Custer State Park

Our list was very long, longer than most Christmas lists from very privileged kids; we had caves of crystals, all of the scenic roads, Sturgis, gold panning, and much, much more.  First off, since it was free, we decided to journey through Custer State Park; one of the perks of vacationing during the off-season, free activities that would normally charge an arm and leg.  They boasted seeing buffaloes, pronghorns, prairie dogs, mountain goats and possibly a mountain lion if you were lucky.

      

     We got lost on the way to the park, it just couldn’t all be going our way for too long. For some reason I just couldn’t read the map correctly and Hwy 16 and Hwy 16A really confused my brain. We did one huge very scenic loop all around the area we were trying to get to, burnt through a lot of fuel; but luckily we were in the 4 cylinder Ranger so it wasn’t too bad. To weigh the views we saw with the fuel we wasted, well that made the waste not seem so bad. We drove through one of the tunnels carved into the Black Hills mountain, there were several along the scenic routes.

     

     After going the wrong way on the right road, a few times I might add, we were both very exasperated and irritated.  We pulled over and asked for directions, something neither of us wanted to do as we prided ourselves on our abilities to land in a city with only a map and a phone book (for the addresses and road names) and NOT get lost; but here we were, confused and turned around within a few miles of where we needed to be, asking for directions. Come to find out we had missed our exit on this highway carved into the mountains; we were on the right path again.

     

     It didn’t take long to arrive at Custer State Park, was a beautiful ride winding through the Black Hills of South Dakota. We were thru the gates to the park and enjoying the lay of the land when we spotted a path into the woods, along a dry creek bed.  We quickly got out, grabbed our packs, a hiking stick and started out down the trail.  Knowing we were in mountain lion country, we knew to keep the lil one in between us and to get back before dusk; when they were known to roam, hunt and be active.  About ¼ mile down the path, the hubby graciously reminded me what time of the month it was and I quickly thought about being mistaken for an animal in heat and ravaged to death by hooves or teeth; it was spring and breeding season for some after all.  Only but a few seconds later did we decide that we didn’t have enough bullets and that maybe it would be better to venture out of the truck in a few more days.

      

     Back in the truck and back on the more traveled path of roadways, we started seeing buffaloes right off.  The lil one really enjoyed counting how many we could see and how many calves there were. We knew to give them their space, we were on their turf, wandering thru their homes after all.  There were numerous pictures taken of the herd as we had to wait for several to cross the road; it is never a good idea to try to rush an animal that is all muscle and can turn your small truck over if need be.

     

     Soon we were at a crossroads, we took another wrong turn here, but in the process saw some new animals that we had never seen before; later on we found out these were pronghorns.  These I would take the chance to get out of the truck, hanging out the window at times to get pictures; they blended so well with the prairie grass, they were almost invisible. A quick turn around and we were venturing farther into Custer State Park, exciting to see some of the many other residents who called it home.

      

     We were looking on every mountaintop for the mountain goats, around every corner for more buffalo and especially those cute little prairie dogs.  We happened across the Ranger’s station first and had to run inside for a map of the park and to see which was the best route to go to see the critters we were looking for.  We met some Yankee folks outside and were talking to them about the prairie dogs. They mentioned that they had seen some weird looking chipmunks down this one particular road; they said they must grow differently over here in the west than in the east.  We got a good laugh when we realized they were probably thinking the prairie dogs were the weird chipmunks that grow different in this neck of the woods. Out of curiosity we went down the same road they had, and sure enough there was a colony of prairie dogs out playing for us to enjoy.

     

     We enjoyed the rest of Custer State Park and all the residents out for visits, on my list of to-see animals is still the ever elusive mountain lion; to this day I have to see one that isn’t stuffed and mounted, although thinking about it; if I ever do see one it may just be the very last animal I ever personally see alive.  Soon it was on to the rest of our list of places to visit, we still had Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore to see.

Until next time….

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

A Short Hop and Skip Away

     With less than 60 miles to go to our destination, we were ready for this leg of the journey to finally be over; we had after all been on the road for more than a week.  I knew that once we landed in Rapid City we could spread out, relax and enjoy some down time together before daddy had to go back to work. There was a list of sights to see and things to do, and this list was growing with all the billboards of local attractions that I hadn’t found in my research of the area. This would of course all be determined by the work that was to be found in the area, if you haven’t learned this about us yet, it is that I target the free family friendly activities. This way of life allows us to do more as a family together and enjoy more of the simple things in life.

