Little Bighorn, Montana

We took a back road from Devils Tower in Wyoming to the Little Bighorn Memorial in Montana. Wow - these are two big states. Both beautiful and filled with vast, unbroken vistas where occasionally you'll see an entrance for a ranch and maybe a few of the ranch building far off in the distance.

Our back road was an alternative to Interstate 90, which would have had us arrive in the same spot but without the twists and turns so common to old US routes. This was US 212 and it was a lot of fun. There were places on this route where the road stretched out in front of you for 30 miles, many time without any turns at all. Just occasionally it went up a small rise or gently dropped down from that same rise.

We arrived at Little Bighorn at 3 pm during the heat of the day. Easily 90 degrees in the shade with a warm, not cooling, wind blowing the whole time. Really something to see, this battlefield, especially after reading about the life and upbringing of both Custer and Crazy Horse that brought them to this particular piece of real estate at the same time. Both bent on the destruction of the other. Or rather, what the other stood for and represented. Two cultures at violent odds with each other, one of them poorly equipped for the battle. Although on that day in 1876, the native Americans defeated the US Army. Within a year the war was over and most were on a reservation.

In any case, it was special to be there and see where the battle occurred. The only battle that has been more research, analyzed, and written about was at Gettysburg, PA.

Afterwards we went a short distance to stay at the Hardin KOA campground. MLA had cooked meatballs in the crock pot while we drove down the road so we were able to grab a great dinner shortly after we arrived.

Then I went outside to do battle with the insects that tried to drill their bodies through the front of the RV. Not that they were successful unless you count leaving a huge mess on the front windshield and front of the RV. Took me about 45 minutes to clean them off the windshield and the front cap. The little buggers turn to concrete and require a lot of elbow grease to remove.

One of the other RVs had a Victory motorcycle parked out front. Specifically it was the Vision model, a very sleek and beautiful design. I had seen picture in the motorcycle magazines however I had not seen one in person. By the time I finished battling the bugs and walked over, the owner, Skip, had put the bike inside his toy hauler. When I asked about the bike he jumped up and took the bike out of the trailer so I could get a good look. I would have been quite happy just viewing the bike while it was inside the trailer but he insisted on pulling the bike outside.

What a beauty! He offered to let me take MLA for a ride on the bike however I think I'll wait until our next motorcycle event. Victory always has demo bikes available for you to test drive.

Skip was great to talk to and is a full timer like us. Originally from Missouri he is now a Texan. Great guy... Marine for 6 years, National Guard Reserves for another 25 years. This guy knows his way around a story that's for sure. You meet the best people while RVing.

Had a chance to take a few pictures just as the sun was setting. And then I had to jump in the RV as the mosquitoes attacked in force. Very small, hungry biting mosquitoes that leave you with a little something, something to remember them by....

See Ya!

Sturgis, South Dakota: We Did It; We are South Dakotans

Full timing in an RV presents an incredible opportunity to see the people, towns, and parks of the Americas. Incredibly beautiful landscapes and monuments, many with unspoiled beauty. It opens the doors to meeting a wide variety of interesting and usually genuinely nice people.

Full timing in an RV allows you the freedom to travel when ever & where ever you want (OK, Hawaii and any other islands are a bit of a stretch). It allows you to stay and enjoy an area as long as you want and/or can afford. Or move on quickly. Your choice.

Mostly, full-timing in an RV is all good.... except, and you knew there had to be an except... most government organizations and many businesses do not consider the special needs of full-timers.

How about getting your mail/packages delivered to a (mostly) moving target? Mail forwarding services exist however you must have a local address.

What about voting? Absentee ballots are the obvious answer however many state require you to live in them some number.

What about taxes? Paying for services you are not using does not make a lot of sense.
Registration of vehicles, insurance, banking, licenses/identification, etc. And the Patriot Act is making it tougher not easier to full time in an RV without some sort of fixed address.

Since we are selling our house (if the market ever improves...) we need to establish residency somewhere in the US that helps us handle all the issues I mentioned (and many more).

We've been looking at which state best meets our needs and narrowed it down to Florida, Texas, and South Dakota.

