We got up early so I could work on soundproofing the entrance door window.  After studying the assembly, and considering my available materials and tools, I decided to apply self-stick foam tape to the window seals on the operable window panel rather than the fixed frame.  This ensured that the foam tape would be lined up with the seals when closed.

We left the Wal-Mart in Sioux Falls, SD around 8:00 AM CDT for Rapid City, SD via I-29 N to I-90 W.  The weather-stripping on the window seemed to help a lot with the wind noise.  We stopped in Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace.  We were there mid-morning, so there was adequate parking for large RVs.  The streets in and out of town, however, had some trees with branches that were not trimmed high enough.

Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD

The drive across South Dakota was very pretty.  The farther west we drove to fewer trees we had, giving.  They had had a lot of rain, and the grasses were green, long, and waving.  We re-fueled at a Flying-J at exit 61 east of Rapid City in tropical storm force winds of 39+ MPH.  Exit 52, just NW of Rapid City (in Black Hawk) was our access to 3 Flags RV, a Coast-to-Coast Good Neighbor Park (GNP).

We thought we had reserved a 50 Amp (A) full hookup (FU) site, but ended up with a 30 A FU site instead.  This happened because of a misunderstanding on our part due to our inexperience; this was our first use of our Coast-to-Coast membership outside our home park.  3 Flags RV Park wasn’t anything special (it was located next to I-90), but it was clean, the utilities all worked, the laundry room was clean and functioning, and it positioned us well for visiting the Black Hills and surrounding area.  And it was only $15/night (15,000 C2C points).

The 30 A hookup was initially a problem because our house batteries needed charging after running the refrigerator all day via the inverter.  If the batteries are down sufficiently to trigger a bulk charge, the charger portion of the Magnum 4024 can and will draw up to 30 A of 120V AC current.  That is sufficient to blow a weak 30 A service breaker, even if there are no other loads turned on in the coach.  The amount of current drawn by the charger can be limited using the Magnum ARC-50 remote panel, but we had to find the manual and figure out how to do this before plugging in the coach.  We did, I set the limit to 15 A, and everything was fine.

The other reason we prefer a “50 A” power connection when we can get it is that we can run all of electrical loads, including our three house air-conditioners if needed.  Each A/C draws about 10 A at 120 VAC, more when the compressor first engages, so on a “30 A” service we typically only run one, leaving room for other electrical loads (refrigerator, air compressor, microwave, lights, etc.  Hey, it’s a house on wheels and it doesn’t use propane).

Technical note:  A 50 A service actually provides over 3 times as much current (power) as a 30 A service.  I know that doesn’t sound right, but it’s true.  The reason is that a 30 A service is ONE circuit with a 30 A maximum current capacity at 120 VAC, (~ 3600 watts) whereas a 50 A service is a 240 VAC service with a 50 A maximum current capacity  (~ 12,000 watts) that generally functions as TWO 120 VAC, 50 A circuits (still ~ 12,000 watts).  In practice it acts like a 120 VAC “100 A” service.  If it were called that, it would be obvious that it is more than 3 times the available power of a 30 A service.  That’s assuming the service breaker (where you plug in) isn’t worn out and weak.  We have been in RV parks where we tripped the “50 A” service breaker while drawing less than 40 A on each of the two legs (circuits).