      

     This last leg was slow going as we were still steadily climbing higher in elevation with every hill that we crawled over.  Ol’Blue just wasn’t used to the higher altitude and less oxygen just yet, but she pushed forward like the workhorse we know she is.  The best sight we saw during these short 60 miles were the edge of the Badlands, oh how I would have loved to have been able to drive through those and enjoy that ruggedness on the edge of the prairie, but that would have to wait, we had other plans for this day.

     

     While researching the area for campgrounds that were centrally located to where the hubby may possibly be working I found one with a wonderful view of Rapid City.  What I didn’t know was the route to get to this particular RV Park perched upon a very steep and high hillside.  The hubby managed to get the rig through downtown without bouncing it off a telephone pole or street sign on those narrow and congested streets. We were going good, hitting all the lights on green. Looking ahead there was a huge hillside with a very steep grade to go up, and only a traffic light between us and this said hill. While trying to get the momentum up to make it up the hill, we watched the light cycle from green to yellow and to red; losing every bit of the force we had to help get our huge rig up the hill.  As the light turned we slowly trudged up the steep grade, crawling at only about 5mph, up, up and up.

      

     Finally, we could see the top, luckily the RV Park was ¾ of the way up this hill, and we didn’t have to crawl all the way to the top. Turning into the park I started rethinking the wonderful view. You see, in order to have this spectacular sight outside of every window that seemed like you were perched on the edge of a cliff, you actually had to carve a flat perch out of the steep hillside; it felt as if there were a strong wind you would topple down the hill like dominoes with stopping point in sight.

      

   

yeppers, I could see a wind blowing hard enough

to roll us right down this hill into those trees.

     The first site we parked in was close to the office and all of the traffic, the only problem was backing the rig up a small incline into this site.  We dumped all the transmission fluid once again; you’d have thought we’d learned our lesson in Bear Creek, AL while attempting the same feat. After refilling the fluids we could finally get backed in and set up, ready to rest for a bit and enjoy this magnificent view laid out all around us.

      

                 believe it or not but there were actually 5-7 sites below us,

                              if they were parked there, you'd see their rooftops,

                                    pretty steep hill to carve an RV Park into

     It was time to plan out our weekend and be the tourists for a few days before getting serious again.  The lil one had acquired a habit of looking at all the brochure racks in each new city and state that we landed in, this is where we got a lot of our maps and information about the new area; talking to the locals helps a lot too. The front desk was helpful too; they informed us that the state and national parks were free for the next week; until their summer season kicked off.  It didn’t take much to decide where we were headed next. On our list to do was Custer State Park to see the buffalo, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore for the history and lessons to be learned there.  It was time to rest and relax with dinner and a movie and dream of the sights to be seen in the very near future.

Until next time….

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”

― Gustave Flaubert

Free Ice Water

After we pulled into the little town of Wall, SD,  got the rig parked, the dog walked and a light jacket tied  around our waists, just in case; we were ready to tackle this adventure. There are not too many stops that we make that are pure fun, but this particular one was. The lil one was jumping up and down for joy, ecstatic about the next amazing sight around the next corner; after the 80ft dinosaur you wouldn’t think that there would be much more, but you’d also be wrong. 

    

         It was like stepping thru a porthole in the time warp continuum.  We were transported back to the horse and buggy days of old; if not for all the modern day gas guzzlers parked down Main Street, you could easily imagine the sound of the very first automobile chugging down the street. There stood the huge now famous Wall Drug Store in all its glory, hard to imagine what had now become a city block of history and tourism started out as a small one room drug store with a curtain hanging to make room for living quarters; but it had. In the days of old, Wall was one of the first towns you would come to after traveling west across a scorching prairie. To draw in the customers, to a town of only 326 poor people in the middle of nowhere, they came up with one of the best ideas ever. They offered the weary and hot travelers free ice cold water; not sure if it would work or not.  Before they got all the signs up along the highway, they had an onslaught of customers; looking for free ice cold water and buying ice cream cones and such also. It was a brilliant idea, to this day they draw in twenty thousand people on any given day of the week.

      
     Our first stop was in the old pharmacy, this was truly like walking thru time. The walls were filled with what you would’ve have seen in the 30’s when they first opened. Every kind of medicine in its original packaging was truly neat to look at, the lil one loved the rows and rows of candy bins to scoop out and weigh.  We picked up our free bumper sticker and a map, it was amazing at how it had grown from this one room to a city block of treasures to admire and explore.

