As I have stated before, can anyone actually be “home” when you full-time in a RV and your “residence” is a mailbox?
Nevertheless, we have finally brought Jace to our home state of South Dakota, specifically to the Rapid City area. Barbara and I have yet to explore parts of South Dakota much outside of Rapid City, and one of these days we'll schedule a trip to other portions of the state, but Rapid City has a lot to offer a young lad of 9 years, and after all, it's HIS vacation.
However, our first morning there was taken up with legal issues at our lawyer's office, so exploration had to wait. The campground we stayed at, Spokane Creek, was unfortunately for me at an elevation above 5,000 feet, so my High Altitude Sickness was still a problem, and would be for the next week. The recommended drive up to the campground consisted of a 1 ½ lane local road with a series of switchbacks and inclines that challenged this seasoned driver for almost 20 minutes. Fortunately, no car came down in the opposite direction! We later found out that their website doesn't mention that that particular route was not recommended for motor homes, but for cars. We did manage to find a more suitable route on our way out that was much more RV-friendly, thank goodness!
The campground was located on Iron Mountain Rd, which locals proudly proclaim consists of “17 miles, 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails, 3 tunnels, 2 splits and 4 presidents”. And it was all that. Iron Mountain Road was our gateway to Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park and the nearby tourist trap of Keystone, SD. Fortunately, the campground also had a world class playground for Jace's enjoyment, however, their heated pool was NOT heated, with the water coming in somewhere in the mid-to-low 60 degree range.
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Great sign in front of our campground advertising the wonders of Iron Mountain Rd. |
The weather was comfortable, so we decided to hit Mt. Rushmore early in the stay, just in case bad weather moved in. Jace enjoyed the end-of-day ceremony where veterans were recognized by park rangers.
Keystone, SD, is a small town nestled in a valley below the Mt. Rushmore area. It features quaint shops, small eateries, and the typical tourist traps you find in small towns everywhere. It is a VERY conservative town once you see some of the merchandise being sold there. It's also home to Ruby's House, a very nice restaurant that features their signature Bison Stew served in a sourdough bread bowl. So naturally I had to continue my quest to reduce the bison population of SD, right? Yummy!
We never stay in South Dakota without a day visit to the town of Wall. Wall consists largely of the world famous Wall Drug Store, a sprawling multi-building one-stop shop for just about anything, including a bison burger (there I go again) for me. The reason we always stop there on every visit is because in one of their shops, they have a supply of those brass Christmas ornaments representing each state, and we're trying to get an ornament for each state we've visited to put on our little half tree that's set up in the RV. This year we picked up another 4 ornaments to add to our collection.
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Jace found his jackalope! |
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The closest Jace will ever get to a bison if we have any say in it |
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Bronco buster! |
I've mentioned in previous installments of our desire to spend at least one night at “The Wall at Wall”; a section of Bureau of Land Management real estate rising more than 300 feet above the Badlands. It's a spectacular sight, and the weather looked good for a one-night stay on our way to return Jace back home. Unfortunately, as we were taking a short reconnaissance drive through the area, the single road in and out was severely rutted, with a couple of deep holes that I felt couldn't be avoided with the motor home. We barely got around them in the Jeep! So once again, we bypassed the Wall at Wall with hopes for another chance on a future trip.
Custer State Park is always a great part of any visit to the Rapid City area. There's always a herd or two of bison working their way across the main access road to block your path, and this year was no different. The herd we encountered was smaller this year, but the speed with which the bison moved was incredible! Those beasts can move!
Our one disappointment this trip was the wild donkeys were missing entirely. Usually they are parked by a particular area next to the road, but they were all gone. We had bought 2 bags of carrots to feed them, and Jace was pretty disappointed we didn't get to use them.
The most stunning part of any drive through Custer State Park is the Needles Highway. Narrow, winding roads, a couple of low one-way tunnels, and rock formations that are simply out of this world. It looks like aliens came down and formed rock spires soaring hundreds of feet in the air for miles. Barbara and I never get tired of the view, and Jace was pretty impressed with the needles and the tunnels.
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Needles from a distance |
Since our animal adventure was a bit more limited at Custer State Park than in previous visits, we took Jace to Bear Country, USA, a drive-thru animal sanctuary about 20 minutes away from our campground. You pay your fee, keep your windows closed, and take a leisurely drive hoping to see some wildlife. It's not bad. We spotted elk, and bighorn sheep, and there were plenty of bears to see up close and personal, but due to the hot weather they were all pretty lethargic except for the bears in their pool or the bear cubs in their enclosure.
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Baby bears! |
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Big bear! |
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Swimming bear! |
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Goofball! |
With the days getting closer to Jace's return to school, it was time to break camp and head back to Georgia, but not before we introduced Jace to Barbara's and my good-luck charm when driving through South Dakota; 'Dignity of Earth and Sky'. After first seeing it on our initial trip to establish residency, we have made it a point to stop by – even for a moment – to pay our respects to her. Day or night, it doesn't matter. She resides in an I-90 rest area heading eastbound overlooking the Missouri River so she's easy to get to, and it was time on our way out to introduce Jace to our very special lady.
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They grow them prairie dogs big in the Dignity Visitor's Center! |
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Jace meeting our very special lady - Dignity of Earth and Sky |
We were able to hotfoot it back to Georgia in 3 day's time, with one memorable stop in southern Missouri where we were able to have dinner at Lambert's – Home of the tossed rolls. Yes, they really throw dinner rolls across their dining room, and they are fresh and hot and delicious. Their drinks also come in a huge mug which will have your bladder floating by the time your meal is over. But it was good food and good fun, especially for Jace who was able to catch his own roll!
The 3-day drive kind of wore me out, but we got Jace home with plenty of time to get ready for his new school year. As for Barbara and I, we got to stay at Yonah Mountain Campground near Helen, GA with full hookups and a pool for an entire month without having to worry about anything.
And I could recover in a lower altitude for a while.
Not exactly the vacation we had all hoped for, but Jace got to see everything we planned on him seeing, and then some. Over 3,000 motor home miles, nearly 5 ½ weeks, stops in 5 states and dozens of new memories with our grandson. Life couldn't be better.