After a lot of evaluation we have decided to become South Dakota residents. Today, in Sturgis, SD, we took the first step. We now have South Dakota driver's licenses and a local bank account. The next step is to register our vehicles here and get the insurance transferred/re-quoted for South Dakota.

Then arrangements for voting. Lots to squeeze in as we continue to see the best parks and communities that America has to offer. At least the one's in our vicinity. No matter how long we spend in an area we are always amazed at two things: 1) how much there is to see and do in the areas we visit. 2) How much more we could have done in these areas before leaving.

Talk about a state with a lot of small towns. The DMV rotates which of the small towns it will be in on any given day. Wednesdays are Spearfish; Friday's are Sturgis. So we went to the Sturgis' Community Center and -- viola -- 10 minutes later we are South Dakota residents.

We love this state. It has a special beauty all it's own, especially the Black Hills. Throw in the long and varied history of the local native Americans, and you have an environment that cannot be duplicated. Of course, being full timers means we will not be spending much time anywhere, including SD. Especially during the winter. In fact we are planning to spend this winter (Jan -March/April) in Arizona; not sure exactly where just yet.

Of course, while we were in Sturgis we had to stop by and see the most famous (or rather infamous) campground that hosts all the big name entertainment as well as a variety of other non-professional entertainment acts (bikers).

Tomorrow we plan to leave the Devil's Tower area and head to Montana. I'm hoping to get to the Little Bighorn Memorial mid-day and then camp somewhere around Billings Montana Saturday night. Then we'll explore the Bear Tooth Mountains before heading into Yellowstone. That's the plan unless we see something else we would like to do..... awesome.

See Ya!

Devils Tower, Wyoming: Dale: Love's It; MLA: So - So

Today we went from the campground over to the Devil's Tower Visitor Center where we began our hike around Devils Tower. It is an amazing sight to see, even more so when you realize the top of this (80,000,000 ton) rock was once covered by over a half mile of earth. All of the earth was eroded over time by the two massive rivers that scoured the earth away leaving only the 'hard' rock standing; all the other 'soft' rock was worn away.

Course, it didn't happen overnight. It's hard to get your mind around how how long a million years is, yet alone 50 million years. That's a long time and a lot of water 'under the bridge' (just kidding, there was no bridge).


I'm not the only one to feel this is a special place. Some 22 different tribes of Native Americans felt this was a special and spiritual location. There is a history of people visiting this tower that goes back thousands of years. Many still leave prayer clothes tied to trees to honor this location.


Walking around the 3/4 mile hiking trail at it's base is pretty easy. The hard part is seeing where you are going since your eyes are continuously drawn upwards to look at the tower. Plus the rock climbers; we saw three teams of two climbers however I'm betting even more were there today. Of course the hardest part is dealing with how sore your neck gets from staring up at the tower for several hours.


Rock climbing here is a bit controversial. The Native Americans feel it is an insult to the sacredness of the location to have people climbing the tower. The tower had a history of being climbed when it was made a National Monument in the early 1900's (in fact it's the US's first National Monument).

Two men decided to climb the mountain in the late 1880's. They drove oak stakes into one of the cracks to form a ladder to the top. Then they went to all the towns within 100 miles of the tower a left posters inviting everyone to see this momentous occasion on July 4th of that year. No admission was charged however by some lucky coincidence they happened to have a lot of ice cold drinks and sandwiches available for sale during the event. Apparently they made a small fortune for all of their effort as they became the first men to climb the tower.

It worked so well that two years later the wife of one of the men did the same thing; she advertised the event as a chance to see the first women climb the tower. And she did so. Of course, there were plenty of sandwiches and cold drinks available that day as well.

Despite the Native Americans wishes that climbing be banned, the Park Service allows climbing because the tower had a history of being climbed prior to becoming a National Monument. The Park Service does ask the climbers to voluntarily avoid climbing in June due to various religious ceremonies and events.


So I told you how I feel the tower is a very special and spiritual place. Beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing.
How does Mary Lynn feel about Devils Tower?