      
     Next on our list was to try a buffalo burger, amazingly they were a lot cheaper than you would expect in a tourist trap such as this.  I think all three of us ate for under $20, considering where we’ve been and some of the prices we’ve paid, this was cheap as dirt.  While enjoying our burgers we also enjoyed the artwork and old firearms hung on every available space of wall.  In the center of the room, dotted among the tables were larger than life wood carvings of a few of the pioneers and heroes of the old west; there were all the great Indian Chiefs in one room and the cowboys we’ve all read about growing up in another.

      
     

       Once lunch was over it was time to venture outdoors to see all the photo ops associated with South Dakota.  We ran from one to the other like little kids in a candy store. There were wood cutouts to make it look like you were in a teepee, an old wagon you could ‘drive’, a jackelope to ride, a miniature Mount Rushmore; the list goes on and on, just inside the door there was even a roaring T-Rex to get a picture with.

      

     
     Being the off season for tourists in these parts for a few more weeks the gold mining attraction wasn’t up and running just yet.  The shooting gallery was however taking as many quarters as you could feed it.  It seemed that around every corner and in every room there was something completely different to explore but also all of it was tied to the western days of past; it was truly a treasure hunt for the lil one to see what could be learned around the next bend.

      

     We spent hours inside all these buildings linked together to form a city block of pure family enjoyment.  The lil one loved all of the souvenir and gift shops, wanting to get a whole outfit to look like someone from the Wild West; but after seeing how much all of this would cost, we all decided we would save those dollars and enjoy doing more things together as a family.  Soon we remembered to look at the time and realized it was time to leave this little oasis in the middle of nowhere and get back to our rig and dog that misses us terribly when we’re not in his sight.  It wasn’t long before we were loaded up and ready to hit the road again, headed west towards Rapid City and the Black Hills.

Until next time……

     

You realize when you travel how truly isolated some places are, and how different they are from each other.

John Geary

Rolling Hills of I90

     After 1600 miles from our starting point in Florida, we were ready to tackle the last 350 miles and land in our vacation spot of Rapid City, SD for the rest of the summer.  This leg of the journey turned out to be a beautiful ride with rolling hills of prairie grasses, baled hay, and many horses and cows.  We had anticipated it to be a long drawn out ride from the East side of South Dakota to the very West side, especially after all the days we had already been on the road.

     We were absolutely positively right!!  During those very long 350 miles of barren road the lil one and I started making up games with the road signs.  Of course, they were all variations of ‘I Spy’ in one way or another.  I’ll tell ya, you can get to know someone when you go on a road trip with them; but if you want to REALLY get to know them, go on a VERY LONG road trip with them.  Don’t get me wrong, I knew my lil one to a tee, but our lil one doesn’t know how our lives were growing up; you should see the eyes light up and the smile we get.  We hear “Really?” quiet often as we tell stories of our childhoods.

     This seemed to go on for hours, there were only so many times you could listen to your favorite cd’s and belt out the parts that we knew without a care in the world.  Zooming along America’s Interstates with the wind in your hair, the sun on your face and one of your most favorite people on the Earth riding along by your side; headed to a whole new adventure for the summer; life couldn’t get any sweeter.

     We were going along at a pretty good speed and all of a sudden we would hit a slow incline that seemed to go up and up forever.  These rolling hills were a pain, ol’Blue didn’t like this one bit; we would go from 65 mph to 40 mph in a heartbeat.  Our mantra became “Slow and Steady, Slow and Steady”; after a while “Oh great! Another one!” became the lil one’s favorite reply to the steep hills we were climbing.  I personally can’t tell you how many times I prayed that day, hoping one of the 18 or 4 wheelers wouldn’t ram right into my tailpipe when we were forced to slow for the steeper grades, but we survived and ol’Blue was a trooper.

"Gas now, Or gas can later."

     We learned that gas stations were very few and very far between.  If we were on our second tank and came across a gas station, we were stopping and topping off, no matter what.  You just never knew exactly how far and how many long slow diesel burning hills there were between you and the next truck stop. 

     It wasn’t too long before we started seeing signs for Wall Drug.  I don’t mean every 100 miles you see a sign, I mean every 3-5 miles you see a sign.  I only wish I had taken more pictures of the signs.  We could tell when we were getting closer; it was like all the signs for Disney when we turned onto Epcot Center Dr., if you can imagine that.  Only about a 100 more miles to go and we would be there, to Wall Drug that is; we still had a ways to go before landing in the Black Hills.

         

     Soon enough, there was an 80 ft. dinosaur sticking his head over the very distant horizon.  It didn’t take long before the exit in front of the giant green 80 ft. brachiosaurus came into view and the lil one’s eyes lit up again; we were getting good at getting this reaction. 

