Visiting South Dakota

Sundown over a South Dakota Farm

Our plans for this summer are somewhat fluid as usual.  We have learned it is best to make reservations early for holiday weekends and popular vacation destinations.  Using this philosophy, we made reservations at two Yellowstone National Park campgrounds covering a three week period in July and one week near Glacier National Park in Montana early August.  We made these reservations about six months ago and have been wandering our way toward those destinations at the appropriate time.  We try to wander through areas of the country we have not visited before and of course see interesting sites along the way.  Often we find very unique and interesting things to see; but other times, it is just somewhere to stop with not much to do.  

Geographic Center of the United States

We really enjoyed the western side of North Dakota and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  There was so much to see and do there with some fantastic hiking trails.  Once we crossed into South Dakota the landscape changed back to rolling grass hills as far as you could see.  We camped at Rocky Point State Park near Belle Fourche, SD.  You may recall that we passed through Rugby, ND and stopped to take a picture at the geographic center of North America.  Well, Belle Fourche, SD is the geographic center of the United States not to be confused with the geographic center of the contiguous United States in Lebanon, KS.  

Center of the Centers?

Clear? Well the center of the United States was Lebanon, KS until we added Hawaii and Alaska and that changed the center of the nation to Belle Fourche, SD.  Of course, each location has a marker and draws tourists who spend their dollars there.  Not being one to leave things alone, I decided to map the center of the three geographic centers and suggest a monument for the Center of the Centers and let the Cheyenne Indians make a dollar as well.  

We spent three days near Belle Fourche that was at least a day longer than what you need to see everything. We did find a fellow downtown that has a collection of about 30 pristine AMC automobiles.  He was very nice and we walked around his cars and discussed the various engines and parts used during the later years of AMC and the subsequent purchase of the company by Lee Iacocca CEO of Chrysler.   

Private AMC Collection Belle Fourche, SD

Next we traveled to a private campground south of Rapid City, SD near Hermosa.  From here we were able to visit some friends who live in Rapid City as well as spend a couple days driving along scenic roads thorough Custer State Park.  We had visited Mt Rushmore before but it was neat to see it from the perspective of driving north through tunnels on the Iron Mountain Road.  

Iron Mountain Road builders purposefully aligned the tunnels to frame Mt. Rushmore

We visited the Crazy Horse Memorial that is under construction and probably will be for our lifetime. The onsite museum is a great collection of Native American history and educational displays for events that occurred in the western United States.  In the basement, they have an entire area dedicated to Bison history that really explained the rapid decline and near extinction of these great animals.  

 Moving a little further south, we stopped for a few nights near Hot Springs, SD where we visited the Mammoth site.  This is a significant research facility and ongoing paleontological dig where 30 or more male Mammoths were drawn to a sinkhole pool of warm water that did not freeze during the winter.  They either tried to drink and fell in or entered the pool to drink and bathe.  Either way, the bank all the way around the pool was covered in slick red clay and they could not climb out.  They probably became exhausted with the struggle and drowned.  Entombed in a small pool that was subsequently filled with clay, their skeletons and everything else that was trapped in the pool are well preserved.  

Mammoth Site Hot Springs, SD

With the Fourth of July on a Wednesday this year, we made reservations at out of the way places for the weekends on either side of the holiday.  This gave us time in a small Nebraska city park campground to wash The Bus and get the oil changed in the Jeep.  I keep a log of tire mileage on the Jeep that we tow behind The Bus by simply adding the miles we drive in the Jeep with the number of miles we towed the Jeep.  In seven months, we have put 21,139 miles on the tires.  It is kind of shocking to think we will need to replace Jeep tires every two years at this pace.  

Random Prairie Dog

RV Tip:  South Dakota like North Dakota and several other states, charges a vehicle entry fee in addition to the campground fee to enter their state parks.  It is something like $7 per day or $30 for an annual pass.  We have found it is usually better to pay the annual fee and put the sticker on your TOAD (scout vehicle) so you can cover your days in the current park as well as breeze through the gate of other parks you may visit even if you don’t camp there. 

My 50th State

Before departing Minnesota, we stopped for a few nights at Winnie Dam Corp of Engineer Campground near Deer River, MN.  We took a day trip and drove over to the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca State Park.  This small stream begins the flow of one of the world’s mightiest rivers.

Pattie walks across the Mississippi River

Another day, we drove over to Grand Rapids, MN to visit Judy Garland’s childhood home and museum. She was quite the celebrity in her day and most famous for her role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.  

Departing Minnesota, we headed west into North Dakota.  This was my first time in North Dakota and it is the only state I have never visited. Moving cross-country when I was young and then traveling extensively during my 24 years in the US Air Force, provided me the opportunity to visit every other state, but somehow I always missed ND.  There are a few states Pattie has not visited and we have several states where we have not yet camped in The Bus.  For now, we are happy to add the ND sticker to our national map.

