Custer State Park Wildlife Loop and Needles Highway

Sunday, June 9th, the McClenny's and we worshiped with a small congregation in Custer, South Dakota.  The young preacher did an excellent job of presenting his lesson, and the members were very friendly.  It made us glad that we were there.  As a side note - ALWAYS LEAVE YOUR PHONE IN THE CAR! I actually put mine on silent before entering, but somehow my alarm had been set for 10:00 AM.  Yep, the alarm was not silent.  I kept poking Danny to tell him to turn off his phone since I knew mine was on silent.  I was so embarrassed!

Following services, we met the Rusts and the six of us along with Bailey their dog drove the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop and Needles Highway.  We were really hoping to see some wildlife and we weren't disappointed.

Most of the Loop was beautiful lush meadow land, with
wide open spaces and a blue blue sky.

Here's a herd of buffalo that was right next to the road - in fact
a couple of young calves blocked traffic for a little while.

Wild burros also blocked traffic and some of the tourists
got out to pet them.  NOT US as we thought they may bite.

There were many places that had single antelope in the
 meadows, but finally we saw a herd of them grazing on
the grass near the loop road.

Part way through the Loop, we stopped at Blue Bell Lodge for lunch.  Danny and I ate BBQ buffalo burgers and fries.  Not bad, but still my favorite burger is Burger King.  No, I don't have stock in Burger King, just like the taste a lot.... and the price is better than at Blue Bell Lodge. LOL!

Blue Bell Lodge without the ice cream was a log lodge with a huge fireplace.

Denise Rust, Linda McClenny and Maggie sitting on saddle
stools at the lodge.

During the afternoon drive, we found the Summer White House where  President Calvin Coolidge, his family and staff stayed for several months in 1927 and President Eisenhower in June, 1953.  Very quaint and remote place.

State Game Lodge

Part of our afternoon drive was on Needles Highway which meandered through mountains that had spires that resembled needles of barren rock.  Very strange formations and quite tall. Here are a few shots of various formations we saw there.

Danny drove us through 3 tunnels that were carved out of the rocks. The smallest one was a little over 8 feet wide as you can see below. Pretty nerve racking, but we made it fine especially since we pulled the mirrors in and drove at a snail's pace.

Below is Sylvan Lake that had a lodge and a rock climbing school nearby.  Many were enjoying this beautiful day and lake.

Picturesque Mountain Lake 

Rock Climbers atop a mountain.  I was amazed at what my little
camera picked up with its zoom lens.

Great day all around.  More later.

Wind Cave, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore

On June 7th,  during our drive from Ogallala, Nebraska, to South Dakota, Danny and I stopped at Hot Springs, S. D. to tour Wind Cave.  Three different formations are found in this cave that we haven't seen before.  They are frostwork, popcorn  and boxwork formations.  We went down 10 stories deep and were thankfully whisked back to the surface in an elevator. Here are a few photos of our tour.

This is the small opening into the cave when it was discovered.  Wind was so strong it blew the hat off of a man's head

Here we are in one of the narrow passageways of the cave. 

The last room we toured was very wide and low.  Danny looks like he's holding  the ceiling up with his head.


Yesterday, we toured two great monuments - Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt. Rushmore.

Crazy Horse will be huge if it is ever completed!  It is privately funded, so it will be many years before it is completed.As you can see from the model below, the deceased sculptor's family who is working on the monument still have an enormous job ahead to complete it. Crazy Horse is pointing toward "My lands are where my dead lie buried."  Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote and asked Korczak Zilokowksi to the Black Hills to carve Crazy Horse because he and fellow chiefs wanted the white man to know that the red man has great heroes, also.

The hole under his arm is large enough to hold a 10 story building.

The model is 1/34  scale

Crazy Horse is 3/4 mile behind us.

After lunch, Danny and I drove the short distance from our campground to Mt. Rushmore.  WOW! The mountains that lead to Mt. Rushmore are amazing.

We were astounded at the magnitude of Mt. Rushmore.  Such history!  What an amazing feat to make these prominent American figures spring from the mountain.

