It seems like I've got a theme going for writing blogs on stormy Saturday nights... Last week, it was on the shore of Lake Desmet, near Buffalo, WY. Tonight, it's within a stone's throw of Crazy Horse Memorial, near Custer, SD.
Tonight's storm (the 3rd today) is the most impressive of all. Lots of lightning, heavy rain, and some strong winds.. oh, and it's a chilly 43 degrees. Debi has some hot chocolate in her mug...along with a splash of Bailey's.... and I've got a little shot of Scotch. The dogs are all chewing on their C.E.T. chews.... and cheddar, is sitting ON mom's computer while she tries to do some work.
The past week has been kinda eventful. We left Buffalo Sunday, at the crack of 1PM for the 3 hour drive to Devil's Tower, WY. After about an hour, we finally escaped the dreary weather that plagued us over the weekend, and hit sun. We stopped in Gillette, WY for some gas and supplies at Wal-Mart. I also had to take pictures of a Gillette Razor.
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| Gillette Razor, in Gillette, WY |
The land through here is rolling hills, with sporadic rock outcroppings. There are also some surface coal mines and oil wells near Gillette. That area is exploding with that type of thing, and the population of Gillette has doubled in the last 10 yrs (15k to 30k) because of it. It's pretty country, especially since everything is still super green.
About 45 min SW of Devils tower, we start to see some mountains again. These are actually the Wyoming Section of the Black Hills National Forest. very pretty again... not huge mountains, but interspersed pine forest, rolling hills, rock outcroppings, and deciduous trees. About 20 minutes later, we get our first peak at the tower.
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| Devil's Tower |
We decided to stay in the NPS Campground.. for $6 a night.. which includes free firewood, split and seasoned. No Hookups, but we don't need them all the time. We got a great site with a view of the tower, and along the Belle Forche River.. with some cool red rocks nearby. The campground sits in a cool valley with lots of green meadows, red rocks, cottonwoods, and then forest. For some reason I thought it was going to be a desert.. but it was far from that.
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| Belle Forche River at our campsite |
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| Red Rocks from Campsite |
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| Our Campsite at Belle Forche Campground |
We were tired from traveling that day and Debi has a sore back, so we ate some hot dogs and had a couple beers, and went to bed.
Monday, Debi woke up and was barely able to move. She was having severe back spasms, and causing quite a bit of knots to form and muscles to tighten. Needless to say, she wasn't going to do much today that required physical exertion. She took alot of advil, and rested... and I went out to explore for a bit, so she could rest up to go to the visitor center later.
I piled the pups in the truck, and took a drive around the immediate area on a forest road and got some nice views of the area. I stopped for a slab of buffalo jerky at the gift shop, shared a few pieces with the mutts, and looked around at all the rediculous tourist gift shop.. I can't believe some of the crap they think people will buy... or maybe they do buy it, I guess... otherwise, they probably wouldn't sell it.
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| Huge Prairie Dog Colony |
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| Red Rocks along river |
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| Pups enjoying a stroll |
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| Forest Road |
I made it back to the campsite a couple hours later, and Debi was ready for a drive up to the visitor center. it was only a couple miles.. only 1 short road in the monument, so it doesn't take long to see it.. but we weren't going to do the walk around the bottom of the tower.. Debi just wasn't up to it, and I didn't want to fight the hundreds of tourists with cameras.. that's just not my style, ya know.
The visitor center was pretty cool, but small. I bought a book at the gift shop, and we took a short drive to another viewpoint off a dirt road a mile from the visitor center. We decided a few hours later for sunset, this would be a good place to come. We went back home, and I made a fire with the unlimited free firewood (sorry, that's just not something I'm used to seeing at campgrounds)... and tossed a steak on the fire, threw a couple baked potatoes in the microwave (we turned the generator on for a few minutes), and sauteed some green beans. I've been enjoying cooking in the RV... unfortunately, my 7-1 grill/smoker unit I bought is a pain in the butt, and after I got it out... I decided it was too much work.. It also takes up alot of space...so it might find a new home in St. Louis.
Anyway, we had a nice dinner... then got in the car and headed up to the lookout. We got there just as the sun was nearing the bottom of the tower... perfect! The weather was nice... about 60, and no wind. No bugs yet on our trip yet, either. We snapped away a few shots and watched as a guy pulled up and spent the next 10 minutes trying to get his camera on his tripod, on top of his van... to get some shots... meanwhile, missing the good light.
When we got back, I rekindled the fire, we poured a little of a special Scotch blend we bought in Jackson on our way out of town... and had a nice talk by the fire about the meaning of life... or something like that.
Tuesday Debi woke up worse. We were leaving that day, and she decided to make a call to the urgent care in Sundance, WY... which is about 45 min away... towards where we were going. She took the truck, and I packed up the motorhome... and we met up a few hours later. They gave her some drugs and that was about it. We considered a chiropractor, but there weren't alot of options in this area... I have been playing massage therapist just about every day to supplement the drugs.
We make our way onward to the Black Hills and a RV park near the town of Deadwood. It's only about 90 minutes or so, and just a hop on I-90. Dixie and Cheddar jockey for the spot in the front seat while Debi is in the back... they both finally give in, and share.
