Badlands, May 21 - 23

We left Rapid City somewhat in haste just get be on the road again. We took Route 44 out of Rapid City towards Badlands National Park where we were due to set up camp. Taking that hiway meant not seeing all the things along I-90, but since there wasn't a whole lot to see there, we didn't feel like we were missing much. There were a couple of small towns along I-90, most notably Wall, but Badlands wasn't that far from it and we were planning on taking the scenic route into Wall the next day anyway. The journey was short and we arrived at Badlands early in the afternoon. We choose to dry camp, meaning without water or electric connected to our rig. This would be a good test for our newly installed solar system to see how good it worked at keeping our 12 volt batteries charged. It came through just fine. My biggest problem was that I had a hard time finding the Dish satelites, so it took a couple of hours and several modifications of the aiming of the dish to get the signals. However, I did get it working. Eventually.

We left by car early the next morning to head towards Wall. As we were leaving, we saw several of these birds that are about twice the size of a robin, roaming about the campground. Having not seen them before, we asked the park ranger what they were later in the day and were told that they were Northern Shrike. Looking them up on the internet, it doesn't look like a Northern Shrike. If someone knows what they are please reply back to let me know.

Our first stop was to be Interior, SD., just a couple of miles outside of the park. Here are a couple of pictures from the city, including the Presbyterian Church and the local grocery store. It isn't that big of a town having a population of less than 100. But it had a Budget Inn, as well as a campground, and a gas station, so I'm calling it more than a spot in the road.




The Badlands were like nothing else we've seen. Spires, domes and ravines made by wind and water eroding soft sedimentary rock has evolved Badlands National Park into what it is today. As we toured through the park, looking at the terrain made us feel like we weren't in the northern plains of the United States. The trip through the park took a little over an hour and we arrived in Wall before noon, mainly for the big attraction of Wall Drug. As many of you are probably aware, Wall Drug started its present history in 1936 when it started offering free ice water to travelers. Since then, it's turned into a really nice place to stop for a souvenir, gift, meal, or even a prescription (I think the drug counter is still there). But it's grown from just a small shop into a big block. You can find them on the web at www.walldrug.com .

There was another attraction in the area, the Minute Man National Historic Site. We took the tour of the Launch Control Facility Delta-01 located on the north side of I-90 at exit 116. While it was interesting, it also kinda scary because of what it was. These Minute Man missiles were capable of destroying targets on the other side of the world in 30 minutes or less. The pictures are of the module 30' underground that two missileers would stand a 24 hour watch in. It wasn't as big as our motorhome, although it did have a bunk and toilet facilities, and food was prepared by a cook in the support building above ground, making it was ok to stay in for that amount of time. But it was cramped with a limited amount of space for moving around, and as there were electronics of the 1970's era running all the time (think large components), there was always a constant whir from cooling fans and air conditioning. I don't think it was a place that could be used for much of anything other than what it was meant for: launching a missile.

We headed back to Badlands with thoughts about how we didn't like moving after only two days. If we'd had longer reservations there, our thoughts were that we really wanted to stay. After all, it was very peaceful and quiet there. Had I thought about ensuring that we'd had more water when we left Rapid City, it would've been very easy to stay there for a week. However, we were concerned about having a place to stay over Memorial Day so thought it'd be best if we headed on down the road towards Altoona, Iowa. Having heard about the Corn Palace in Mitchell, we decided that we'd be able to handle traveling the 200 miles to Famil-e-Fun Campgrounds in Mitchell, SD., and stay there for a week.

Time in Rapid City, SD., May 14 - 21

So we were at our campsite at America's Mailbox and it was really an important event not only for us, but for them as well because it was the start of their operation at their new location and the start of our new adventure also. They had quite a celebration with their new building having a Masonic dedication ceremony which included raising their 30' x 60' american flag on a flagpole that is 100' high, and lots of food being served afterwards. The owner of America's Mailbox said that this flag was gonna be a landmark and I'd tend to agree with him as it's easily visible to anyone traveling on I-90 right there, as well as east or west on the freeway for a mile or so.

