Aug 15, 2009 - Spearfish, SD

Spearfish, SD is on the Wyoming border and is also located next to Sturgis which is famous for its motorcycle rallies. In fact we just missed the rally, they had over 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts two weeks ago. Thank God we missed it. Also in this area is Deadwood, SD, a famous western town, now a casino haven. We visited Deadwood the first night we were here to get a good meal, all you can eat prime rib and snow crab for $15 a person, this is one of the cheapest meals we have had in a long time. Then after eating to loose some money at...

Aug 14, 2009 - Spearfish, SD

We left Custer in route to Spearfish, South Dakota bright and early in the morning. It started raining pretty hard along the way. We drove through Deadwood, SD which was a very wild west town in the late 1800's. If fact, the wild west figure Wild Bill Hickock caught a bullet here and is buried in boot hill here in deadwood. Thereafter we traveled to Sturgis, South Dakota which is the site of a huge biker rally every year. it took place about a week before we arrived though there were still quite a few bikers still in town. The whole town it...

Jul 14, 2009 - Great Falls to Spearfish

Wind forced me to stay in a motel in Great Falls and this morning when I went out to my car and pressed my remote entry button, nothing happened. Then I recalled that after I was in bed last night, I realized that I had not unplugged my camper from my car’s electrical system, but I was too lazy to get up and take care of the matter. I just hoped that the battery would not be drained, but as usual, my careless attitude got me into trouble. I made my request for help known by opening the hood of my car and draping the battery cables over the...

Jul 13, 2009 - Devils Tower

We spent 2 nights in Medora. We went down town and walked around, and went to a couple of museums. We ate lunch at Chuck Wagon Buffet. It was a OK lunch, but nothing special, so we went to Elk Horn Cafe for supper and had a much better meal. We got up on Monday morning to a rainy windy day. Packed up and headed for SD. The weather got better as we went South. We got lucky and went between 2 storms. After setting up camp we drove into Wyoming and went to Devils Tower. We seen some beautiful country. On our way back to the campground a storm...

Jun 22, 2009 - Little Big Horn to Spearfish

After driving through Little Big Horn, we drove a few miles to our campground-- 7 Ranch. This was an actual working ranch and had unbelievable views over the plains. Susan was blown away with the wide open spaces of Montana. On the 22nd we got up and headed off to South Dakota. Along the way we passed through Gillette where there is a huge coal strip mine. They had hundreds of hopper cars lined up to get filled with the coal which was being mined right across the highway. After leaving Gillette, we noticed lots of little brown houses with...

Jun 11, 2009 - Sheridan, WY

Last year we laid over in Sheridan for just the night and vowed to return and explore this interesting little town and that's what we did this year and glad that we did. The weather was bad so we didn't take any of the scenic byways trips out into the Bighorn Mountains - maybe another time. Buffalo Bill Cody called the Sheridan Inn home at one time and built this hotel (in conjunction with the railroad). It has been restored, you can rent a room and have a meal here. John Kendrick had this house built in 1913 and was his home for many...

Jun 8, 2009 - Spearfish, SD

We must return to South Dakota every five years to renew our driver's license and this year it was Sharon's turn - mine was last year - and Spearfish is now where we come to get this done. And, while we don't like to use the interstate highways, we did this time because they are great when you just need to get from point A to point B. I-90 runs along beside the Bighorn Mountains and we were surprised to see so much snow. Winter just won't go away for these folks. While we were in Spearfish, we took a little drive to the town of Deadwood...

Jun 2, 2009 - DEVILS TOWER

We arrived in Spearfish,SD in the early afternoon. We set up at a KOA campground. We haven't stayed at KOA in years. I now know why. To me they are higher than other campgrounds. That is just my opinion. To level the motorhome, the jacks had to be let out completly. The jacks were so high on the right side that the back tire was 3 to 4 inches off the ground. I had Bob put one of our ramps under the tire. I didn't want to fall off the bed if the jack fell. It was on my side. This was a deluxe site. We got our cooler with drinks,snacks and...

Jun 1, 2009 - Chapter 2

We left the Sleepy Hollow Campground around 10:30 this morning. I want to tell you about the rest of our adventures we had the two days that we traveled the Black Hills, Custer State Park, Mt.Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and part of the Southern Hills Drive that we drove. The drive on the Needles Hwy.& thru the Custer State Park is breathtaking. How the men built this highway is amazing. To get all the materials that you need to build these roads up the mountain is mindboggling. Elevation at Keystone is 4340 ft and at Haney Peak the...

Nov 1, 2008 - Day 203 Spearfish Canyon SD

Day 203 Saturday 1st November Spearfish Canyon SD pg 93 D2 One thing that we can’t say is that one day is the same as the other. Today has been another day of diversification. The first port of call was Sturgis, famous for its motorcycle festival in August each year. Apparently 4-5 hundred thousand people turn up for the event. I had a short visit to the Sturgis Motor Cycle Museum and Hall of Fame. If you were into Indian Motor cycles then this place is the ultimate. I was able to go back in time and reminisce when I was in my teens and...

Oct 5, 2008 - Day 28

Our aim today was to travel from Sious Falls to Rapid City where we had planned to spend the night. So beginning early we headed off through South Dakota and it's endless supply of corn & wheat fields ( boy could we have done with the other guys for company today). At around lunchtime we stopped at a place called 1880's town, that was the actual town name? and boy was this place a shithole, it had nothing except gas and drinks, no food worth buying although the chick behind the counter did tell me thier was a good place to eat 20 miles up...

Sep 18, 2008 - Day 10 Hill City SD to Spearfish SD

Day 10 Drove to Custer State Park today. First stop in Custer was Sylvan Lake so we hiked around the 3 mile loop, climbing rocks and stopping to view this pristine black lake with huge rock formations sprouting out of it. Again, not many people around as everywhere we've been since Minnesota, we keep hearing there's only a few more weeks until the season ends. Continuing through Custer, we ascended through the Needles highway, similar in foliage to the Blue Ridge Parkway but much larger, dark gray, blackish rocky mountains all around. Lots...