Blogs from Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota, United States, North America - page 6

July 25th, 2007 We have decided that we love the Black Hills, and if we knew it was here, we would have been here sooner. The rolling hills, the pine trees, the quaint towns make this a really cool place to visit. We are staying here until the 27th, then onto Cody Wyoming and then Yellowstone. We are staying at the Rafter J Bar resort. This has got to be one of the best campsites we have ever stayed at. Our friends Scott and Laura recommended this place and they were right! It is just beautiful, and the kids are enjoying roaming around, climbing and swimming. We went on a bike ride on the 100 mile trail right near our campsite. We biked into Hill City where Joe got his obligatory head shave for traveling. The ... read more

The last time I was at Mt. Rushmore a couple years ago, the sky was that lifeless light blue which looks white in pictures. My most hated kind of sky for photos. With my new Sony camera and some time when not working, I was determined to get a blue skied photo of Mt. Rushmore. This week, I was in Rapid City for close to two and a half days and it took me until the third day to finally get the pretty blue sky that I wanted. My first day in Rapid City, I arrived late in the evening so had the dull sky that I had on my previous trip. No go. The next day, I was in meetings all day and knew I wouldn't be able to break away until evening so planned ... read more

Denver CO to Hot Springs SDThe Echterlings We're on board RoVer (the agreed upon name for our RV). We came up with that name because it is a Coachman Motorhome (24ft) with a Dalmation on the outside, and we are "roving" around, and RV is in "rover". RoVer won out over "Big Blue". The RV rental people in Denver were very nice and thorough in our orientation, including a video which the kids watched too and my daughter keeps repeating directions to me from such as "Take it wide daddy" and "don't back-up without a spotter". It took us about three hours from when we picked it up, until we had all our stuff unpacked into it and we were on the road. Lisa got to drive it and said it was "fun" -- ok maybe ... read more

We haven't crossed the finish line yet, because we aren't home. But we have visited every destination on our itinerary with the exception of Zion which we traded for a couple of extra days in Sedona. Gladly. It's been almost three weeks. Elbow to Elbow. We haven't killed the kids or each other and they haven't run away with the circus. In fact, tonight, we're sitting about five miles from Mt Rushmore having seen both the national monument and the Crazy Horse Monument earlier this afternoon/evening. Early today, we did the Deadwood Museum and a Gold Mine, where the kids panned for gold. Mark popped the celebratory bottle of champagne after the kids went to bed guaranteeing trouble to come on the way home. The vacation is essentially over. All we have to do is ... read more

Winding our way up the Peter Norbeck Scenic Highway, Andras is the first to spot the monument in the distance. With our windows rolled down, we let the comforting scent of pine drift on in our way. The Black Hills appeared suddenly out of the grasslands as increasing precipitation supported the growth of more biomass, now in the form of douglas fir and ponderosa pine. Andras says it smells like home in eastern Washington; I can’t confirm his perception, but it sure smells fresh. As we careen through pig-tail bridges and switchbacks we slowly make our way closer. The sculpture is higher up than we expected. Even though we have an Interagency Pass we still have to pay the parking fee. Unlike the other national parks which charge admittance fees, Mt. Rushmore is operated through a ... read more