     We had landed at Wall Drug, one of the many unplanned, unexpected stops that almost always go along with road trips.  They had RV parking; it was cool enough to leave the dog in the fifth wheel and go enjoy lunch and just being a tourist for a few hours.  I was looking forward to stretching the legs and filling our bellies, not to mention pump a little bit more knowledge into the lil one’s brain.

Until next time....

Sticking Our Toes in the Falls

Sticking Our Toes in the Falls

     After a short trip through Sioux Falls we arrived at the waterfalls the town is known and named for.  We pulled up to a beautiful park with rolling lush green hills leading down to the river, everywhere in the park were huge outcroppings of rocks.  There were walking and biking paths all over the park.  It just so happened that the time of year that we visited Falls Park, the water level was really low; not surprising after a record drought the year before.

      

     After a look around this massive, beautiful park, we quickly decided to make our way to the river’s edge.  Knowing we may not be back in this area for years, I just had to get pictures of the lil one sticking the feets in the cold, chilly waters of Sioux Falls.  With the water levels down it wasn’t hard to hopscotch across the individual falls to explore all the pools created.

      

     After exploring every one of the Falls that we could easily get to, we began the hike around the park to see what else it had to offer.  Across the river, there was an old hydraulic plant turned café, being the off season for tourist, it was closed.  Just next to this was the Queen Bee Mill, long ago closed, but a beautiful structure in itself.

     

     Our next stop in the park was the five story viewing tower and visitor center, as we glanced around we saw a busload of kids running toward the entrance. Me being me, I quickly closed the elevator doors to beat them to the top, there was no way I was going to be locked in an elevator with 10 screaming kids that weren’t ours.  Upon exiting the elevator we were met with a 360˚ view of Falls Park that was absolutely breathtaking.  Imagine gentle rolling slopes with the greenest grass, a few beautiful rocks placed here and there; not to mention the meandering Big Sioux River cascading over multiple waterfalls.  In my eyes it is one of many gorgeous sites placed here by our Creator.

     

     We went back down by the stairs this time, the lil one’s choice, and stopped in at the gift shop.  If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for a clearance rack; and they had one!  The lil one and I both found souvenirs, a stuffed husky pup and a Sioux Falls T-shirt.  After talking with the sweet ladies running the shop we found out that they offered a free trolley ride through downtown.  Free!! Yep we were in line for that.

     

     The trolley driver was very knowledgeable about the town and area, we even got a history lesson as we waited, the lil one soaking up every word.  We only had a few minutes to wait and we were off on another adventure.  The ride was pleasant, a little bumpy; I’ve found that in the colder climates it is a lot harder to keep the roadways maintained. 

      

     They have bronze statues EVERYWHERE we’ve been, not really understanding why at the moment but they are neat to look at.  If you take the time to read each plaque attached you will actually learn a few things along the way.  There was even a building named after the lil one, had the first name we chose right on the side of the building; of course we had to point this out, boy did that bring out a smile.

     

     Before we knew it, it was time to get back to the fifth wheel and prepare our meal for the evening, take the dog out, showers and some quiet time.  Knowing that we may not be back for a few years I’m glad we got to see the highlights and stick our toes in Sioux Falls.  It turned out to be a very relaxing weekend before hitting the road again, this time headed from the east of SD to the west side of the state; Rapid City and the Black Hills being our next destination.

Until next time…..

A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.  ~Robert Orben

A Day in the Life of a Tourist

     After a very short 7 hours of blissful sleep (being a mommy I can always use more ZZZ’s), we were ready to pack a lunch and tackle the plans we had made for the day.  The first stop was the front office to get a complimentary city map of Sioux Falls to see what all may be along the way to add to our list of things to do and see.  Lunch and drinks in the cooler, dog taken for a walk and we were loaded up and looking for new adventures.

We made it to the Zoo pretty easy; Sioux Falls was not too hard to navigate, not as big as some cities we’ve been in but not as small as some of our favorite towns either.  The lil one was super excited, we were about to add another zoo to our list of the zoos around the country that we have visited, we’re secretly trying to see them ALL! 

     Once inside the gates the very first attraction to greet us was a walk-around museum of extinct animals with podiums of knowledge, where we could hear what they used to sound like. The lil one really enjoyed this part but was also very sad that man had taken so much of Mother Earth that we had hunted and driven these species to extinction, as I’ve said before, every step we take in life there is a lesson behind it.  We have accomplished one of our goals, instilling a love and respect of animals, Mother Earth and life for every soul, be it homosapien or any other species on our planet.  Unless it is to be eaten it is NOT to be killed; unless for protection, of course.

