Our Stay in the Black Hills

Since I have so many pics in this blog they don't follow with the stories.

On Monday, July 22nd, we drove from Buffalo, WY to Custer, SD.  It was the shortest drive of our trip and uneventful, thank goodness. The Lord has blessed our vacation and kept His angels around us the entire trip. 

We stayed in another KOA just west of Custer and it was gorgeous.  Completely filled with tall, beautiful pine trees. We had a wonderful pull through site that was so long we didn't need to unhook the car hauler and we had the car and motorcycle parked in front of the RV with room for more if we needed it.  We were also right by the laundry and if you have been keeping up with us you know that Thursday night is - yep, laundry night!  Everywhere I looked out of the RV I saw pine trees.  I think I could have spent a lot of time there and never leave the RV!  They had an enormous area for the dogs to run with big cement trenches around it to help keep the dogs in.  Bailey and April thought it was great to be able to run like the wind.

On our first night there we treated ourselves to dinner out.  So we rode the motorcycle into town with the plan to eat dinner, check out the town and buy some groceries.  However, after dinner we saw some nasty looking storm clouds rolling in so decided to head for the house.  We had a chance to walk the dogs and sit outside a bit but then it started to rain so we enjoyed the beautiful sound of rain - just rain - hitting the roof of the RV.  It was so nice to have just a nice steady rain with no serious wind, hail or tornadoes.  I loved it. 

Before we left on vacation we bought a Tailgater satellite dish to use while we are on the road.  We have the regular house-type satellite dishes at our place in Newcastle as well as our lot at Cedar Blue but those are too cumbersome to haul around with us.  The tailgater can be picked up with one finger, it's so light and it's all automatic.  We don't have to track down the satellites.  We just need to be sure the handle is pointed north so we have to be sure that there are no obstructions to the south.  We do have to call Dish each time we relocate so they can send us the local channels for our location but that's just a quick phone call.  It has worked out very well and Dish has a plan designed for RVers that's very affordable.  It took John a bit when we arrived in Custer, though, to get it set where there were no obstructions with all the trees but with a bit of persistence and a phone app that sees the satellites he finally had success.  It wouldn't be a good night if my Sweetie didn't have TV.

We had three full days there so we sawe Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, took a nice motorcycle ride through Custer State Park and down Iron Mountain road and Needles Highway that was recommended.  What we realized was there is a lot to see and three full days is not enough time so we will need to return.

On Tuesday we took the motorcycle to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.  Those places are amazing.  It just boggles my mind that people would carve faces in the sides of these huge masses of rock just like it boggles my mind how men built the Hoover Dam.  I have included a pic of the eye of one of the faces so you can see how they made the pupils.  While we were at Mt. Rushmore we took the 1/2 mile presidential trail that goes up to the bottom of the rock that they are carved on.  It was a great walk but there were a ton of steps going down.  Not normally a big deal but now the bone behind my large left toe is all inflamed from that walk and it smarts to walk on it.  John, being an orthotist, has fixed up the padding in my tennis shoe and I bought a pair of Nike flip flops with a lot of padding as well so hopefully it will get better soon.  There were several steps back up on the trail as well but nothing like what we had to walk down.  We just took it slow and easy. 

Following that we biked over to Crazy Horse.  That was also amazing.  This monument is a long way from being done as they rely 100% on donations of cash, gifts, and the proceeds from entrance fees and purchases in the park.  There are no state or federal funds going toward this as the person who started this project would not allow it.  They had photos of it at various stages and when I visited it as a small child I now realize there was not much to see.  The face of Crazy Horse was not unveiled until 1998 - after John and I were married!  I have shown a picture I took of a sculpture of Crazy Horse with the project in the background so you can see where they are and what the end product should look like.  Note the horse's head drawn on the rock in white.  Not sure it will be done in my lifetime.  The man sculpting this is now dead but his wife and 10 children are still alive and the wife and 7 of his children are continuing the project.  We could see a bulldozer up on the end of what is the arm.  Much of the work is done by blasting which I understand happens about once a week or so and when it does occur it is always at 11 am.  I guess that is so everybody below knows when to expect them.  I have shown another picture I took of a picture of the back side of the project where you can see there is a road up to it with a building up there where they work out of.  What was also interesting is that the faces on Mt. Rushmore only take up the space of Crazy Horse's face/feathers area so this project is going to be much much larger.  I have a hard time figuring out how you can work on say an eye which is much larger than yourself and get everything to scale.  What an undertaking and so much more so many years ago when they had more primitive equipment or no equipment to work with.  The stories are very interesting.

That evening we had a campfire and just enjoyed sitting outside with the girls and visiting with folks that walked by.  We met so many campers on our trip from all over -- Iowa, Texas, Montreal, Kansas, Indiana, Minnesota, China, New Jersey.  We heard many different languages as well.