As my sisters Elaine & June were in Rapid City on their trek from Washington DC to McMinnville, Oregon, we mosied over to see them at their motel room after the festivities were over with. Spent time with them in the evening, then mosied back to the moho for an early night. Got together with them the next day for day trip around the area. Our first stop was at Mt. Rushmore which is where these photos were taken; the photo on the right has June on the left and Elaine in the center. You can tell it wasn't warm that day, huh? (Remember, Elaine is the bonafide Redskins fan, I got my sweatshirt at a thrift store in the hopes of staying warm when I worked those chili nights in Las Vegas. Now that I'm retired, I'm gonna take up the hobby of being a Redskins fan, along with being a fan of other professional sports teams also). We toured the national memorial going up and down the many steps that are there on the paths (it was very good exercise) and had lunch at the Buffalo Dining Room. Each of us had bison, which was something that none of us had ever had prior to this visit. June and I had the stew, Katie and Elaine had the burgers; not only did the flavor please us, but it was better for us than chicken!

Crazy Horse was next on the list of places to go to. When Katie and I saw Crazy Horse about 10 years ago, it looked almost the same as it does now. The reason being that most of the work that's been done since then has been on the far side of the mountain. You can see from the photo how things look now, and what it's supposed to look like when it's done. It's gonna be a pretty big monument when it's all done, can't help but wonder how long that'll be though.

The next day, May 16, found all of us going to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. It was interesting to see where many years ago, at least 51 mammoths had fallen into a sinkhole that they couldn't get out of. The city of Hot Springs, SD is adjacent to the mammoth site and has other touristy things to look at. Prior to going into Hot Springs, lunch was eaten at a long lost favorite fast food eatery, Taco Johns. They don't have stores in the Las Vegas area, and we were very happy to be able to eat there and find they had the same good taste that was there when we ate there about 10 years or so, ago. I like the potato ole's; they're like tater tots, but smaller and round.

In Hot Springs, we found the walkway along Fall River, which was fairly warm due to the hot water flowing into it from the hot springs, and walked along it for a ways. In the photo to the left, that's it next to Katie. Not unlike other bodies of water, there was plenty of ducks in the river and on the islands in it. I'm thinking they were happier ducks because of the temperature of the water. Of course, maybe I'm thinking that because I'd be happier due to the water being warmer than a lot of other streams or rivers in this part of the country.

And just like any other foresty place in the country, there were lots of animals. But there were bison here in addition to the other animals. In all, we saw wild turkey, antelope, prairie dogs, mountain goats, and cows. The bison had special privileges it seemed as they roamed all over Custer State Park uninhibited, here's a picture of one of them

June and Elaine left the next day (Tuesday) heading for Yellowstone and points west in hopes of being in Oregon by Saturday. As we weren't residents of Nevada anymore, we went about the tasks of changing our residency and registering our vehicles in South Dakota, which was done with a minimum of fuss.



There was a threat of rain that evening, but we still had time around 5 PM to accomplish part of a goal of ours, which was to play disc golf at least once in each state. We discovered a park in Rapid City, with a 9 basket course and headed out. The course was well laid out and we had a great time getting out enjoying the exercise.

The next morning we awoke to water leaks above the side windows next to the driver's and passenger's seats. We were grateful to America's Mailbox for having an RV bay so the moho could dry out and be worked on, and for having a room we could stay in while the moho was drying out. Didn't realize how much their services and facilities would be appreciated when we decided they'd be our new address in South Dakota. We tried to repair the roof (still leaks as of 5/25!) and made other enhancements to the moho while it was in the RV bay.

Our last night in Rapid City, we decided to go out to eat and visit Mt. Rushmore for the evening lighting ceremony. I also had an ulterior motive which was to plan what our itinerary would be between our departure from Rapid City and our arrival at Altoona, Iowa on the 6th of June. We found a Mexican restaurant in Keystone called Arriba Mexican Grill. We were greeted outside by a friendly youth, looking to be college age, who had a european accent rather than a Mexican accent. Turns out he and several other servers were from Moldova, a landlocked European country by Romania and Ukraine. The guy who was training the servers was from Indonesia. Never did see anyone who looked like they were of Mexican descent, figured that's who the cooks were. Regardless, we enjoyed the food; it was tasty, the portions were good, and the atmosphere of the eatery was pleasant as well. We plotted our itinerary to include six stops between May 21st and June 6th, and then headed for Mt. Rushmore for the lighting ceremony. The ceremony started at about 9:00 PM and lasted for about 25 minutes or so with a few spoken words by a park ranger, and a movie which gave brief biographies of each president and why the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum, thought they were important enough to be there. At the end, the lights were turned on and the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lincoln were illuminated. There were about 200 people there that night when it was more than a little cool, and I'm thinking that everyone left with a better appreciation for what those presidents stood for and what they did.

The next morning found us hitching the HHR up behind the moho and heading towards Badlands National Park Campground, eager to see what the moho would take us to.