     We quickly went through the flamingos, alligators, lions, tigers and bears, as we had seen them on a weekly basis while living in Florida in sticks and bricks.  They were working on several exhibits while we were there, never fails it is always our favorite animal enclosures that are being worked on, like the monkeys.  We did get to see a huge Galapagos turtle, something Jacksonville didn’t have.  The wild dogs, bison and pronghorns were pretty neat, but we were also looking forward to seeing wild bison farther west.

one of the many many photo ops they had

     

     I would have to say that the favorite part of this particular zoo was the Hy-Vee Face-to-Face Farm.  In here we could buy feed to feed the goats, my favorite being the smaller pygmy goats.  We could crawl through a tunnel to a turtle dome and view them at ground level, all of this was very exciting for the lil one, all we had done previously was feed a giraffe and stingrays in Jax.  They even had a statue of a cow with utters to learn the art of milking a cow, of course we had to show the lil one how, as me and daddy grew up on farms. 

     They had a ton of other activities to do here, the thing is, we’ve already done most of these at other zoos so we are picky on what we spend our time seeing.  We tend to skip what we’ve already seen and head straight to the new sights to expand the ever-growing mind we created.  There was a mining sluice where you could buy a bag of dirt, wash it and see what gems you were left with; knowing we were going farther into gold country, we saved the money opting to do some real sluicing in a creek in the mountains.  What zoo wouldn’t be complete without the carrasoul, camel and train rides? Yep they had those too, but once again, we had already experienced those. 

     We saw all we could see here before heading to a picnic table to rest for a bit and refuel the bodies.  Soon we said goodbye to all the habitants of the Great Plains Zoo and were zooming down the road again on to the next attraction, Falls Park.

Until Next Time…..

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.  ~Seneca

Chocolate Delusions

     I had made reservations at a Jellystone Park, as these were the lil one’s favorite after staying at one in Texas on a weekend camping trip in a tent during the summer.  We were expecting to stay busy with all their activities the campground normally plans, for the busy travel season.  When making these plans we had visions of sitting in the hot tub, bouncing on the pillow, playing putt-putt, evening hayrides meeting the neighbors; and on special weekends zooming down a CHOCOLATE slip-n-slide, who wouldn’t love THAT?!?! 

     

     We couldn’t wait to get there and when we did, boy what a surprise it was. The date being 2 weeks prior to Memorial day never dawned on me until that moment.  Our being new to RV’ing is what I’ll blame this one on, you see Memorial Day is the day when most campgrounds kick off their Summer activities, and not a day earlier.  If you’re thinking ‘What could go wrong now?’, well thank you for paying attention and noticing that we very often seem to have some of the worst luck possible. 

      

    

      We pulled in and the first thing in our vision is of course the big Yogi Bear photo op statue with nothing but a drained pool that is being repaired behind it.  We looked around and the bouncing pillow was deflated, the golf course was closed, the hot tub was also drained; nothing like we have envisioned for our first weekend in South Dakota.  While getting checked in they did let us know that on request we could get the bouncing pillow blown up in a matter of minutes if the lil one wanted, that made the day a little brighter, but the hot tub was out of the question.

     

     It didn’t take too long to set up, knowing it was only going to be a weekend stay, I knew what needed to be unpacked and what we could live without.  My dream is to eventually get the whole rig down to only the things we can’t live without, and that is why I call it a dream, forever out of my reach.  Learning that the park was not operating at 100% we had to plan the day, actually plan the day; Yogi wouldn’t be hosting crafting hour and puppet shows this weekend to entertain the lil one.  Us being us, the tourists that we are, this wasn’t very hard to do.  The locals suggested going to Falls Park to see the waterfalls Sioux Falls is famous for, the Great Plains Zoo was close by, open, and it was a nice day outside; seems tomorrow was planned in a matter of minutes.

   

     After getting the dog walked and the bellies full, we settled in for the night.  Being that we were still in the ‘off-season’ the park was empty and very quiet, it made for very peaceful rest.  This is the double edged sword you walk choosing where to stay and what season to be there in.  For all the fun family activities, the squeals/screams of kids as they play well beyond dark around the blazing campfire as the parents move onto their liquid diet, you have to put up with people all around, all the time.  For the peace, quiet and solitude on the side of a lake with only 3 kids total in the whole campground that have bedtimes, you have to get off the beaten path, as the lil one’s parents like to do.  The parents just don’t always get their wish and we have to visit these tourist traps every now and then to keep the tranquility.

Until Next Time…..

When using a public campground, a tuba placed on your picnic table will keep the campsites on either side vacant.  ~Author Unknown