Early morning journaling on travel day
Sometimes my mind will not let me rest and I have to get up in the middle of the night to journal to empty my thoughts on paper. I do like to write.
I got up at 4 a.m. to journal on July 24, 2017, moving day. Luckily, this would be a short move to Hermosa, SD from Pierre, SD—to Heartland RV Park from Farm Island State Park.
Making ourselves at home at Heartland
We arrived at Heartland about 1:45 p.m. MST. We gained an hour by passing into another time zone. After setting up, we decided to try out their pool. There was a younger lady and two kids already in the pool when we arrived. I found out they were from around Holland, MI. And, they were of Dutch descent. Hearing that, I had to announce that I, too, had Dutch in my family tree. On my Dad’s side, I had Van Blarecom and my Mom’s maiden name was Van Houten!
Soon, we were joined by an older couple, who turned out to be from Marshall, MO, and were here for a Spider Cycle Rally—not the Harley rally in Sturgis, and a younger couple, who had only been on the road for 14 months but had sold all but what they carry with them, and a lady by herself, who was from Virginia. The conversation soon turned to the fact that we were all full-time RVers! We talked of equipment issues, the downsizing process, site options, places to domicile, RV features, etc. The couple from Marshall told us about two apps to make finding RV parks easier—AllStays and RVParky. We stood or rather floated around for 3 hours talking!
I should explain that “domicile” refers to where to register your RV for licensing or where to have your mail delivered. Remember, most full-time RVers are on the move. Getting mail is a concern. Either using relatives, as we did, or a forwarding service are the main options.
Keystone is near the Big Stone
We made getting to Mt. Rushmore the main event for our second day at Heartland. We were very close to the turn off to Mt. Rushmore. The drive goes through the town of Keystone and offers a place to learn more about the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore, Lincoln Borglum, who completed what his father, Gutzon Borglum, had started.
As we headed up to Mt. Rushmore from Keystone, the going was slow. Lots of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and RVs trying to get there, too.
Mt. Rushmore is a finished sculpture
Old age saved us $5 on parking at the Mt. Rushmore National Park. We saw the movie about the process to complete the sculpture. We took pictures and had our picture taken.
Then, on to the unfinished sculpture of Crazy Horse, which is not far away, as far as mountains go.
A Crazy Work of Art in Progress!
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a work in progress. The sculpture who envisioned and started the project, Korczak Ziolkowski, had experience working on Mt. Rushmore. However, it is a private project, which receives neither state nor federal funding. Your entry fee contributes to the progress of the Memorial. They are building an elaborate visitor’s center complex. This will be an Indian cultural center. There is a wall of portraits of former, well-known Indian chiefs. There are maps of where Indians used to roam versus their current reservation addresses.
We enjoyed hearing Darren Thompson, who is of the Anishnabe culture, play flute music from the Objibwa culture. We bought his first album and some t-shirts in the gift shop.
Where are the Buffalo Tacos?
We opted not to eat lunch at the Memorial since we heard about Buffalo Tacos in the area. So, we headed to Custer City to the south. However, we only saw signs for Buffalo Burgers, which Connie did not want to try. We continued through Custer Park to get back to camp on a very curvy road which made it very slow traveling.
Our drive east toward state road 79 brought us out near our RV park and right by a pizza place, Lintz Bros. Pizza! It was late afternoon and with no lunch, that pizza tasted pretty good. There was a touch of home with a signed picture of the KC Chiefs Cheerleaders on the wall as we entered!
Back to Camp
Heartland RV Park was about one-fourth mile away from Lintz Bros. Pizza. We stopped by the office for ice and a Klondike Bar to add a tasty end to our busy day!
Sightseeing Wins Over Personal Business
We got up on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, with concerns over a needed prescription, a light bulb needed on the RV, and some persistent looseness in the truck steering. However, the lure of visiting the Wind Cave National Park was too strong to be distracted!
So, we headed south on state road 79, away from the major town of Rapid City for personal errands, to go through Hot Springs, SD to Wind Cave.
I had Connie drive the truck to get her opinion on the steering issue. She agreed that there was some looseness that should be looked at. So, when we reached the junction of state road 79 and US Hwy 385, we stopped at the truck stop for coffee and I called a shop in Rapid City to look at the truck the next day.
Hot Springs was once a Hot Spot
The drive down from camp to our exit to Hot Springs had been pretty barren. However, it got more interesting as we approached the town. We reached a “T” in the road as we got into town where the road intersected with state road 87. And, there in front of us was a drive going up a hill to an old two-story, sandstone school house with a sign by the drive, Pioneer Museum. We decided to visit the museum, on the spot. So, we just drove straight up the driveway.
Besides the obvious draw of the “healing waters” of the hot springs in the area which made this a popular area a century earlier, we found a connection with our first major stay in an RV park in Chautaugua, NY. The springs had been a big draw for folks from the northeast.
After the museum tour, we drove through the center of town and I noted that most of the major buildings in town were made of sandstone, which gave the town a unique architecture. Then, we saw a special place to stop, the Dew Drop Inn, for an ice cream cone! It was not as good as the Zesto back in Pierre, but any ice cream tastes good on a hot day!
On to Wind Cave and Custer State Park
The Wind Cave National Park had a long drive way with some side parking and a parking lot at the end of the drive. Our goal, though, was to find a shady spot to park as there were many trees along the drive near the Visitors Center and Cave Entrance. We were fortunate to find a shady spot to park. Even though the temperature was about 85 degrees, much cooler than the 100 degrees we experienced in Pierre, we were very glad for shade!
The Cave is one of the top ten longest in the world and there are about 150 steps down to it. So, with my bad knees, I declined to take the tour. They did have a video of key stops on the cave tour and the history of how it was discovered and how it became a National Park.
We did walk out to the original cave opening which gave it its name. The wind comes out of the ground at about 4.8 mph, enough to feel and hear the wind. Nearby was a landscaped area where a young rabbit allowed us to photo up close.
Leaving the Cave site, we decided to take the slow way back through Custer State Park, still looking for buffalo. Our drive went by several prairie dog colonies and, soon, we saw a herd of about 20 Prong Horned Antelope!
However, our drive continued with little wildlife in site, when rounding a curve in the road, we saw traffic had come to a halt amid a herd of buffalo, maybe close to 100 of them! They were grazing and gradually moving across the road. No one wanted to get out and make them get out of the way! We just sat and admired those powerful animals, some of which came very close to the truck as they moved on…That was the highlight of the day!
The Mundane and the Drive on the High Plain
My next entry will include getting the truck ready for our next move across the high plains in WY on our way to Buffalo, WY. What a coincidence! Until then, safe travels!