MLA's assessment is: drive by, take a few pictures and then head on down the road to Yellowstone where some 'real' beauty awaits us. She let me know it was worth seeing from a distance but didn't think it was necessary to hike around the tower. And it certainly wasn't worth me taking over 50 pictures of the big rock tower.



Oh well, it was fun while it lasted...



See Ya!

Devil's Tower, Wyoming: Just Arrived

After an early start to get the RV to the service center this am and then a long day waiting for them to finish working on the RV, we finally headed off to Devil's Tower in Wyoming around 4 pm MST. Arrived two hours later and watched as the sun went down.

Pretty spectacular to see Devil's Tower as your are driving and realize you are still 20 miles away. Such a distinctive shape you would know it anywhere. At least if you've seen the move "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". It rises some 1267 feet into the air and it very impressive.

It is all that remains of an ancient volcano that had a lava 'lake' that did not erupt, the lava cooled, and over millions of years the volcano portion has been entirely eaten away due to erosion. All that's left if the solid 'cooled lava'.

In any case, the Devil's Tower KOA Campground shows the movie every evening at 9 pm for free. Kind of cool to be sitting in the (moon) shadow of Devil's Tower watching that great movie; especially since the tower itself is such a central part of the movie/mystery.

Tomorrow we hope to go exploring and get some better photos or at least from a closer/different perspective.

See Ya!

Custer, South Dakota: Custer's Gulch RV Park

Today was spent in and around Custer, SD getting ready for tomorrow's departure. Only going to Rapid City, about 90 minutes from here, where we have an appointment to have the RV serviced. If all goes well we hope to be in the Devil's Tower area by tomorrow evening.


We will be sorry to leave here. Custer's Gulch RV Park has been an excellent RV park, quiet and peaceful, plus it has a central location to the many activities in the Black Hills and Badlands. One of the entrances to Custer State Park, the largest state park in the US, is only 5 minutes from here although it stretches for many miles east, north and south.


To top it off, the managers/owners of Custer's Gulch are extremely nice and go out of their way to make you feel welcome. This is their first year as park owners and have been making upgrades here and there, not that much was needed. Again, one of the most relaxing parks we have stayed in over the last 8 months.


This afternoon we went into Custer to drop off a package at the post office and to take a tour of the 1881 Courthouse, which has been converted into a museum. Even though Custer has a population of only 1860 people today, during it's gold rush heyday it boasted a population of ~10,000. Then gold was discovered in the Spearfish Canyon about an hour from here and most of the population picked up and left.


Great museum covering town history, Black Hills history, Native American artifacts, mining and forestry exhibits and of course, the courthouse itself.


All in all, this area of South Dakota has been very good to us and we'll miss it; I know we'll be back.


See Ya!

Badlands, South Dakota: Our First Rattlesnake

Secretly, way down deep, Mary Lynn wanted to see a rattlesnake. Just not too close! I have said to her many times I wanted to see a rattlesnake so that I could capture it in a photo. She always said she didn't want to see one at all but I knew she secretly wanted to see one.

Well this evening we saw a rattlesnake and were ~ 3 feet away.

First let me tell you why we did not move today as scheduled. When we called to get service on the RV they said they could accommodate us late today or early Wednesday. Not knowing for sure if they could service the RV and if there would still be time to get to Devil's Tower in Wyoming today, we decided to stay here until Wednesday am. Then we'll take the RV in and after it's serviced, we head off to Devil's Tower, which is a very cool destination.

We planned to drive to Rapid City to take care of a couple of errands and then planned to head over to Badlands National Park. We knew we wanted to spend more time there since the other evening we only scratched the surface of this other worldly park. We timed it so we could accomplish our chores and get to the Badlands around 4 pm. Time to explore and to see another sunset in this strange alien environment.

Everything worked out as planned as we arrived at the park at exactly 4 pm MST. We saw a lot more of the park, stopping at most of the scenic overlooks. Around Cedar Pass there is a great overlook that has a loop you can hike to the top of a bluff and then circle around and back down to the parking area. Not too far in distance, just a lot of steps to climb up and then down 300 feet in elevation.