We stayed at four different locations across ND.  Driving from east to west, the terrain looks much like Iowa with flat farmland as far as you could see.  We saw a sign in Rugby, ND denoting the geographic center of North America and made a quick stop for a photo op.  

Once we made it to west side, things began to get interesting.  The Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) is impressive on many different scales.  The beautiful scenery, interesting animal life, various plant life, and unusual geological formations are what attract many visitors here each year.  

We dry camped in the National Park Service North Site campground for several days before moving to a horse ranch near Medora, ND to visit the South Site.  Both the North Site and the South Site have scenic drives and many hiking and horse trails.    

The TRNP and history in the area made this the most interesting part of ND we visited.  The small tourist town of Medora, ND is home to a top quality outdoor amphitheater where many plays and musicals are performed each year.  We attended the Medora Musical and ate at the Pitch Fork Fondue.  They cook steaks on pitchforks by dipping them in hot oil.  It was more of a novelty than a wonderful tasting meal (there is a reason the best steak houses in the US are not cooking steaks by frying them in large vats of oil).  

The musical however was top notch entertainment.  Just before the performance began, a large bull elk wandered up for a quick visit and look around.  It was a fun evening out.

We also spent a long rainy day never stepping outside The Bus.  It gave me time to catch up on computer work and Pattie time to bake bread and do some laundry.  The following day, we sought out the Elkhorn Ranch Site located about 40 north of Madora, ND.  Most of the roads were dirt that had turned to mud the day before, but after an hour sliding around, we found the ranch site that was so inspiring to Theodore Roosevelt.  A short hike and we walked among the foundation stones that were once his cabin.  Back at the Jeep, we spent half and hour getting all the ticks off each other, but it was worth the trip.  

Next we had south into South Dakota to visit some friends and see the Crazy Horse monument.
Thanks again for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

North for Summer 2018 – Begin Year Four!

Happy Memorial Day

We began our fulltime RV lifestyle in June 2015 thinking we would do it for about three years to see everything we wanted to see.  Well here we are at the end of year three and we have only seen about half of it. There are ten states in the contiguous United States that we have not camped in with The Bus.  Our rule is we must have spent at least one night camping in The Bus to earn the state sticker.  Delaware and Connecticut we somehow missed in our travels back east and I don’t think we are motivated to go back just to say we did it.  This summer, we are hitting the northern tier states some politicians call “Fly Over States.”  

We stopped at Lake Charles State Park in Arkansas for a few nights after leaving Alabama.  I purchased a three-day fishing license, but failed to catch anything.  We visited the local mostly abandoned town of Powhatan, AR.  We toured the museum there and walked around the old buildings.  This little town was once bustling with pearl prospectors digging mussels out of the river.    

 

St Moritz Schnitzel

Our next stop was at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.  We camped at the US Army FAMCAMP located on the southern end of the lake.  Ft Leonard Wood, MO is about an hour south of the lake and I received some training there back in 1984.  In fact, that summer was my 21^st birthday and I ate at a German restaurant near the base.  I was surprised the restaurant was still there and ordered St Moritz schnitzel just as I had 34 years ago.  It was great! We stocked up on supplies at the commissary and headed back to camp.  The campground marina rents jet skis, so Pattie and I thought we would relive some of our youth by renting one for an hour.  We blasted across the lake at speeds over 50 mph! While it was fun, we both looked at the pontoon boats when we returned and remarked how comfortable they looked. 

How we felt riding the jet ski...you know, young, thin, hair

Next it was off to visit the Amana Colonies in Iowa.  As I drove through Iowa and looked across endless fields of young corn sprouting up 3-4 inches high, I reaffirmed the thought I had in 1984 the first time I visited Iowa. America's true power is in these fields and the men and women who work them.  Since I was driving, I was not able to take pictures; but, the rural farm houses with tractors and equipment outside, the church steeples rising from towns in the distance, the homes with American flags and banners flying in honor of Memorial Day was a picture of America those that fly over these states will never see or understand.  We camped close enough we could ride our bikes into Amana to visit the museum, shop, and of course eat another great German meal.

Many shops in Amana with homemade goods

Onward to the north trying to escape the 90+ degree weather in Iowa, we arrived in Eagan, MN.  We spent three nights here just south of the “Twin Cities” and visited the Mall of America.  It was an all day hike of its own.  We shopped very little since we don’t need anything and have nowhere to store anything.  We enjoyed the Fly Over America 4D video ride and lunch at Bubba Gump’s .  

Mall of America

Momma says...

We are still looking for that cooler weather so we are headed to North Dakota next.

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

RV tip:  Locking gas caps can be a pain, but a fellow camper told me a story where a friend of his was camping in Washington State and someone put something in their fuel tank that basically destroyed the engine.  He said some radical environmentalist have been targeting large RVs and suggested we take precautions.  So, I found the correct type of caps and bought two keyed alike. Maybe it will save us some grief.