RV Travels with Dakota Duo: South Dakota

Saturday - Woke up in Broadus,MT to find the park sprinklers on, close enough to create a good puddle under the front of the motorhome. Parked directly in front of us beside the park, was a semi that pulled in and spent the night too. Packed up and headed out, continuing on Hwy 212, down through Wyoming and ending in Belle Fourche. We are home in South Dakota! We parked and set up at the Riverside Campground and RV Park. This park was along side the river, looked like a big greenway/park area. The larger campsites did not have shade, but there was good space between the sites. There were still a couple large rigs set up that had their Harley Davidson logos, those that stayed longer after the Sturgis Rally. There were a few campers that looked like they were living there. The sign at the office house said they would come find us for payment, we ended up knocking on the house door before we left to make sure they received our payment. We drove around the Belle Fourche area, (it had been about 10 years since we had been there) and then drove south to Spearfish and found a bite to eat. Home again.

Riverside Campground - Belle Fourche

Sunday - up early for a walk and then went to 10:30 Mass at St. Paul's in Belle Fourche. After lunch, we took the road to see Spearfish Canyon. Once there, we stopped at the Lodge and hiked down on the trails to the falls (which we did not know were there before) and went in and looked over the Lodge. Very nice, now we know why people talk about staying there. We explored more, driving to Lead and Deadwood - stopped long enough in Deadwood to lose our $20 and do a little wine tasting. Back home, Gary washed the motorhome, I did laundry, we took naps and enjoyed the evening.

Spearfish Falls

Spearfish Lodge lobby

View from Spearfish Lodge

Deadwood - Belle Joli Winery

Monday - today we packed up and headed south. We had reservations at Rushmore Shadows, the RV park close to my folks house. We set up and then drove to Sylvan Lake near Custer. We hiked on the trail around the lake and sat and enjoyed the view. We drove back through Hill City, it is interesting to see the changes and new businesses in the area each time we are back. Back home, we cleaned up and then drove to Rockerville to the new Gaslight Restaurant to have supper with my folks and sister. We had a nice visit there and then went to their house for a little while.

Sylvan Lake

Trail behind Sylvan Lake

Tuesday - Went to my folks house to visit in the morning. In the afternoon, we went and found Spokane Creek RV Park (they advertise for workampers) and then drove the Iron Mountain Road and saw the Presidents through the tunnels. We drove through Keystone on the way back. The last several times we have visited the Hills was on Thanksgiving visits - it was different to see all the shops open and the tourists filling the streets there. Back to my folks, we helped with some projects in their yard and visited.

Wednesday - Drove into town with my folks for errands and groceries. After lunch, we drove back in, dropping Mom off for an appointment and then went to Sam's Club to replenish our larder. Then we met my folks and sister for supper at Pizza Ranch. The evening ended and we said our goodbyes to them.

Rapid City iconic view

Thursday - up and ready to go. We hooked up the car in Rapid and hit the road. We drove the familiar I-90 eastward, destination Mitchell. Gary commented on the way that it felt strange - every other time we have driven that direction, it was always to get home and go back to work at our jobs in Sioux Falls. This time would be different. In our one year+ of our fulltime RVing, we have been in 17 states and two other countries. Every state west of the Missouri this time, except Utah and California. (And we were really close to California, when we were near Death Valley) We have seen many new areas and amazing views of all God created, from the main attractions we all have read about and in very unexpected places. Exactly what we hoped for when we made the decision to live this lifestyle. We have met wonderful people through the year from all over the country and look forward to keeping in touch with them and hopefully seeing them again.
We arrived in Mitchell mid afternoon and set up at the Lake Mitchell campground, next to our friends Wally and Jan, that we came to know in Arizona at the campground. They are from the Mitchell area and were back for the summer to visit family. We enjoyed visiting with them the rest of the day.

Lake Mitchell Campground

Friday - Today we headed to the Lake Hendricks area, east of White, SD. We were joining our daughter Katie, husband Jordan and two grandsons at Jordan's folks lake cabin there. We arrived first, set up and anxiously awaited the arrival of our family. They were there shortly after and we were able to start hugging and squeezing our little boys! Jim and Linda weren't too far behind. We had a great visit, supper and lovely weather.
Saturday was a little cooler and overcast. We went on a nature hike with the group, the little boys showed us all the berries and flowers they had discovered on their other hikes. We also found frogs and collected eight Monarch butterfly caterpillars. They had caught one a couple weeks before and were able to see the process of the chrysalis and then the butterfly hatching. Now there were eight more to watch. We went on a short boat ride in the afternoon - watched each of the boys take their turn driving the boat. Back on shore, we played games in the afternoon and then Gary made Peppers & Shells for supper.

Sunday - we went in to nearby White, SD for Mass, afterward had a nice visit with Fr. Dickinson. After breakfast, we flew kites and then we had a picnic lunch on the boat. After lunch, Jordan waterskiied, the boys had not seen him do that before. Back on shore, the boys had a waterfight with Jordan, as we sat and visited and laughed with them. Then it was time to clean up, pack up and everyone headed home. Finally back in Sioux Falls, we arrived at our site off Russell Street and got set up for a long stay!