Resolve the Truck Concerns
On July 27, 2017, our last day at this camp, we made a work day. Connie wanted to do the laundry at the facility near our RV. However, we had heavy rain. I got the wagon out and Connie put on her chicken boots, rubber boots with chickens on them, and a rain coat to cross the river running down our RV Park drive!
Along with my appointment with the Rapid Tire and Alignment Shop in Rapid City, I was charged with mailing postcards, going to Walgreens, and getting bulbs for the RV.
The truck was a fairly easy fix on some front-end structure. I made use of the three hours there going through my emails and visiting with a local man, also waiting on service. He gave me a good tip for a place to take Connie to dinner. The repair was only $200, which was much less than expected. Praise the Lord!
Always look for good food!
I have learned to ask for where the locals like to eat to find the family style restaurants with a tasty menu and local owners. Such was my tip to eat at the Millstone Family Restaurant, in Rapid City, SD.
We had chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies and a salad bar. Comfort food for a good night’s sleep before our move tomorrow. Had to take some back to the RV, along with a piece of chocolate cream pie! Can you believe that I am starting to lose some weight? RV living is fairly active and we often miss a noon meal, which might account for part of it.
Our drive across the High Plains
We were at about 3,200-foot elevation as we left Heartland RV Park, at Hermosa, SD, to go to Buffalo, WY. We departed camp at about 10:15 a.m. and arrived in Buffalo, WY about 3:30 p.m. Our drive was uphill for a long time. We leveled off at about 4,600 feet above sea level.
The drive on the high plains is nearly devoid of trees, with lots of sage brush. It is fairly flat, with some rolling hills and mountains in the distance. As we neared Buffalo, we could see the more distinctive range of the Big Horn Mountains. Many of those peaks are over 10,000 feet.
The highway took us by Sturgis, SD and Spearfish, SD. However, we did not see many motorcycles.
Our new home in Buffalo was the Indian Campground. It was a fairly large Campground, which included tent camping, etc. They had a pool, which we had to try out right away, after setting up the RV. I found that we had cable TV, as well.
Pass it on
While we were at the pool, there was a couple and two young boys, about 6 and 7 years old. They were from Oregon but were down to visit Yellowstone, which was not too far to our west. As I watched the 7-year-old, I noticed his swim stroke was much like mine used to be before I took swimming more seriously and a guy took pity on me and showed me the proper technique to swim more efficiently. I offered to show him a better way to swim and he listened and attempted to put it to practice. I believe he understood and acted like he would try to learn to do them. Who knows where that might lead…
So close to Montana
We noted that Montana was just over an hour’s drive away. So, we decided to make going to Montana the highlight of this day! Then, we would stop at historic sites on the way back.
We got an early start, with breakfast at Hardee’s. We got to Montana but could not find a truck stop to get a MT magnet. Our turnaround point was Lodge Grass, MT, on the Crow Nation reservation. We drove MT Hwy 451 south to Wyola, MT. We got pictures of the Little Bighorn River, nearby.
Then, back on the Interstate to Sheridan, WY, where we got a light lunch of corn dogs and bought some Flathead Cherries off a truck in the parking lot. They come from the Flathead Lake area in MT. They were very good.
Two Historic Indian Battle Sites
South of Sheridan, we came upon two historic sites to visit. The first was the Fetterman Massacre where we had to drive out on a dirt road to a memorial on a ranch, not far from the Interstate. There was a trail out to the actual site of the battle where a group of soldiers were surprised and subsequently killed by a larger number of Indians, Crazy Horse was reported to be among them.
There was another couple from the Campground visiting the site. In conversation, we found out they had been full-time RVers for about sixteen years! He was retired military. They pulled a fifth-wheel like us but with a diesel truck big enough for commercial trucking!
The second site was Fort Phil Kearney. Here a show of military force delayed Treaty Negotiations and caused the loss of many lives. We saw a herd of Pronghorn Antelope nearby. If you visit this site be sure to read about the person who went for help at Ft. Laramie.
Dinner in honor of local history
We got back to the Campground around 6 p.m. To continue my effort to lose weight, I swam for an hour before we went to dinner. As a side note: I was down 14 lbs. in the first 6 weeks of RV travel! At this rate I should be down another 50 lbs. by the end of the year!
Having worked up an appetite, we went to dinner at the nearby Bozeman Trail Restaurant. The sites we visited were later part of the well-known Bozeman Trail for tying the gold rush in MT to the Oregon Trail. I had a buffalo burger and Connie had a cow burger!
Views are great in the mountains with no fear of heights
We hopped out of bed fairly early, at least Connie did, on Sunday, July 30, to get online to look at possible stops in CO, in the coming days. However, we did not want to burn daylight on a beautiful day. So, we headed out, late morning, to drive up for a better look and get pictures of the Big Horn Mountains, which still had snow on the higher elevations.
We drove west out of town on US Hwy 16 into the Bighorn Mountains. We stopped at an elevation of 7,020 feet to get pictures. It was a beautiful site. As we headed back to town, I was a bit nervous about the grade at which we were descending. You notice the grade going down more so than the going up. With a truck and fifth wheel fast closing on me, I took the first opportunity to pull over and let them go around.
Old Fort McKinney – Related?
Connie’s maiden name is McKinney! So, naturally, we had to stop and get her picture by the Historic Marker telling about the Old Fort McKinney, which was named for Lt. John McKinney, who was killed in the Dull Knife Battle of 1876. Buffalo’s history is tied to the Old Fort.
As we finished our photo session, a motorhome pulled up and I could smell the brakes. They had obviously just come down the same hill we had!
The Jim Gatchell Museum
Back in town, we stopped to learn about the Jim Gatchell Museum that we had passed several times since our arrival. Jim had owned the local drug store. He had grown up with the Lakota Indians. He knew their language. And, his friendship and respect for their ways was an opening for them to share artifacts from their culture for store display along with other pieces of history that he was collecting. His collection turned into a Museum. We enjoyed it.
Old Town and the Crazy Woman
Old buildings have a special feel about them. We walked along the old main street where several caught our attention. However, aside from the river running through town, the memorial for the Crazy Woman is a point of interest. A Mrs. Morgan lost her husband and children to an attack by Sioux warriors. She lost her mind in the disaster and stole an ax from one of the warriors and killed four before they rode off. They named a creek and a canyon in her memory—Crazy Woman, not Mrs. Morgan!
As we finished our walk around town, we came upon an ice cream stand, of course, called Lickity Splits! After all, it was 95 degrees outside that day!
On to Fort Laramie and the Railroad Traffic
The next day, we moved to Chuck Wagon RV Park in Fort Laramie, near the Original Fort Laramie National Park. And, alas, a primary coal train thoroughfare! More about that in my next post. Until then, safe travels! 4