Journey from Las Vegas, Nv to Rapid City, SD., May 11 - 13, 2011

After much trepidation and preparing, Katie and I were able to leave Las Vegas, Nv at about noon on 5/11/2011. After counting our blessings and giving thanks to God, we headed north on I-15. We arrived in St. George, Ut to dine at one of the best eateries in St. George, the Cracker Barrel. This restaurant was recommended by Katie as she said that the Presbyterian Women from First Presbyterian Church (FPC) stop here often on their way from Las Vegas, Nv to Cedar City, Ut. Having just ate there a week prior after the FPC Camp out during the last weekend of April, we knew that it was good food and felt that it'd be a great way to celebrate the start of our journey. After dining there, we hit the road again continuing north on I-15 in search of the exit for I-70 to head east hoping to get to Richfield, Ut before the sun went down. There was some road construction along the way which made for some interesting "squeezing" in the reduced width lane, but we made it through ok. Once we hit I-70, we started climbing in altitude. The summits weren't all that high in comparison to the ones we were gonna hit the next day, but they were high enough. All in all, we were satisfied with how our motorhome performed. We arrived in Richfield, Ut. about 7:30 and after supporting our hosts, parked in Wal-Mart Corporate Parking Lot (WCPL for you people who love acronyms) for the night.

Had a pleasant nights sleep and woke up to find 7 other campers dry camping in the WCPL. Obviously they knew the value of a dollar and probably supported the host also. And why not as it was very quiet there were pastures right next to Wal-Mart even though it was located on the main drag in town. People were friendly, the air was clear and clean, and the scenery was great with snow covered mountains all around the valley that Richfield was in. Definitely gotta go back there sometime in the future.

Found some interesting rest stops along the way, one being at Sand Bench, Ut. Had a deep canyon just below it with great views from the rest stop. I thought this was a real bonus to the rest stop even though we didn't need to stop, it was just a great view. There were other rest stops with great views from them as well. We stopped at one other one, but had to keep going as we wanted to be past Denver that night. Didn't really wanna travel that way, had planned to keep our travel time to less than 200 miles a day, traveling every third day at the most. If it weren't for family in Rapid City on May 14th, I know we wouldn't have done that much traveling in one day.

We got to Colorado and went over some really high summits. The incline on two of them was so steep that I eventually had to shift into 1st gear to make it up those hills. The summit for Vail Pass was 10,617' and the summit for the Eisenhower Tunnel (which is also where the continental divide is) is 11,158' so some of the problem may have been lack of oxygen for the engine. Maybe... I dunno. Although it was in the low 40's, there was still lots of snow on the ground. But it was good to get over the top of the mountain and head for Denver and points beyond up north on I-25.

It took a couple of hours for us to make it to Denver, but we passed through a couple of quaint little villages, one of them being Georgetown, Co. We didn't stop there, but it just looked like a place that we'd be going back to sometime, and reading a little from their website (http://www.town.georgetown.co.us/), leads me to believe that we'll be for sure going there.

We stopped for the night at the WCPL in front of Sam's Club in Thornton, Co. Realizing we needed various things that Sam's Club didn't have in smaller amounts that a moho might be able to use, we went to the Wal-Mart next door. For me this was the cleanest Wal-Mart I've ever been into, and the people were very friendly. Kudos to the manager there not only for that, but for the table of hand lotions found in the Men's Room, which I've never found in any other Wal-Mart or other big box stores.

After another pleasant nights rest, we headed north on I-25, eventually going into Wyoming. When it was time for lunch, we pulled off at the rest stop next to Chugwater, Wy. This is a little town of only 200-some people, but there advertisements along the freeway telling of the Chugwater Chili Cookoff in June of every year. After lunch, we ventured into the little town to find that it was like a lot of other little towns that had been hit with a reduction of people over the years, meaning that some buildings weren't occupied anymore, or they were in kinda bad shape. Not uncommon in little towns at all. But the name and the atmosphere of the community kinda hooked me, and if we had the time, we would've stayed there and possibly had something very tasty to eat at the Chugwater Soda Fountain (http://www.chugwatersodafountain.com/).

We continued up north on various highways going through Lusk, Newcastle, Custer, and Hill City before finally getting to Rapid City. But by the time we got to our campground for the night at America's Mailbox in Box Elder, SD, it was 8:30 PM and we were beat. We found a place to set our rig up and crashed for the night. It'd been another long hard day, but we were glad we'd done it and that the moho had made it through all the rough road that we covered. What a journey our first three days was. Unfortunately, it was done way too fast. I can hardly wait to go to those spots in the road again.