Wild West Day 6 September 26

Really, another beautiful sunrise. The campsites are in a circle and all face out into the hills and cliffs, so it's such a beautiful place.

We headed out early towards Rapid City, taking the scenic Highway 44 through the Badlands and Buffalo Gap National Grassland.

The rock formations were more in the distance, and the cattle fields were in view. Interesting how you'd first see an expanse of grasses then evidence of water then trees. We imagined that this is where the original and long abandoned homesteads once were.

Great shot of an Angus cow (#937) on a cliff. Silly cow.

Outside the town called Scenic, all of a sudden, the flats and rocks became trees and rivers. Amazing.

Best shopping mall so far contained a Casino, Hair Salon, and a Cash 'N Go.

We stocked up and decided, though we'd already been there years ago, we'd head to Mount Rushmore. We stopped at the Forestry Services Visitor Centre and got info on a biking rail trail and cheap camping.

Rushmore, though still magnificent, was spoiled from before by the addition of an $11.00 parking lot/garage. There were quite a few tourists there AND we think we saw ancient grafitti on Washington's shoulder (David thinks it says “Wanda”).

I was drawn to Teddy Roosevelt's glasses. I also felt George Washington need a nose job to fix his septum and we were amazed at how the eyes were so 3 dimensional with how they were carved out of the stone.

We stayed in Oreville Park, $10 for a beautiful campsite (Ontario has so much to learn). 

We met Gerry, an 80 year old, from Wyoming who shared good information about his home state (including a coffee shop/bakery we MUST try). We seem to attract lovely 80 year olds on this trip.

Here's today's view from my chair:

Wild West Day 5 September 25

Last night's sunset and starry sky were amazing. The Milky Way was so clear. Beautiful. The beauty was matched by today's sunrise. We were up early and it was such a wonderful start to the day. AND I heard coyotes and the church bells ringing at 9:00 a.m.

Neighbours Richard and Susan are from Toronto, and we enjoyed their company. They're in his father's 1979 truck camper, and she has tricked it out quite nicely, though she did drool when she saw our MH!

Time for the Badlands Loop Road. First stop we saw the first of many “Watch for Rattlesnakes” sign. The only rattler we ended up seeing was a dead one, squashed on the road. Some of you (Ann and Heather) might say that's the best kind of rattlesnake.

Highlights were the bus of Aussies we met (New York to L.A. In 24 days) and the many, many Little Dogs on the Prairie.

The Homestead overlook gave a sense of the original 100's of homesteaders' tar shacks and sod huts every 1/4 section on the land. Today, only two large “ranches” remain.

After lunch, we spotted a our first Bighorns.

Later, at the Hay Butte Overlook, two buffalo in the distance. We would have loved to camp near there, but the 12 mile road was gravel and washboard and we didn't want the risk. 

We headed back to the original campground. On the was, we spotted a family of Bighorns (Dad, Mom and kids...one who nursed-painfully for the Mom it appeared) for the camera. 

Next were about a dozen Pronghorns as well.

I took a short bike ride and saw a Magpie. After another glorious sunset, we spotted a skunk and a black cat (?). An animal-filled day.

Here's today's view from my chair!

Wild West Day 4 September 24

A beautiful morning in our parking lot spot. Met the woman next to us who had paid $27 for the site (Passport America was worth it!).

Started the count of Wall Drug billboards (this IS the billboard state of America) as soon as we hit I90 and stopped counting at 50!

Stopped at Mitchell Wal Mart for supplies and were delayed by Cal, an 81 year old cattle farmer who was fixin' to retire and wanted to see the MH. He was a talker but very sweet.

Besides the many, many billboards, there were some cute and noteworthy things:

• a Rest Stop with a mini chapel (then another one just down the highway!)
• the first cattle in the fields after mostly corn
• crops of millet, soy beans, sunflowers (miles of them; our first sighting of so many), wheat
• a sky full of crisscrossing jet streams (two crossed in mid air!)
• a sign for Walleye and Buffalo Burgers (mixed???)
• a “No Hunting” sign on the way in to a Tourist Rest Area (hmmmm)
• signs for “Firehouse Brewery”: Great Beer...Families Welcome

It was a great drive; beautiful, sunny Saturday with good roads and few people. Crossed the wide Missouri and David finally pulled out his camera for some pics.