We hiked to the top and enjoyed the sunset, which was pretty good. Not spectacular but pretty good. We resolved to try and stop whatever we are doing when the sun sets and go out and enjoy the view whenever possible. We have been doing that a good bit however I would like to make that a regular daily event.

After watching the sunset and just sitting atop this bluff enjoying the immensity of the landscape and the tranquility of the evening we started back down to the parking area.

About halfway down MLA is walking in front of me and as she goes past a hilly section to her right I hear a faint rattle. She had just walked past this rattlesnake about 2 feet off the path. He was maybe 2 1/2 feet long and by counting the rattle section appears to have shed his skin ~10 times. Not as thick as some I've seen in pictures or the zoo.

Any way, I'm snapping pictures as quick as I can, trying to get a good shot in the fading light without getting too close.

Off course, by now MLA has come back, standing behind me as a screen, and she's shouting in my ear "Where is it?! Where is it!?".

Then he drops onto the path from the hill and is now plainly visible on the stone dust path plus he's shaking his rattle pretty good. MLA's now screaming (in no particular order) "You're too close", "Get a picture", "Get back, here he comes", "Get a picture", "Where did he go", etc.

Good thing the snake could not sense her excitement. He never really coiled up to strike; he just wanted to be left alone, which we did in pretty quick order. We were like a couple of kids; in fact we called our kids right away to share our excitement with them... too cool.

We drove to the town of Wall, which BTW is the home of Wall Drug, the drug store that advertises on billboards for hundreds of miles before you get to the town. As we sat at a diner for dinner we reviewed the pictures of the rattlesnake. Our waitress thought we were nuts however the people in the booths beside us thought it was pretty cool.

In any case, another great day in the Badlands of South Dakota. The Black Hills and Badlands area of South Dakota are not to be missed; do whatever you have to do to get here.

See Ya!

Custer State Park, South Dakota: Wildlife Loop

"Breaker 1-9! Breaker 1-9! We have a Bison Back-up on the South Dakota 16A. We need a whole lot of help cleaning up all of these cow patties! And send a change of clothes for the guy on the motorcycle...."

That's how I envisioned the call going out over the CB radio when we happened upon our first big herd of Bison. I mean there were Bison everywhere, including in the middle of the road we had to drive through. There were a couple of us stopped by all the Bison, everyone in cars except for MLA and I, who are on the Harley. Some cars tried to squeeze their way through but most just waited until a gap appeared, and then moved up a few feet and then waited for the next gap.

Wait a minute, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning...

We are finally going to do this. After two other attempts to drive the entire Wildlife Loop through Custer State Park, this time we were going to do it no matter what. No matter that the weather looked like it would storm at any moment. No matter we would be gone at least 2 hours to make the loop after allowances for stopping a few times at scenic overlooks and/or to view the wildlife. After all, it's the wildlife loop, you have to allow for some time to actually stop and enjoy the wildlife. So, we took off on the motorcycle, bound and determined to complete the ride this time.

It takes about 20 minutes to get to beginning of the wildlife loop in Custer State Park from our campground. At last we turned east onto the highly anticipated road that we had been waiting to ride all week. We went around the first corner.... nothing. And then the next corner... nothing. For 5 miles, corner after corner, nothing.

And then out of nowhere, there's a large Bison herd spread through a valley, in about equal numbers on each side of the road, the very same road and herd I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

First you are hit by how large these animals are, especially the head. Then you notice the horns, looking pretty big and mighty sharp. Then you notice the attitude... and we're not talking about a good attitude. These Bison seem to be just a bit peeved... as if they know you are the direct descendants of the people who just about put this animal into extinction. Conservative estimates of the Bison population during the 1800's are in the ten's of millions of bison. Some estimate the Bison existed in quantities measured in the 100's of millions.

Whatever the number, there were a lot of them and now there are not that many. And the Bison look at you as if they know how to hold a grudge. A lot of people in cars were mighty nervous trying to drive through this relatively small herd of about 200 bison. I know I was feeling pretty vulnerable. I mean, here are people enclosed in 3000 pounds of steel and they are nervous.

