for the camper. Then it was game on!
After leaving “Wal-Mart”, I proceeded out of Riverton with the next stop being Casper.
The drive from Riverton to Casper is about 105 miles give or take, while en route to Casper and talking with my wife and friends, I knew I needed to find a place to temporarily drop the camper off, until after my wife arrived in town. After putting some thought into it, I decided to call the local VFW’s, after calling two of the three that were listed, I was able to get a hold of someone at VFW Post 9439 who told me that I could leave the camper there which was perfect.
About an hour and a-half later after calling the VFW Post I arrived and was met by the bar manager who told me where to park the camper. As soon as I unhooked the camper and made sure it was secured, I proceeded inside and sat down with my computer and ordered a beer and began to call around to various RV Repair shops in Wisconsin to see about getting the black water tank fixed and the stabilizer as well.
Every single placed that I called in Wisconsin, South Dakota and even in Casper was booked solid for at least three weeks and wouldn’t be able to help us out. So after consulting my wife, we decided that we would just wait until we got back to Oxnard and take it to Barber RV to get everything else fixed.
During the course of my visit at the Casper VFW Post I did have a great conversation with a Marine that served during the Vietnam War with 3rd Battalion 9th Marines. We talked for several hours and had several beers together, and it seemed like the beer wouldn’t stop, cause every time I turned around someone would by me another round. I had to stop at some point as I needed to eat something and figure out what we would be doing for the night. It was during my visit at the VFW that my wife suggested that we stay the night in Casper, so that we would be fully rested before hitting the road the next morning for Sioux Falls, South Dakota and our Daughter’s home. I found a local campground and called to enquire about a spot for the night, the camp ground was called “Fort Casper”, the lady that answered the phone said she would call me back in about 20 minutes to let me know if they had space available.
I found a local pizza joint called “Old Chicago” and stopped there to get a pizza and drink some pop (yes, I said “POP” it’s what we called it as a kid in Chicago.). While at the restaurant I got the call back from the lady at “Fort Casper” who said she had a pull through site available and I told her I would take it. At this point it was time to get back to the VFW and pick-up the camper and to get down to the campground un-hook it then go pick-up my wife. It was going on 1630 (430pm) and I had to get my act together as I needed to get to the airport to pick-up the wife, I was so looking forward to seeing her especially after the week that I had.
At around 1700 (5pm) I was almost to the airport and my wife messaged me that she had landed, I assured her that I was almost there and would meet her in a few minutes.
The Casper Airport is pretty small as one would expect for the size of the town, but the parking lot was under construction so parking was at a premium but hey if you are at the airport for 0-3 hours your parking is FREE!!! (You’re killing me Larry).
Walked into the airport and I saw people that were walking off the flight that my wife was on from Salt Lake City, and I began to think that I missed her. So I began to walk around the terminal looking for her, it was during this walk that I noticed the real size of this regional airport and how many airlines and flights that came in and out. About 10 minutes of looking around and waiting my wife finally showed herself and I walked up to her and gave her the biggest hug and kiss, I was happy as hell that she was there with me and would be riding with me to Sioux Falls and then onto Wisconsin.
After leaving the airport we headed back towards “Fort Casper” and before reaching there, pulled into the local gas station to top off the fuel tank so we didn’t have to do it before getting on the road the next morning.
The rest of the night was great as my wife and I got to hang out and just chill. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Saturday morning came early for both my wife and I, and we decided to get up and just get on the road as it was going to be a long drive, it was approximately 505 miles from Casper to Sioux Falls and our daughter’s home.
My wife helped me getting the truck hooked back-up to the camper and we eventually got back out on the road. Leaving out of Casper we took Interstate 25 North toward Interstate 90 which would take us East Bound towards Sioux Falls and eventually the next day to Wisconsin.. Cruise control set to 65 miles an hour and we moved on down the road.
The scenery between Casper and Sioux Falls is pretty bland, as there really wasn’t much to see except for a bunch hills and flat lands aka the reason for calling this part of our country the flat lands.
We eventually made to our daughter’s home at about 7pm where she guided us into her drive way and showed us around her home (my wife had been to her house before, this was my first time) and we then sat down and had dinner and talked about many different things. Eventually my daughter’s boyfriend came home and we talked for a few minutes and I thanked them both for allowing us to stay with them for the night. At this point I was tired and just wanted to get some sleep. My wife asked me when I wanted to leave on Sunday and I told her NLT 8am.
Sunday morning finally dawned and I began to make the preparations to get back on the road.
My wife and daughter were finally up as well and the made a really nice and quick breakfast for us to eat. My daughter also took care of us with some provisional good’s for the camper, she hooked us up with some drinks and some mango salsa which we gladly and thankfully took.
At around 0830am we finally left our daughter’s home and headed back to the Interstate turned East to begin the final push to Wisconsin and to the lovely town of Fond Du Loc.
The drive from Sioux Falls to Fond Du Loc is about 463 miles and was going to take us about 6 ½ hours. The drive this time would take us from South Dakota through Minnesota and would eventually plant us in the “Land of Cheese” aka Wisconsin.
The drive was pretty uneventful, with the scenery just being nothing but farmland.
Eventually my wife’s best friend called and suggested that we meet up with her parents, so that she could drive down to Kenosha. This would enable my wife to be able to get some work done and to not have to hang out here in Fond Du Loc while I was at the air show.
At around 1430 (230pm) we eventually met up with my wife’s best friend’s parents at a local Wal-Mart in the area at Wisconsin Dells and she departed with them for Kenosha. At this point I continued on to Fond Du Loc, it was about another hour and change from the Dells and the damn GPS on my phone took me on a bunch of back roads to get to my final destination.
Finally at around 1630 (430pm) I made it to the Fond Du Loc Fairgrounds Campgrounds and proceeded to set-up the camper and wait from my wife’s best friend’s husband (Rob) to show up.
Eventually Rob showed and after hanging out for a bit we called it a night.
2983 miles of driving with two trips to Casper, Wyoming we finally made and were now ready for EAA 2021.
Well this is it for now. Time to write-up something about the first day of EAA.
Later.
Semper Fi,
Frank Sellin
1/9 Everywhere