On Wednesday we took the bike for a long scenic ride much of which was through Custer State Park.  We drove on Iron Mountain Road and Needles Highway all of which was 35 mph at the most.  The roads were winding with tons of S curves, many of which had to be taken at 10 mph with several switchbacks.  It was gorgeous.  The nice thing about riding on the back of a motorcycle through something like that is I can take lots of pictures while we are moving.  We went through six single lane stone tunnels none of which our RV would have fit through.  Some were not even wide enough for our 101" but none of them were tall enough for the 13' clearance we need.  We arrived at one of the tunnels that was only 10' tall and very narrow and here was a Class C RV driving through it.  Everybody that was stopped there were holding their breath as they weren't sure he would fit.  I have to wonder how many people have foolishly driving their RVs or towables up there and gotten stuck.  There isn't much you can do but go through or back up but either way there is going to be lots of damage.  I'm definitely sure many side view mirrors have met their demise in that tunnel.

We had thought about trying to go back to either Crazy Horse or Mt. Rushmore at night for their laser light show but these old bodies were just too tired in the evenings.  It was actually more enjoyable to sit out by the campfire and visit with the folks that walked by.   

Our KOA site in Buffalo

Today we headed to Buffalo, WY for one night before heading into the Black Hills.  We went from Cody to Billings and then onto Buffalo to go around the Big Horn mountains.  There are two routes through those mountains but I read about them and decided that was not the drive for us.  The owner of the park that we left also told us not to go over them.  Although we had quite a bit of up and down in the mountains, the motorhome handled it beautifully but it gets old after a few hours!  From what I understand we won't have much of that tomorrow.



When I booked our site at the Buffalo KOA the only one they had left for our rig plus what we were towing was their deluxe site - of which they only have one!  WOW!  It is fenced in with a fire pit and seating, a hot tub in a gazebo, tables and chairs, lounge chairs, a gas grill and some flowers.  The dogs get to run around off their leashes!  Since we are here only one night we don't unload our car or motorcycle so we have had the afternoon to enjoy the swimming pool, cook hamburgers on the grill and this evening we plan to use the hot tub.  Oh yes - and while I am writing this sitting outside in this nice area we are watching TV on our outside entertainment center on the RV. The only thing missing are our friends.   

So I look over at John and what are the girls doing?  Yep, sitting on his lap while he watches TV.  They have this entire yard to run around in and they are sitting in his lap!  What a great evening.

Our Last Day in Cody, Wyoming

Today was our last day in the Cody/Yellowstone area.  We took a side trip to Worland, WY today.  A few years ago we had a college student from Worland stay with us for about 2 years while she went to school.  During that time we also became friends with her parents who are no full-time RVers and living south of San Antonio.  We had heard so much about the place that we had to see it since we were so close.

On our way to Worland we noticed that our youngest dog, April, was not feeling well and panting excessively.  At first we didn't think much of it but after several miles this was continuing and she seemed to be having a hard time.  We knew we were getting close to Worland so we used our phone to find a vet in Worland and got them on the phone.  Of course it is Saturday and almost 11 am!  Vets usually close at noon.  They asked us some questions and told us to bring her right in.  Well we were still 30 miles out and I was really getting worried about her so I took my chances and stepped up the speed.  His office was on the outskirts of town but with the GPS programs we found it without any problem.  This guy was a good old large and small animal vet that you would expect to find in cowboy country.  He was wonderful with April and gave her a thorough examination.  He didn't find any other symptoms that concerned him and agreed with us that she probably ate something off the ground.  She had a bit of a fever which explained the panting.  He gave her three shots and sent us on our way with some antibiotic if she didn't improve.  He also asked us where we were staying, where we were headed and so on and told us he would be calling us tomorrow to check on her.  He also assured us that if we had any further problems we were to call him as he could find us vets along our way.  We were so appreciative for him and the lady in his office that assists him. 

After that we checked out Worland and all the places we had heard this family talk about and then headed back to the RV.  We didn't get back until about 3:30 pm.  We had a nice rest, then I fixed dinner and now we are sitting outside enjoying the breeze and cool temps while we look at the Absaroka Mountains.  It is just beautiful.

I don't recall if I told you about the weird house that is high on a hill immediately above our RV but it is very strange.  I've put a picture of it and an explanation about the guy that was building it in this blog.  There is also a web site (www.smithmansion.org) that this guy's daughter has telling more about the place but something just doesn't feel right about her site.  Her Dad was building this thing himself and died when he took a fall in 1992 while working on it.  So it was never finished.  She is living in an RV right beside the place we are staying in, directly under the house and it's just an RV in a field.  Nothing fixed up about it.  The web site looks nice and she is trying to raise money to finish the house and make it an art gallery.  So either she is not using the money or there have been no donations.  There is absolutely no work going on on this house and it has been over 20 years since he died.  All very odd.  The house is fascinating but creepy to look at and totally out of place out here. 