MLA and I are basically sitting on top of a hard to balance, noisy motorcycle, painted, you got it, painted bright red. Normally I love the color of my bike but today I was thinking a plain brown would have been the perfect. Several times when I had to go by a Bison in the middle of the road I cut my engine and tried to drift quietly by him before he knew I was there. Would have been way more effective if MLA hadn't been shouting about how beautiful they were, yelling about how big they were, and then screaming just a wee bit louder about how close they were to us. Yikes.

It took us a good 15 minutes to go about 1/2 a mile down the road and through the Bison herd. Once we were through I realized my shirt was drenched.

After that excitement we went through two more herds however they were mostly in the fields; only a few walked down the middle of the road as if to say "this is my road".

To celebrate we stopped at the Game Lodge for dinner. This is the same lodge the President Calvin Coolidge visited during his presidency. He came for three weeks and ended up staying three months. They call the lodge the "Summer White House".

He extended his stay because he was learning to fish and was getting better every day. He didn't know the Park Service was stocking the streams and lakes every evening. Nor did he know they hung chicken heads along the banks of the streams he would be fishing. Would have been pretty hard not to catch fish with all of that help. They still laugh about that little event.

Anyway, the food was great; I had the fish. Just couldn't bring myself to eat the Bison steak knowing I had to drive by a few more Bison on the way home. Didn't want any on them to smell Bison on my breath....

See Ya!

Needles Highway & Sylvan Lake, South Dakota: Mountain Lion Country

This morning we spent time in the little town of Custer, SD (Population 1860), enjoying a meal and all of the small shops that line main street, which is Mt Rushmore Road. Took Mary Lynn to the Furs, Antlers, and Hides shop today.


I know, I know, last night I referred to the store as the "Furs, Antlers, and Bones" store, even after MLA told me to substitute the word Hides for the word Bones in the shop's name.

Convinced I was right, I kept the store name in the blog as "Furs, Antlers, and Bones". Today I even tried to bribe the owner with $20 to change the name from Hides to Bones however he refused. Even when I pointed out his shop's name was redundant he still refused to change the name so I have to admit I was wrong; the name of the shop we saw yesterday and entered this am is "Furs, Antlers, and Hides". MLA was correct (this time).


Interesting assortment of goods carried by this shop, including mounted heads from various animals in the area, and some not in the area: Elk, Bison, Deer, Antelope, Bear, Rabbit, Wolves, Mountain Lions, etc. It seem everyone has to have at least one stuffed/mounted animal head on there wall out here. Not cheap either. The Bison were between $2000 and $3500; Elk between $1750 & $3000, etc.


The only mounted/stuffed head in the store that I could afford and had space for in the RV was a rattlesnake head, for only $5. I thought the rattlesnake head (you could get the skin, rattle attached, for only a few dollars more) would have looked good hanging on the wall over our dining table but the boss put a stop to that way of thinking right away.

MLA told me in no uncertain terms she was not going to eat her meals with a snake head poised ready to strike. I thought it might encourage us to spend less time at the table. She said it would encourage her to spend less time with me so I immediately saw the wisdom of her thinking.


After exploring town we road the motorcycle out Needles Highway, part of which is in Custer State Park. There are so many great roads around here and the motorcycle is the perfect way to enjoy the roads and the weather.

We did see one of those Mercedes Benz Smart Cars while taking pictures of the tunnel near the Eye of the Needle. Turns out the owners of the Smart Car (license tag: Smart e) are fellow RVers. The have a small garage in their motorhome where they park this car. It is only 8 feet long so you can park it in the width of their RV. Too cool.


The other day, the ranger at the top of Mt Coolidge asked us to close the gate at the bottom of the mountain when we left. She said it was about a mile walk and she wouldn't do it after dark since there were mountain lions around. She seemed very serious about not walking after dark.


So tonight, after dinner, I walked the trash down to a bear proof container at the office, about 1/3 of a mile away. It was pitch black out. As I walked past an especially dark part of the forest I heard a lot of movement in the woods and some kind of animal noise that sounded like a snarl. Not being an expert on animal snarls I couldn't tell what kind of animal was in the woods, but just to be safe I decided to whistle the rest of the way to the store. Don't ask me why I thought whistling was a effective mountain lion deterrent; it just seemed appropriate at the time. You let me know what action you take when you hear a large snarl in the woods.


