Sep 14, 2012 - Tatanka and Green Wine

On Saturday we finally made it to the Black Hills. That was our final destination and we spent several days there. The reason that these mountains (hills) are called “black” is because of the Ponderosa Pine trees. Ponderosa Pines absorb light so that from a distance the hills look black. We spent Saturday night in Deadwood South Dakota. The entire town of Deadwood is on the National Registry of Historic Places. The town is quaint and architecturally interesting but after about an hour of walking the town all we saw were casinos and tee...

Aug 15, 2012 - Ft. Hayes and our tour of the Black Hills

Good Grief, where do I begin regarding our day in the Black Hills of South Dakota? There is so much to see and do, so much to say and type! Beware, the day was very overcast and getting good pictures was difficult. We were up at 5:30 in the morning to drive the rig over to Ft. Chuck wagonkwagon. "Dances With Wolves was filmed just east of the Black Hills on Private Property. The owner took the film set and moved it to it's current location and re-created the studio as well as providing breakfast, lunch, dinner, a western show and tours of...

Jul 21, 2011 - The rest of our stay in the Black Hills

It had been a few years since we had spent much time in the Black Hills for more than just overnights so we had not been on a tour of the wineries here.. There are four of them in the Hill City/Custer area and Saturday was a good day to try them. Or so we thought… The temperatures were so hot outside that I think just about everyone had the same idea.. Get in an air conditioned car and drive to air conditioned buildings.. Wow was it ever crowded where ever we went.. One of the ones we tried was called the Naked Winery with a slogan of “We...

Jul 18, 2011 - Custer State Park, and another high point

July 17…. Concert was interesting. Brand new facility—only the second weekend of shows. Their chairs had not arrived yet, so we were seated on the white plastic chairs rented for weddings. Diamond Rio opened for the Oakridge Boys. The noise level was so loud that even with earplugs (toilet paper wadded up) it was still painful. Plus you could not understand a single word they sang. They played too long. We left after 5 Oakridge Boys songs as we had an hour drive back to the campground. It was still hot. July 18…We drove to Custer State...

Sep 4, 2010 - Back in the Black Hills of So. Dakota

We are currently in the Black Hills of So. Dakota (again). We actually came back here to take care of some personal business. We'll be here until Wednesday morning, the plus side for us while we're here is we get a chance to visit with friends Guy & Judy (they work here in the park for the summer months). Our drive here was windy, in fact we had more head winds....not good for the fuel economy, but the scenery was nice. Our destination from here will be New Mexico, we hope to take in Carlsbad Caverns & Roswell (gotta do the alien thing).

Jul 27, 2010 - A wide spot on Hwy 85 just South of Lead, South Dakota

The roads/highways go up and often they go up real high and the roads/highways are steep. The roads/highways go down - they go way down and the roads/highways are steep. That has been the pattern this whole trip. With very few exceptions we have traveled the back roads across America. We wanted to see what America was really like but we did NOT want to zoom past on an Interstate Highway to say we had been in this state or that state. We have really been in the states by way of the roads that are the very thin black line on a map-the map of...

Jul 17, 2010 - Day 6

Today we decided to stay another day in Wall and ride to the Black Hills. Our destination was Mt. Rushmore. The interstate travel was harrowing due to a strong northwest wind which caused us to move within the lane. After a hour ride we were in Rapid City, the foothills of the Black Hills. We chose to ride northward on the Iron Mountain Road, marked as a scenic route. The hairpin curves caused me a bit of anxiety but I took it slow and rode in lower gear a lot. There was place called the pig tail and it was a series of bridges and...

Jul 7, 2010 - A Few Sights Around the Blackhills

We left the Black Hills on July 5th, but I wanted to post just a few photo's from around the area. We we're able to get in some sights in between storms, usually we stayed in the trailer making sure the dogs didn't spazz out from the thunder. We made new friends at Happy Hollidays RV Resort (Guy & Judy), they are wonderful people & we enjoyed the time we spent with them. Thanks Guy & Judy ! Hope to see you in Arizona.

May 15, 2010 - Custard State Park “Black Hills, SD

We camped for two nights at the "Custard State Park located in the “Black Hills of South Dakota” While there we visited Mt. Rushmore and saw their show, but it was not a light show that everyone mentions. It was a Patriot show and near the end they lit the four presidents faces on the Mountain. May 16--We took a tour of Wind Cave. It was a neat cave it is one of the very few in the world that have what they call “box formations”. It was a very dry or otherwise dead cave. We also drove the “Wildlife Loop” we saw Buffalo, Prairie Dogs,...

May 4, 2010 - Black Hills, SD/Mt. Rushmore

Sunday, May 2, 2010 Today we woke in the beautiful Badlands. We are all pretty tired, maybe due to being in a different time zone. We stopped at the gift shop on our way out. The kids have been saving and are dying to spend their money. The shop was beautiful with a lot of Native American jewelry, pictures, quilts, and other beautiful artwork and creations. I loved it too!! We are headed for the Black Hills to camp and see Mt. Rushmore. We drove through the rest of Badlands National Park on our way and as always were impressed with the...

Jun 1, 2009 - The Road to the Black Hills

Well I have to tell you that I was pretty down all day on Saturday after leaving our family in Billings. Every time I thought about them, I got tears in my eyes wondering what I would miss in the next months before seeing them again. The ride was still very scenic and we had planned on getting to Gillette before stopping for the day. The first 150 miles or so was a repeat of the route we had taken to get to Billings but then at Buffalo we veered off on I-90 E. When we arrived in Gillette, we went to the first campground that we found in...

May 1, 2009 - Black Hills, SD

Between Denver and the Black Hills, we spent the night in at Glendo, WY. The view of the grazing land, cattle, the lake, and distant mountains was stunning. The owners of the RV park had to herd about 25 one/two year old bulls away from the entrance to the park with their trucks so that we could leave. Mt. Rushmore was our first stop on a day long trip through the Black Hills. Gutzon Borglum's granite monument to America depicts four leaders who brought the nation from colonial times to the 20th century. Most prominent is George Washington...