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| Ched's and Dixie snoozing in the front seat |
We enter South Dakota... a new state for both of us. Damn, it looks like Scotland... or so says Debi. (However she's also just waking up from a muscle relaxer induced snooze). Just crazy how green it has been on this trip. This area also got about 200% their avg rain/snow over the winter.
We go thru Deadwood to our RV Park...about 6 miles south of town in the mountains. We use our Passport America card and get a site with full hookups for $17.50 a night... we stay 2 nights. It's nothing special, but we have space... and it backs to forest land, and there is a dirt road going into the forest... good for walking the pups. It also had Laundry, as we're getting low... Debi wants to keep me from turning my underwear inside out.. Ok, probably TMI. We had some thunderstorms that evening after we got in... that left a spectacular sunset.
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| Thunderstorm of the Black Hills |
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| Steel Wheel Campground |
Debi is still in alot of pain, and not moving around much. She has to work, and has conference calls. I walk the pups, do my weather blog, and wait until she's done... so we can take a tour of Spearfish Canyon. It's raining again and cool... not good lighting for photography, but a decent day for a car tour otherwise. We head over to Lead, SD... a couple miles from Deadwood. This is another very historic town with alot of history. The houses are all old Victorian, and perched on the hillsides, similar to Deadwood. Right in the middle of town is the huge Homestake Mine. Pretty impressive, albeit quite the scar on the earth. Spearfish Canyon was beautiful.. huge pillars along with walls of towering rock for 19 miles down the gorge. We stopped by a film site of Dances With Wolves (the final winter scene).. I didn't recognize anything, but it was still cool.
Debi is worn out when we get back, so she settles in for some leftover tacos while I head into Deadwood for a burger and beer. I go to the Old No.10 Saloon, site of where WIld Bill is shot and killed. I walk in and they are doing a re-enactment in the back of the bar of the scene. I waddle up to the bar since there are plenty of seats, and have a beer and order a buffalo-elk burger. This place is about as old west bar as it gets. All wood, game heads hanging on all the walls, and all kinds of old west memorbilia. My burger arrives with some tasty fries, and I settle in for a feast. After dinner, I walk down to the Midnight Start bar and restaurant... which is owned by Kevin Costner. He has quite the footprint in this area after filming Dances with Wolves.. as he fell in love with the area. The bar has all kinds of Costner stuff from his films.. costumes, set pieces, pictures, etc..
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| Deadwood, SD |
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| Dances with Wolves costume and flute |
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| No. 10 Saloon |
I head the 6 miles back to camp and as I crest a pass on the highway, I see a magnificent sunset in the rearview mirror.. so I pull over and get a couple shots.
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| Another Black Hills Sunset |
Thursday morning arrives, and Debi is still a serious gimp. I feel really bad for her, but other than the massages, muscle relaxers and occasional stiff drink... there's not much else to do for her. Debi does another of her daily conference calls while I pack up (which thankful, in the motorhome is not a big deal) and then take the pups for a stroll on the forest road behind the campsite. Ponderosa Pine forests are unique in that they don't have the same understory or "thickness" that many other forests have. There are also aspen and other interspersed vegetation that make it very beautiful. And of course, the meadows and greenery... I see a white tailed deer on the hill as we walk, but luckily none of the dogs see it, or the chase would have been on.
We head about an hour south to Hill City and Custer.. still in the Black Hills. The drive is again through the rolling mountains and meadows and we pass a couple lakes and streams. Amazed at all the water in the Black Hills, even if some if it is reservoirs... there's alot of water here!
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| Debi cracks a smile.. sorta |
We make it to our next campsite. Again, not your typical RV park.. it sits well off the highway, you can see Crazy Horse from behind the hill.. it's on 56 acres, and includes 3 ponds, meadows, and an old homestead.. really beautiful property. They even had a paddleboat and some fishing rods. I threw a line in, but didn't catch anything... of course, I was using goose poop for bait, so....
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| Echo Valley Campsite |
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| Walk down to the 3 ponds |
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| The elusive pond monster, Merced |
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| Larger pond with trout. Meadow and cabin behind. |
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| Pond and cabin in meadow behind the campground |
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| corral and barn |
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| Old stove outside the original cabin |
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| Original cabin (1903) |
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| Newer cabin, farm equipment, meadow |
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| Cabin with antiques |
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| wagon wheel |
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| cabin and barn, looking south over pond |
So... my comments in the last blog about me trying to cut down on the length and pictures in these blogs... meh, ain't gonna happen.. sorry. :P
Ok.. next day, Debi is still feeling poorly, but we decide to take a drive through Custer State Park. It's one of the premier state parks in the country, and there is a $15 entrance fee. It was worth it though, and we didn't even get to do the "Wildlife Loop", which included one of the largest buffalo heards in the world, along with all kinda of other animals. We chose to do the Needles Loop, which is a 19 mile loop through some spectacular rock formations, lakes, forest, etc.. there are 3 tunnels.. they are SMALL.. the first one is 8ft wide by 12 ft tall.