Not to mention I was ready to smack anything that moved with the bag of garbage I was carrying. Of course I couldn't help thinking I should have bought the Glad trash bags at the store. I mean, could I really expect the cheap store brands to hold up during a mountain lion attack. What had I been thinking? Now I was going to die because I wanted to save 2.1 cents/bag on trash bags.


At the office I bought a bag of ice and asked the owners if they ever had a problem with mountain lions. They said the mountain lions were no problem at all, and promptly handed me a pamphlet titled "Staying Safe In Lion Country". Not very reassuring. Especially considering they had a huge pile of the pamphlets right beside the desk.


Anyway, when you read the pamphlet ( yes I read it cover to cover) it tells you the odds of being killed by a mountain lion (also known as cougars, pumas, panthers, and catamounts) is .1 per year in North America. That's one death every ten years from a lion attack. Turns out that annual death rate is pretty low compared to 3 per year for black widow spiders, 12 for rattlesnakes, 20 for domestic dogs (Dobbie I've got my eye of you!), 40 for bee stings and 80 for lightning. Pretty low odds indeed.


However when I asked to see the pamphlet for lightning, they don't have one. Nor for bee stings, or domestic dogs, or rattlesnakes, or black widow spiders. Sounds just a little suspicious that they just happened to have a huge pile of the "Staying Safe In Lion Country" pamphlets right at hand when the risk is so low. Hmmm.


Coming to you from a well lit up RV with all the doors & windows locked.... See Ya!

Deadwood, SD & Badlands, SD

We drove over to Deadwood, South Dakota after hearing about it being a small historic town with re-enactments of several famous events.

Originally Deadwood, SD was a lawless town next to one of the richest gold mining areas in the Black Hills. It's sole purpose in life was to separate the newly found gold from the miners as quickly and easily as possible.

Lots of saloons, gambling halls, and gentleman's establishments filled with ladies of the evening, sometimes referred to as 'tainted doves'. Reportedly the ratio of men to women was 50 men for every 1 women. If these methods of taking money/gold from the miners didn't work there was always the more crass methods of thuggery & thievery.

As usual, the people who got rich from all of the Black Hills Gold were the people providing goods and services to the miners, not the miners themselves. The two brothers who found one of the initial deposits and literally started the gold rush, staked a claim and removed several thousand dollars of gold from their mine. Eventually they sold their claim to one William Randolph Hearst. Little did the two brothers know that mine would go on for another 150 years, producing 10% of all the gold found in the black Hills. Ouch!

Anyway, after a beautiful drive to Deadwood, about an hour North of here, we arrived to find the place mobbed with people. Loud, noisy, impatient people, all looking for basically non-existent parking. There was a free concert being held and all the re-enactments had all been cancelled (actually they said postponed) until early next week. Wanting neither the crowds or the hassles of fighting all those people, we skedaddled.

We drove through Sturgis, SD, which is empty now that the biker rally is over for this year. Actually is has a permanent population of ~6,000 people however after hosting 300,000+ bikers, 6,000 qualifies as empty....

We drove through Rapid City rapidly (sorry about the pun but it was quick) and proceeded to the Badlands National Park. I wanted to arrive in late afternoon to get the best light for pictures and avoid some of the heat.

The landscape truly looks other-worldly. Some say it looks like the surface of the moon... having not been to the moon I couldn't say but is does look unlike anything else I've seen on earth. Mile after mile of highly eroded earth.

There are lots of warning about watching out for rattlesnakes which apparently think the Badlands are the perfect place to call home. To avoid the heat of the sun they hide in rock crevices and in the tall grass. As everything in the park is either a rock crevice or tall grass, you don't see too many people wandering off the designated trail.

I know MLA and I not only stayed on the trail, we stayed rigidly in the middle of the trail and kept at least one eye on the path at our feet. They say you'll hear the rattle before a rattlesnake strikes however it would be my luck to encounter one whose rattle was on the blink for some reason.

