Blogs from Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, North America

Big day, today. We had Devil’s Tower on our agenda, but mid-day we decided to add Badlands as well. We left the hotel at 8:10 AM and 63 degrees. The weather was promising rain for a good part of the day. The skies were cloudy and we had a low ceiling hanging heavy over us all day long. The cows were lying down in the pastures and, according to my mother, that means rain is coming. It only took us a little over an hour to get to Devil’s Tower National Park. The scenery was familiar, with rolling green hills, cows and horses in pastures, and occasional faces of gray rock poking out at us along the side of the road. Miles before we got to the gate, we caught sight of the top of the ... read more

We pulled out of camp at 9:00 into an already warm morning at close to 80 degrees! By the way, concerning our report of the power outage last night—we did finally get some juice about five minutes before we would have decided to move on. John was especially glad because this was a “full hookup” night in preparation for dumping the sewer this morning. Those of you who don’t RV go ahead and gag. Those who do RV know that the process of unhooking water, electric and sewer just after going to the trouble to hook up to all three (especially when you are tired) and heading down the road another 20 miles would NOT be something that you would jump for joy over having to do! At any rate, power was restored and we were ... read more

Today was a very long and tiring day......but one of the best of my trip. On the way to see Mount Rushmore, I decided to visit the Badlands National Park. When I got off the freeway, I saw signs for the Minuteman Missile National Site. I decided to make another unplanned stop. In the visitors Center, they were previewing a new video that was going to be officially released this weekend. It explained all about the Minuteman program, it’s safeguards and the evnirment of the Cold War that generated the need for the missil system. The Bandlans was amazing. Besides striking geological deposits, it is one of the worlds largest fossil beds. Beautiful scenery and I’ve enclosed lots of pictures. Mount Rushmore was awe inspirin. Four great Presidents carved into a mountainside. Very impressive work. I ... read more

blog 08-26-17 Bison ! We woke to the fog shorouding the mountains and the air filled with mist that felt like droplets. So strange to see a desert climate in fog. We walked the dogs, and packed the fence, chairs and rug, secured every thing inside and proceeded to the dump area. I took some pictures while we waited our turn and Ginnie hooked up the car. I have not attempted to do the car yet, soon though. We were on the road and opted to go to Rapid City by way of the back roads. It was a 2 lane 60 mph road that was just a delight to drive. I had been wanting to see Bison for 2 days but they eluded us until this stretch of road. We rounded a bend and there ... read more

After having a light breakfast from the limited offerings at the hotel buffet, we checked out to start the drive northward again. A small coffee shop, Scooters Coffee, with drive through service across the street from the hotel looked open so we stopped there first and then gassed up at the convenience store on the same corner. The highway out of Scottsbluff was almost deserted. Driving along, I felt like the road was built just for me. We did encounter another one-lane construction zone with a pilot vehicle to lead the short string of cars and trucks safely through it. This time it took a little longer than it did yesterday to wait until it was safe to proceed. After that one spot though, the rest of the drive was easy. We saw lots of motorcycles ... read more