May 11, 2013 - Devils Tower

This morning we got up and it was 36 outside. Thee wasn't a cloud in the sky and only a light breeze. We decided that we would go see Devils Tower today instead of on our way west so we wouldn't have the trailers behind us not knowing the terrain around there. Since we getting get started until around noon we stopped at the Bum Steer Steakhouse in Spearfish for lunch. The reviews were all good and they noted an exceptional salad and soup bar. The girls had the salad bar, John had the steak sandwich and I had the brisket sandwich with salad...

May 10, 2013 - Spearfish, Deadwood and Sturgis

Today we moved on down the road. Yesterday we stayed in the campground and got things rounded up. Cooked some BBQ country style ribs and a dump cake in the dutch oven. We did laundry and got things put away for the move Friday. We had been at TeePee Campground for the past 4 days. I think also we haven't got use to the altitude difference yet. We have been around 3000 ft in Rapid City. We have been slowly gaining in elevation as we head west. It will take a bit to get use to it. We headed to Spearfish and since it was only 60 miles, it...

Sep 22, 2012 - Billings, Montana to Spearfish, South Dakota

The quickest way from Billings to Garryowen, Montana is via Interstate 90. I had a hard time with flying down the highway at 75+mph (state speed limit)! The land is brown, brown, and more brown. It's also very dry out here, so we could see clouds of dust several miles away, then happen upon the cause...cowboys in trucks rounding up their cattle. We visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield and had a wonderful time! Seems ironic to have a good time at such a tragic place...but both of us have had a long interest in this place, this historical...

Aug 28, 2012 - Last Day in the Black Hills

Today was our last day in the Black Hills and it was filled with all kinds of interesting and beautiful things to see. This was our day to explore the northern part of the Black Hills. Most of the tourist attractions like Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse sculpture and Custer State Park are in the southern part of the Black Hills. Our first stop was at the Pactola Reservoir which was created to provide drinking water for the area. The Forest Service has a very good welcome center. I was told that there have been 50 fires in the Black Hills...

Aug 12, 2012 - Spearfish Canyon Day Two

We went back to Spearfish Canyon on Sunday afternoon to look for Spearfish falls. There was a trail to the canyon floor which crossed the creek and was a beautiful short walk. The trail went down through the trees with information stops on some of them. We were facinated by the Box Elder tree. There were several fallen logs, some were very rotted and they all had very tall, some with large trunks, trees growing out of them. It was amazing. Also the tree that Larry is standing by was unusual, I don't remember the name but it was very pretty...

Aug 11, 2012 - Spearfish Canyon

Well we manged to get out of Montana and drive our way across Wyoming to Spearfish SD. We are in the Black Hills area, very famous for a lot of things apparently. It is a very pretty area with a lot of dark green pine trees, hence the name Black Hills. We drove through Spearfish Canyon a lush green spot with high canyon walls and lots of different kinds of trees, not just pine. There are three falls in the area, we saw two of them. The first was very pretty, a thin veiling of water flowing over the rock and was named Bridal Veil Falls. The...

Jul 28, 2012 - to Spearfish SD; 16/193

120728-Sat-63096-Today we ended at 63336, started at 63096 miles, for total miles today of 240. We went thru Theodore Roosevelt Nat’l Park (South Unit), then on to SD. We are now in Spearfish SD and intend to see Mt Rushmore et al tomorrow. In both ND and SD the interstate speed limit is 75 and the other roads are 65. We came down Rt 85 where it was 65. In places you could probably see the road for 8 miles and you could drive at 100 mph. We saw a lot of bison and thousands of prairie dogs

Jul 28, 2012 - Day 22 to Day 24 Spearfish City Camp Ground

We had planned on staying a couple of days in Spearfish but due to the bike we stayed four nights in one of our favorite campsites. We walked a lot of the trails that followed the stream that supplies the fish hatchery, some gorgeous sights to see and the stream supplied music to the ears. On one of the walks looking for a deer with twins, we met the attendant at the power plant, who gave us a tour and supplied the history of how Spearfish came into acquiring the plant. Very interesting and a man that loved his job with a passion. The stay...

Jul 23, 2012 - Day 21 Mitchell SD to Spearfish SD

Pretty much the same scenery as we headed west through South Dakota. Loads and loads of land as far as the eyes can see with either corn, hay, cows or just wide open spaces. Temperature is still hot but only have 300ish miles to the Spearfish City Campground where we normally stay for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Decided to have fluids changed at Rapid City Harley Davidson but even this far out from the rally the dealership was slammed and unable to get to me at the moment so decided to head on to the campground. Pulling out of the parking...

Jul 19, 2012 - Spearfish

Journée de route pendant laquelle on franchit les dernières montagnes du Wyoming et de notre voyage, malheureusement. Le Wyoming est un des états le moins densément peuplé ce qui donne droit à de superbes paysages et à une agriculture très variée. Évidemment, le boeuf est omni-présent. En descendant dans les prairies le mercure ne cesse de monter pour atteindre 38C et il semble que ça fait plus d'un mois que ça dure. Le manque d'eau oblige des producteurs de boeuf à vendre une partie de leur troupeau sinon la totalité. On finit notre...

Jul 8, 2012 - A lotta firsts today

Well well well. Aunt Mich woke me up at around 8 this morning, and it was absolutely freezing so I quickly got ready and went upstairs, where we had a very nice breakfast of eggs and sausage, toast, and some really awesome cinnamon strudel things. Then Luke took me out on their 2 seater (which is like heavy duty of what Aunt Mich and Uncle Bill have) and he drove us down to feed the cows. It was a little ways away, but we made it to the cows and there were tons of them. And so incredibly close! Skittish though, the calves were absolutely...

Jul 7, 2012 - Spearfish Canyon SD & More

Note: Click on "Show all photos", then double-click on the first photo to enlarge to the size of your screen; scroll to bottom of photo, click on "5 sec or 10 sec" to begin slideshow. Photos will automatically advance every 5 or 10 seconds. Makes it much easier to view photos! Saturday, July 7, 2012 - Chris' Campground, Spearfish, SD - Today we left the campground about 11 a.m. and drove into Spearfish to gather some information from the Visitor's Center. According to the local legend, the name Spearfish comes from the fact that the local...