In any case, we neither tripped over or saw any rattlesnakes and we did see the Badlands in all their spectacular glory.

See Ya!

Custer, South Dakota: Tucked Into The Shadow Of Custer Mountain

We spent another glorious day tucked into the shadow of Custer Mountain today. Highs in the mid 80's and low humidity. Nice breeze blowing all day that made it seem cooler than it really was which just added to the comfort of the day.

Hung MLA's hammock however the tree's are so far apart the stretch of the rope allows the hammock to swing too low. MLA has her eye on one of those hammocks that folds up into a small package/bag, much like folding chairs. They are not quite as comfortable as the 'real' hammocks however they are extremely portable and work just about anywhere. Not to mention they set up in seconds -- perfect for my shortened attention span.

Drove into town on the motorcycle -- the roads around here are perfect for motorcycles hence the success of the annual Sturgis event held about 30 miles from here. So much great riding in the Black Hills.

BTW - The Black Hills get their name from the huge forests of pine which cover the hills, attaching themselves where ever and when ever there is the slightest chance of survival, sometimes growing out of mere cracks in the rocks.

The shadows on the tree's, the bark and on the hills themselves give the forest a rich dark color that really does look black from a distance. It's when you get closer you realize the pine forests are causing these 'black' color on the hills. Beautiful regardless of whether you are far away or up close.

Found the National Museum of Wood Carving that looks interesting and I will try to visit soon. MLA saw some shopping in town she interested in, including a "Fur, Antler & Bones" shop. No telling what she might come out with from that store...

This evening we took another ride on the bike and saw even more wildlife; wild anaimals seem to be everywhere. Here in camp we have a deer with two fawns plus several families of turkeys that wander in and out of the woods/tall grass.

The camp itself is surrounded by the Black Hills National Forest on three sides; the forth side shares a boundary with the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve. MLA could not have found a better campground than Custer's Gulch.

What, you ask, is a "Gulch"? I was curious about that myself. Webster's defines it as "a small steep valley that usually contains a stream". See, who says you quit learning after retirement.

See Ya!

Mt Rushmore, South Dakota: Resolve Carved In Stone

Our great nephew, Chance is 4 years old and is studying the Badlands, the Rocky Mountains and Yellowstone in school. Mary Lynn sent him some material yesterday that we had picked up in Rocky Mountain National Park and he has been following our travels via the blog.

Just like MLA, his favorite great aunt, he especially enjoys pictures of the wildlife we are seeing as we travel. So we are including some of the wildlife photo's taken during today's travels through Mt Rushmore and the Black Hills area of South Dakota.

I wish you could see how excited MLA gets whenever we spot some animal that we have not seen before. Heck, that's not entirely true. She still gets excited whenever we see a wild animal, even if we've seen it before.

Well, today we were able to cross a few additional species from our wildlife target list, including the much anticipated and much desired Bison. Not a Buffalo. A Bison. Buffalo are in Africa. Bison are in North America.

Early travellers referred to the huge herds of Bison as Buffalo and the name stuck however, if you want to be correct (and who doesn't), they are Bison. Bison are generally much bigger, with a huge head and a large hump on their back. Bison are magnificent animals; Buffalo are poor substitutes for Bison.

We also saw Prong Horn Antelope, Bison, Mountain Goats, Bison, Bison, wild Donkeys, Bison, Deer, Bison, Chipmunks, Bison, & Turkeys. And oh, did I mention we saw Bison?

Mt Rushmore is a special place and you cannot help but feel a sense of pride about America and some of her most memorable leaders. Not super humans as we sometimes think of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abe Lincoln. All humans with tremendous courage, vision, perseverance and resolve.Humans, just like you or I, who when faced with huge obstacles and challenges, resolved to see it through until the vision they had for our country was made to happen.

Washington, who overcame tremendous birthing issues for our nation, a prime example being the difficulties at Valley Forge when many another man would have given up and gone home.

Jefferson who had a vision of this country spanning ocean to ocean, and he made it happen with the Louisiana Purchase (good thing he did, my French sucks) and the explorations he funded such as Lewis & Clark. Not the only exploration, simply the most well known and famous.