Pulled into the road to the Badlands National Park and stopped for gas and a viewing of albino Prairie Dogs. Too cute.

FINALLY the Badlands and the amazing rocky formations everywhere. Free park entry day and and a short drive to the campground ($15...$28 for electric; no way!). It was 80 degrees when we set up. Enjoyed the view, the Western Bluebirds (for their looks and singing), a good dinner, a visit with neighbours, and the REAL start of the holiday.

Oh yes, here's the start of a new feature: The view from my chair. It's what I see from our campsites. I didn't bother with Day 1 (back of an RV), Day 2 (back of Gloyd, he of "Escort Service fame) or Day 3 (back of a motel), but here's Day 4:

Wild West Day 3 September 23

Good sleep and early start for another marathon driving day full of interesting sights and signs:

• “Comfort Inn” signs on the back of a flatbed truck in a “Rest Area”
• “Kum and Go” truck stops (sorry, still makes me whince)
• “Ox Yoke” Restaurant (yum!); in business since 1940
• “What Cheer”, Iowa
• Three arms of a wind turbine on three flatbeds (those things are BIG and we saw more later)
• “Madison County” (but didn't see any bridges)
• sign for “Casey Antique Country Dr.”; was he an “old” doctor or was did she “fix” old things? Okay, town and street sign, but...
• Sign for “Danish Windmill” (built in 1848) as we also passed acres of new Wind Turbines
• if you can believe it, sign for “Antique CITY Dr.” for Walnut, Iowa (funny at so many levels)
• terraced corn field; never saw that before
• sign for “Scenic View” but “Closed 4 PM to 8 AM” (how do you close a view???)
• Blue Diamond Kosher Tank Wash (took a while to figure it out; have you?)

The drive was good; in fact, we'd driven 1150 miles before a 5 minute or so traffic slow down near Sioux City, Iowa. We followed the Missouri River (an old paddlewheeler converted to a Casino!) and hit Cassie's state number 16, South Dakota. We also started to see the “Wall Drug Store” signs (if you've ever been here, you'll relate) and decided to stop counting at eight!

Via Passport America, we're in the Westwind Motel and RV Park ($13.50 for water, electric, sewer and cable) which is really the back parking lot of a motel, but it's quiet and we're tired and we're heading to the Badlands tomorrow for some nature and much less driving!. 

Wild West Day 2 September 22

Another day of driving (there are a lot of the states to cover on our way west!).

David saw a sign that HE thought read, “Do Not Pick Up Hijackers” (like we would). Really said “Hitch Hikers”, because of the THUMB Correctional Facility. Was funny at the time.

We noticed the maples turning red. But it was warm and sunny.

Just as David asked where Ottumwa, Iowa (our next state) was, we passed Potterville, Michigan. You M*A*S*H watchers should get that one.

Next town was Paw Paw with the “Two Paws” car lot. I thought that was funny and made sure that I “clapped” the cat's paws every time I saw a town sign. Small things amuse...

How about “Pure, Honest, Homegrown”...Insurance or what we informed the OPP about in our back field last October?

We drove over a bridge which crossed a HUGE quarry under the highway. Very unusual and surreal.

Michigan was very much like Ontario with lots of deciduous trees along the highways. As we headed though Illinois and in to Iowas, we noticed how things changed to be much flatter and full of corn. The corn wasn't harvested (late) and we wondered if there had been a lot of rain. Then we began to see very large granaries and wondered if the “food” corn crops had now become “ethanol” corn crops. Sad.

Noticed the beginning of a lot of signs for casinos, including “100 Looser Slots” that we read as “Loser”!

We crossed the Mississippi River just in to Iowa (cat's 15^th state), and found the Passport America Lakeside RV Park. VERY interesting: trailer park for sure. Our neighbour drove a truck (“Gloyd's Escort Service”-yep...you figure it out), but we got water, electric, sewer and WIFI for $10!.

Wild West Day 1 September 21

First Fall Retirement trip!

We thought we might be towing a motorcycle and trailer, but not this time. After two days packing and sorting, we left ON TIME at 8:00. We stopped at MH dealer (Sicards) to show them the broken door latch and meet David's contact, John. We had an easy drive through Sarnia, another easy border crossing and stopped in Lapeer, Michigan for the night. $25 at the Watertower park. Nice Park Host; just a parking lot of RVs, but good place to stop en route after our WalMart supply trip. Great to be on the road again.