Day 46 - Aug 21 Road trip, Wind Cave then on our way to Colorado

We left Sturgis early today, 10:30am.

Trying to get on the road earlier these days. We shall see how that goes....

On the way out of S. Dakota we decided to stop at Wind Cave National Park at the southern end of the S. Dakota Black Hills. This is of course a cave but it also includes a large amount of above ground acreage. The cave is the 6th longest cave in the world, so far. Apparently it has not been fully explored yet. We took the short version of the tours, which still lasted an hour. We were suitably impressed.

Then it was time to head out for Colorado. We left the cave a bit after three and made it to Lusk Wy. Staying tonight at the Prairie View Campground. Not the most elaborate grounds we have stayed at but sure does beat the pulling to the side of the road.

I must say we sure are lucky that we had many folks with many years of Rving experience preceding us. We have a couple of camp ground books that must have every campground in the US listed in them. If not there then we use the internet to find something. Once we have an idea, a quick check for reviews on the internet and we are set to go. Thus far we have been satisfied with the choices we've made so cannot complain in the least.

Day 45 Aug 20 - Deadwood

Another lazy morning.... There's that "L" word again. Wonder if we will ever get past that "L" word... Hope not.

We headed off to Deadwood for a look see. The town was bustling but it seemed like every building had slot machines.That was sort of disappointing. I could see a few casinos, but it seems to have gotten out of hand. But, then again I don't live there and one has to give the town credit for avoiding extinction these days.

We walked a bit then took a tour of the Broken Boot Gold mine. Unfortunately the mine lost power during the middle of the tour. Yes we were in about the deepest part of the mine at the time. But we made it out in one piece, panned for gold and took our leave with the pannings.

We wanted to see the Homestake mine museum  but that pesky "L" word got in the way and we did not allot enough time for it this time.

A very nice ride through the scenic Spearfish canyon on the way home capped the day.

Day 44 Aug 19 Devils Tower and dinner with the cousins

We took a day trip over to Devils Tower in Wyoming. This is where they filmed Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This is the tower that every one was building and where the climax of the movie was set. A pretty impressive rock indeed.

Afterward it was a delightful dinner with one of Leroy's cousins and his wife at the Knuckle. He had not seen these cousins for probably 30 plus years. But both Levins had no trouble id'ing each other. The Knuckle is one of the larger bars/restaurants that manages to stay open beyond the rally week.

Hard to imaging the magnitude of the crowds just a week ago. The place emptied out pretty quicky, somewhat surprising how fast.

Day 43 Aug 18 Road trip to Sturgis via the Hereford back road

It was a short drive today through the back country to get to Sturgis. We will spend a couple of day here and in Deadwood.

On the way we passed by a couple of decommissioned Minute Man missile facilities. One was a launch control facility, the other a missile silo site. 

They were pretty easy to spot once one knows what to look for. 

The launch facility building layout was identical to the one at the historical site we visited a few days ago. 

The missile site was rather obvious as well. An eight foot chain link fence laid out in a square, ground raised slightly within, full of cows, (no gate) stuck out in the middle of nowhere. As they told us on the tour “the Minute man missiles would not be much of a deterrent if they were hidden”.

We got settled into a RV site quite different from the bustling, big city life of the Black Hills KOA.  Then it was  off to tour Sturgis.  Wow, what a difference a week makes.  

Although we were not here for the Motorcycle Rally, we saw enough bikes, bikers, and babes throughout South Dakota to easily imagine what this area was like last week.  Now it’s a ghost town.  Like a balloon that’s been deflated. Would have been fun to have hit it during the Rally, but didn’t think it would have been a good place for a four-year old.

Day 42 Aug 17 back to New Underwood for a belated wedding reception

A late start, so what’s new... It's what we do :o)

Another short stop at Walmart to return an item and pick up a couple more, a parking lot lunch, fuel stop, then finally on the road back to New Underwood.

Leroy’s cousin’s daughter was married recently so the parents threw the bride and groom a belated reception. A good time, a nice meal, a few  drinks, some dancing to the DJ…  All in all a good turn out and a very nice time. 

Rosalie was the toast of the ball, of course.  Lights went out about 12:30. (Not for the little princess, of course.  Susan got Cinderella to bed by 10:00, a tired little girl who had danced the evening away.)

Day 41 Aug 16 Enjoying the KOA and off to see the Crazy Horse monument

Another lazy day… Seems to be a theme here, these lazy days.

Well, not exactly lazy. Rosalie played hard, Susan did the laundry, Leroy ran after and played with Rosalie.

Around 3:30 or so we headed off to see the Crazy Horse monument. This is a privately funded mountain sculpture. Sort of the Indians answer to Mt Rushmore. This carving is to be chief Crazy Horse astride a horse pointing to his peoples land.

 This is an extremely ambitious project which was started in 1948.  Now, 65 years later, the carving itself has become quite a business in itself.   

Hopefully all the work involved in the project will lead to a complete project someday.

Day 40 Aug 15 A ride around Custer State park and Mt Rushmore at last

Today we headed out somewhat early for a ride around the scenic drive through Custer state park, and along the Needles highway.

We spent an unexpected ½ hour or so delay waiting for the bison (buffalo) to cross the road. Brings to mind the age old question,

“Why did the bison cross the road?” Answer: To annoy the tourists.

Your reward for coming upon a herd by the side of the road is to learn patience. Patience while the bison start across, stop, stare are you for a while, chew their cud, start back, change their mind, stop and stare, repeat….  They are some magnificent animals….

When we finally made it past the herd, we of course made the mandatory stop at the begging burros. Seems they have become very accustomed to being fed by the tourists. Some brought carrots but from most it was crackers, bagels, bread or what have you. Could not have been the best diet for the animals.

Needles Highway

The Needles highway drive takes one past some mountain ridges containing granite spires that might remind one of needles. The drive has a few one lane low, narrow tunnels. Not someplace to try to drive with a trailer, but pretty awesome. 

Mt Rushmore

 The KOA campground offers a bus ride up to the Mt Rushmore memorial for the evening lighting ceremony. We arrived an hour and a half prior to sun set, thus were able to see the mountain, the videos, and exhibits before the lighting ceremony.

It was a nice presentation with the ranger giving a talk prior to a movie. The lighting itself was pretty awesome. The clouds were low, above the mountain, but still low. This caused what looked to be a shadow to be cast behind the four presidents, it reminded one of a painted portrait rather that a mountain with an unlimited background behind it.

The ceremony ended with a tribute to all past and present service members in attendance.  All the men and women who had served in the military were asked to come to the stage.  Several were selected to lower the flag and formally fold it.  Then each person was asked to give their name and branch of service (about 50 or so people).  This was after the film and the song “America the Beautiful” as well as singing the national anthem.  It was quite a moving experience.

It was also quite amazing to see how Rosalie reacted to Mount Rushmore.  It made quite an impact on her.  How many 4 year olds can name the four Presidents on Mt  Rushmore?

Day 39 Aug 14 Off to the Black Hills

Today we headed off to the Black Hills.

The mandatory stop at Walmart was required today. Took a couple of hours but should be set for a few days at least.

Our host of the last couple of days, Don, has a relative who works at a KOA just a few miles from Mt Rushmore, so we were able to get into that camp ground. Palmer Gulch KOA is a top notch camp ground with all the amenities one might expect, a pool, volley ball, bounce pillow for the kids, splash pool, horseback riding, water slide, restaurant with a bar. Didn’t have nearly enough days there to enjoy all the amenities.

Gave up on seeing any meteorites.