Roosevelt, who first had to overcome tremendous physical challenges and poor health, especially asthma. He also had to overcome tremendous wealth. Just kidding although many a rich person failed to live up to their full potential because everything was given to them.

And Lincoln, a man who had failed more times at business, at politics, at education than you could count, and yet he persevered to become one of our most treasured and respected Presidents.

Talk about resolve. How about the resolve of Gutzon Borglum, the man who made Mt Rushmore happen? He kept at it when no one else thought it possible. Against all odds: against local & Federal governments, against monetary challenges, against political battles, and against nature itself. He persevered. Wow! Is this country great or what?

Makes you ask yourself a tough question or two:

Have I given up on my vision just because the going got tough? Have I persevered when I knew it was the right thing to do?

Well, I leave you to think about that. It's an open book test and the answers are completely private. Only you will know the answer for sure.... I'll never ask. I have a hard enough time answering those questions for myself.

Chance, enjoy the wildlife pictures.
We love you all!

See Ya!

Custer State Park, SD:

What incredibly beautiful weather. It's cool at night so we sleep with the windows open. Very refreshing to breath the cool fresh air as well as be able to look outside when you wake up in the middle of the night.

Oh yeah, as I enjoyed the view out my bedroom window, the entire area behind my RV was lit up so brightly, I thought one of my neighbors had his outside light on for some reason. When I got up to investigate and looked outside, I felt just a little foolish when I realized that the full moon was so bright everything was illuminated and visible.

This morning the great weather continued. The air simply warmed up and since there is no humidity, instant beautiful day. Most RV parks do not allow you to wash your RV so I did the next best thing: I gave it a sponge bath. Simply dip a sponge in a bucket of clear water, wash the lower part of the RV (where most all of the dirt is) and dry with your chamois. Did my motorcycle first and then the RV. The motorcycle looks great and the RV is sparkling like a diamond, at least the front and right side. Had to do the front first to get all the bugs that are accumulated as you drive. Tomorrow I'll do the left side and rear cap.



This afternoon we drove the motorcycle into Custer State Park, about 5 minutes away. Park attendant tells me that the charge is $10 and the pass is good for a week. Sounds great so we buy the pass. I then tell him I'll be coming back in the moring to get some wildlife photos. He tells me "You'll have to buy a different pass for the car".

Craziest thing I've heard in a while. I mean, it's not like my motorcycle will go for a drive in the State Park while I'm driving the car through the park. I know it's only $10 but its the principle of the thing. I used to get very frustrated by ridiculous bureaucratic nonsense; now that I'm retired I (usually) shake my head and laugh.

We drove about 1 mile up a dirt road to the top of Mt Coolidge; from there you could see forever, including the following sights: Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt Rushmore (more correctly George Washington's profile, the Badlands (about 80 miles away; day trip!), and a huge portion of the Black Hills.



Afterwards we resumed our trip on the wildlife loop and we found a great little lodge where we had dinner. It was a log cabin lodge built in the 1920's and it looked almost new. Great design and very well kept. I know we'll go back since it's on the wildlife loop where you have the best chance of seeing deer, buffalo, eagles, etc. There are also mountain lions here however I'm told you rarely if ever see one of those; they stay pretty well hidden. Just as well with me...


On the way home we stopped at the Gordon Stockade. This area was a part of the original Sioux Reservation: ~ 1/2 of South Dakota, 1/4 of North Dakota, 1/4 of Wyoming, 1/6 of Montana, and most of Nebraska. A huge area reserved just for the Native Americans in this part of the West. Then gold was discovered in the Black Hills and the treaty was renegotiated. Renegotiated isn't the right word since the Native Americans had no part in the process. The original agreement was simply re-written and congress eventually approved.



Anyhow... the Gordon Stockade was built by one of the first groups of gold seekers, to protect themselves from some very upset Indians. The stockade was 40 feet by 40 feet and had 8 cabins built inside. These gold seekers were hiding from the Native Americans AND from the US Army, who was enforcing the original treaty. Turns out there wasn't much gold here but that didn't stop the huge influx of people to the area...


See Ya!