By Alica P. Thiele
Argus Leader Media

For the last three years, Margie and Gene Phillips have had a running joke about his conversion RV project.
“I’d ask him how close it was to being done, and he’d said, ‘Oh, I just need one more gasket,’ or ‘I just need one more hose,’” she said. Now, the camper is done and ready for the road.
The traveling home includes a kitchen with a cooktop, refrigerator, microwave and sink. A full-size couch faces a 41-inch plasma television that hangs above the door. There is a full bath and an 8-foot-square bedroom with a queen-size Murphy bed.
Up front, a 2004 Volvo, Model 630 semi tractor powers the whole thing.
The Phillipses were in the trucking business for many years in Madison. They originally bought the cab with the intention of adding a camper to it, for their employees to check out for weekend use.
But then opportunity knocked, Margie Phillips said, and they had a chance to sell their business, B&G Transportation, and retire.
When they realized they would retain ownership of the truck, “it just struck me funny, because I thought, ‘What are we going to do with this truck?’” Margie Phillips said.
Gene decided to follow through with the conversion plan.
“I had a gentleman in Watertown add the camper portion and convert the over-the-road truck into a motorhome,” he said. “And then I took the task of finishing the inside, which means the floor coverings, the trim … we put ceramic tile in the bathroom. There was a local company here in Dell Rapids that did the cabinetry.”
Gene said he did the work just to have a project to do more than with the idea of taking it somewhere.
And although the couple hasn’t taken any long trips in the conversion RV yet, they have gone on some local outings.
Recently, they took friends Pat and Debra Prostrollo and Russ and Jeni Olson, all of Madison, to Carthage for dinner.
“The six of us loaded up,” Pat Prostrollo said. “We had some hors d’oeuvres. And we went on a little excursion. It was a beautiful evening.”
The Phillipses have taken their 7-year-old twin grandchildren to Renner for dinner. The grandchildren are the reason Gene and Margie moved to Dell Rapids a year and a half ago.
The grandkids especially like watching the television in the motorhome. “They are like little birds (side by side) on the couch,” Margie said.
The couple is planning a trip to Montana this fall to visit friends. It will be the first long trip in the RV. Motorists will know it is a South Dakota vehicle by the mural on the back. It is a copy of a picture painted by Madison artist John Green, who is a friend of theirs. The mural depicts Mount Rushmore, a flag, the statue of liberty and eagles.
“The mural was painted by Green as a tribute to the United States after 9/11,” says a script Margie Phillips wrote that describes the conversion RV in detail.
Their son, Chad Phillips, plans to take video of the motorhome and put it on the Internet.
“Just to see if there is any interest,” Margie said. “Just for fun.”
If someone does approach the couple to buy the motorhome, Gene said he might just start all over again with another conversion RV.