As we were leaving the park, a big thunderstorm was moving in.. when we got back to the campsite, Debi needed to rest, so.. while she doozed off to the rumbles of thunder and raindrops on the roof... I took off for the brewpub in Custer about 4 miles away. :)
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| Custer, SD |
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| Coffee Cream Ale |
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| Hill City, SD |
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| Rocky Mountain Oysters! |
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| The bar was scribbled with stuff on the wall, so I added a little something. |
I've never had bull balls... but I have to say, they were pretty good. Kinda a mix of a fried chicken liver/gizzard.. but less flavorful. I got some ranch to dip the balls in, and that tasted better than the BBQ sauce, actually.
We came back to the camp, and had another thunderstorm... so we settled in, I watched the rest of the hockey game, and Debi read or something... I really don't remember!
Saturday, we set out for Mt. Rushmore. We started around noon, and it was a party sunny day and around 70. We got about 45 minutes in before it got cloudy and cool, but that was enough to enjoy sitting in front of the "faces" for a while in the sun. It was pretty busy, but not crazy like it probably is in July and August. Everything was very official feeling, governmental and monumental, as you would expect.
The museum was pretty cool, but I got pissed off at a blurb about South Dakota and the Black Hills history, and how the US Army had to come in and "control" the Indians... and kinda just forgot that they took over the Black Hills for the gold that was discovered here. What a crock.. but I wasn't surprised. After about 90 minutes, that was enough for both of us, so we headed back down towards Crazy Horse.
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| I gotta kick outta the title |
We stopped off at Miners brewpub for a beer.. I think it was an Irish Red.. kinda weak. Then we went next door to the winery... tasted about 10 wines. They were also OK.. nothing great. Lots of sweet stuff, which neither of us like. I did buy a bottle of blue cheese powder.. LOL. I've put it on popcorn last night, and some salt and vinegar chips today. Its pretty tasty, but I prefer to take the sprinkle top off and guzzle it.
We were a bit tired, so we decided to come back to camp and rest for a bit. Crazy Horse is only 2 miles away, and open until 9PM. They also have a laser light show on the side of the mountain, so we chilled out.
I took the pups for a walk, and Cheddar climbed a tree. Cheddar is awesome in going out. He stays close, comes when we call.. and usually behaves well. Ok, this time he climbed too high... about 12-15 ft.. and I got a dog bed for him to jump on and save him.. but he wasn't into that. So, the next idea was to pull the Tahoe up under the tree, and Debi would rescue him. That worked... the only scar from the incident was a claw mark on Debi's face from the flying cheddar enroute to Debi's arms.
So.. after the cheddar shenanigans... and some rest, we headed over to Crazy Horse. As we left, it was black to the west, and thunder was rumbling. It was kinda sliding northeast though, so I had hopes it would wait before unloading on us. Well, it waited about 30 minutes. We got to the memorial, and I took a couple pics, we went inside to watch the movie about the memorial, and came out to a very strong storm. Luckily, the museum there "The Indian Museum of North American History" is HUGE.. and really cool, so we spent about an hour mosing around. As you can imagine, it had all kinds of historical artifacts and other things. Having recently read some books on the subject, it was really cool to see things like a saddle that was used during the battle of Little Bighorn.
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| This is what it is supposed to eventually look like (photo from Crazy Horse Memorial Website) |
Unfortunately, the storm didn't let up.. so I ran and got the car for the girl.. and we went back to the pups in the RV who probably didn't appreciate the loud booms of thunder. Here's a few pictures of what it looks like up close. I didn't get many any more picts of the carving, and the laser light show was probably going to be cancelled, so we got a raincheck to come back... but we probably won't have time in the morning.
I guess the only thing that kinda sucks about this mountain carving is that it began in 1948, and it's still a really long way from being done. Granted, it's much larger than Mt. Rushmore, and it was done by 1 person for many years..but still, they have turned down tens of million in federal grants to have it only private donations and not federal or state funded. They explained the reasons, and I get it.. but there's a part of me that says the least the US Government could do is pay for a good chunk of this to honor a man and culture that got royally screwed. I dunno.. there's probably more to it than that, but there's a part of me that thinks it might never get done otherwise.
Overall, our impressions of the Black Hills were great. It was much more beautiful than either of us expected. We were both surprised at how much water there was and how green everything was, too. Unfortunately, the bark beetle has hit this area pretty hard, especially the southern part of the forest, near Hill City and Custer. The history is great in all the towns...It was also a bit more touristy than we expected though... and how many people were in the whole area vacationing was surprising. It's a really big vacation spot for alot of people in the northern plains, and upper midwest. I saw a ton of Minnesota plates.
Sunday... we head to Rapid City and Wall, SD... where we'll spend the night. Then.. looks like Sioux Falls, SD.. (Costco stop) Omaha, NE or St. Joesph, MO... then Edwardsville, IL!
Sorry this was so long... I guess I really can't control myself. I also had plans to get it out Saturday night, but I've had a few connection issues with picture uploading, etc. I didn't proofread or edit, so it is what it is..
Take care!
Debi, Todd the pups and kitty...
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