Tomorrow we head to the KOA in Buffalo, Wyoming for a night on our way to the Black Hills.  Supposedly the only site available when I booked it was a private site with our own hot tub.  We'll see.  Then onto the Black Hills for four nights then home.

Day 4 - Old Faithful

 

On our 4th day we headed into Yellowstone to see Old Faithful.  This was going to be our last day there.  Although we wanted to head south to see the Grand Tetons that was just going to be too long a day to do both.  On our last day in the area we wanted to drive down to Worland, WY.  I know, why on earth would we want to do that.  Well, we had a college student live with us for over two years and have made friends with her parents (who are full-time RVers) and they are from Worland.  So back to our last day in Yellowstone. 

We headed out early to try to avoid the traffic and arrived at Old Faithful at 10 am and up she went at 10:15!  Wow, we didn't have to wait 90 minutes or longer.  They have a huge semi circle of seats around the geyser and they all fill up.  There are several other geysers in the area and there are boardwalks that go around to all of them.  While taking a walk around we saw one of the other geysers go up as well.  You cannot walk on the ground in any of this area as it is all a thin crust with boiling hot water underneath.  If you step onto the crust you could easily fall through and possibly die or get very badly burned.  We came across a small open pool of crystal clear blue water that was burning hot.  Nearby was another small pond bubbling like boiling water yet in the background was a running stream that didn't appear to be hot at all.  The area is so interesting and still you wonder if this volcano is going to go up again in our life time.  I sure hope not as it could be devastating.

After seeing the geysers we took a stroll into the Old Faithful Inn to get a snack and take a break.  What a beautiful old hotel.  The lobby was so interesting.  I had to wonder what the rooms are like.  We hadn't taken any time to shop for souvenirs so we stopped in at one of the gift shops in this area.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the prices on T-shirts, sweatshirts and such were very reasonable.  We found some shirts and a sweatshirt and were on our way.  We stopped off at Grant Village for lunch and found a restaurant that overlooked the lake.  The food we have had in the park has been very good, a bit pricey but tasty.  Since we were eating lunches in the park and not dinners it was affordable.  Thank goodness, so far no norovirus attack either!!  We definitely came prepared with Gatorade, oatmeal, white rice,  and medications for symptoms should that have occurred.

We enjoyed the rest of our drive through the park heading back to the RV.  Along the

way we came across a pond full of lillies.  That was the only place we found these and they were beautiful.  Oh yes, on our way out to Old Faithful we did get a quick glimpse of an elk.  That was the only other critter besides the bison we saw.  Before leaving the park we stopped off at a place where we could get our feet wet in the lake.  It was cold but at least I got to walk in it a bit.

After dinner we took the girls for a short ride on the motorcycle.  They seem to like riding. 
 

Day 3 - Buffalo Bill Museum

We took a break from the park on our third day to go see the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody.  We had so many people tell us this was a must see and it was.  The museum is very well done and we spent half a day there.  On the way to the museum we stopped at the Buffalo Bill Dam.  Here are some fun facts:

• It was originally called the Shoshone Dam
• Drilling to find bedrock for the foundation began in the spring of 1904
• 82,900 cubic yards of concrete were used to build the dam
• 7 men were killed during construction
• Daniel Webster Cole was the engineer
• The final cost of the dam was $929,658
• Buffalo Bill Dam was the tallest dam in the world when completed in 1910

We noticed a bunch of logs floating up against the upper dam and found out that they scoop them out in the spring and trucks haul them away.  The process takes several days.

After seeing the dam we moved onto the museum.  They had Buffalo Bill's boy hood home there and I think it probably looked better at the museum that it ever looked while he was living in it.  It was located on the Mississippi in Iowa and moved to Cody by train. 

 

They also had five live raptors there that will be in permanent captivity now due to injuries that keep them from surviving in the wild. They have come in from all over the country and are well taken care of at the museum.   There is a red tailed hawk, great horned owl, peregrine falcon, turkey vulture and a golden eagle.  Can you pick them out?

 

Among their display of old wagons and I think we saw an early RV. Check out the inside of this wagon. That's a heck of a wood burning stove that heated it up very nicely I'm sure. I think I could spend some time in this fairly comfortably!

 

They also had some great displays of stuffed wild animals.  We also came across a nice gentleman who shared his prairie rattler with us - yes, it was alive.  He assured me that in 50 years nobody had every been bitten when he showed these rattlers off - but then he was originally from Texas and we are from Oklahoma -- I might have been his first victim.  I had to think seriously about how close I was going to get! 

 

After we got back to the RV, we rested, a bit and then took the girls down to the river.  We enjoyed relaxing by the water and the girls played a bit on the rocks and in the water.  The water was pretty cold though.  Bailey was the wettest and we had to bundle her in a towel to warm her up.  John's toes were tingling from the cold as well but NO - I did not wrap them in a towel!