Travelling to Rapid City

My original plan was to travel to South Dakota on I-70 through west Kansas, however there was a storm system that was heading west so I decided to go north and try to get over the top of the system. There road out of Kansas was great, I went through Belleville, Kansas and couldn’t resist taking a picture of the welcome sign and including it here—couldn’t take a picture of the town because there really wasn’t one! We think Bellville, Texas is out in the country--we are urban by comparison.
My plan was to drive north into Nebraska and the west. Everything went well until I made the left turn and started west. I can’t figure why anyone lives in Nebraska! This year in particular they have had a lot of tornadoes. My normal driving day is about 300 miles; I managed to dodge both tornado systems because I drove about 450 miles that day, more out of fright than energy! I satisfied myself that I was beyond danger at a place called Ogallala (which sounded like a Xhosa name.) The next morning was cool but beautiful and I drove into Rapid City without any more worries.
The Escapees SOLOs rally started on Wednesday, June 4th but obviously I couldn’t make it for the start and had planned to get there on Saturday, but due to my LONG day was able to get there on Friday.
This group is a chapter of the Escapees RV association. All of the members are or were single when they joined the organization so it’s a comfortable environment for us all. The rally consists of a lot of social gatherings from “Mugs and Hugs” which is the open early morning coffee gatherings, group BBQ’s and shopping expeditions, and visits to local attractions. One of the events I really enjoyed was a Volksmarch up to the Crazy Horse Monument. This is a once a year opportunity, about 4 miles UP. It was absolutely fantastic and as you can see from my pictures the views were awesome. One of the other trips we went on was to Deadwood and Lead. I was there last year, but didn’t do the Tatanka Exhibit. Kevin Costner is very involved in the area and established this free exhibit. Tatanka is Sioux for Bison. The exhibit is wonderful. The word Sioux means “snake in the grass” or “slippery snake.” According to the interpreter there are three different “Sioux” tribes, she was of the Lakota tribe, they are peace lovers. It was fun to be going over some of the same ground I had visited alone with a group. Incidentally, for anyone who saw my Rapid City entry in 2007, there isn’t as much money around Wild Bill’s gravesite as there was!!! Do you think he’s still gambling???
It was an activity packed four days and I really enjoyed it so it was with some regret that I pulled out this morning. BUT I will be seeing Jayne, Kevin and the girls in a couple of days and I am really looking forward to that.

---

---