George Washington,  Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln 

Got a lady to take our photo in front of the monument

A fifteen minute ranger talk told us about how Gutzon Borglum
chose Mt. Rushmore as the sculpting site and some of the
problems he encountered.

Can you see why the Indians named these "The Black Hills"?

 We were thrilled with the opportunity to tour these sites. They were both impressive, but we were astounded with the magnitude of Mt. Rushmore.  Such history!  What an amazing feat to make these prominent American figures spring from the mountain.

After returning to the campground, we enjoyed some great chili that Linda prepared!  Yum!  My turn to provide dinner on Tuesday night,  What will it be?

 Today we hope to worship in Custer and then drive the Custer State Park Loop. We're told we'll see lots of wildlife on this drive - buffalo, deer, antelope, and prairie dogs.  Get ready for some animal photos!

Until later, be safe!

Ogallala, Nebraska

We awoke to SUNSHINE!!  YAY!  No storms during the night! We were blessed with a long and peaceful night's rest!  After a pancake breakfast at the Wakeeney KOA office, we headed toward Ogallala, Nebraska.  It was wonderful driving through western Kansas and Nebraska and seeing the wide open farms and ranches!  Seemed as though you could see "Forever."  So pretty.  Here are some of the things we saw.

We arrived in Ogallala, Nebraska in the early afternoon and enjoyed having coffee outside under our RV awning with Mike and Linda.  Then we had fun planning the activities we would do during our upcoming week in South Dakota.  Lots to look forward to!  A little later we drove into town to see Boot Hill and tour the town.  Danny looked for the drug store he and some friends went to way back in 1965 when they were on a wheat harvest work team.  Seems as though those boys were bored and went to the drug store to buy peroxide to bleach their hair.  Not exactly what they expected since it turned orange!  We didn't find the exact store, but he was pretty sure it was one of the downtown stores.  We finished our day by going to the Front Street Museum, gift shop and saloon/cafe for dinner.and a "Shootout In the Street."  Fun Day.!  

  

Oklahoma and Kansas Drive

How could the daytime have been so beautiful yesterday and the night sooooo stormy?  Yes, as we slept in El Reno, OK, a storm with strong wind gusts, hail and rain surged through the area around 3:30 AM!  YIKES!  This one rocked the fifth wheel, and it was really noisy!  But, once again, we survived with no damage.... just with a weariness of storms, rain and wind but thankful for God's care!

We pulled out this morning - June 5th, Wednesday - around 7:30 and headed toward Wakeeney, Kansas.  Although it was cloudy most of the day, the rain had ceased so the drive was safe and with little traffic.  We enjoyed the beautiful vistas as we traveled though rural Oklahoma and Kansas.  There was still a strong wind blowing and that caused us to use more fuel to pull the RV.  However, we weren't happy to pay $4 per gallon for diesel!  Ouch!  That hurt!  Here are some interesting photos of things we saw on this 300 mile trip.

Rolling Hills and Open Plains in Oklahoma

Hundreds of Huge Wind Mills Throughout this Area

                                                   
                                                         Beautiful Fields Dotted with Hay Rolls

Unusual Terrain In Oklahoma

Scrub Brush Covered Wide Open Spaces

Farm House and Facilities

Lots of Wind Mills to Pump Water into Tanks for Cattle 

A Feed Lot Outside of Dodge City, Kansas

Fenced Cemetery and Church Sheltered by a Tree Wind Break

 

Fuel Prices in Ness City, Kansas 

Numerous Grain Elevators in Oklahoma and Kansas

Clean and Neat Small Town Named  Jetmore, Kansas

Wakeeney, Kansas KOA 

Mike and Linda's Rig

Our First Weeks of Full Time RVing

Our adventure began when we sold our home in Springdale, Arkansas in May, 2103.  With the wonderful help of many friends and family, we personally moved our household belongings into a one bedroom plus garage apartment in the Memphis, Tennessee area.  WHAT A JOB!  I keep telling everyone that we will not do that again!

 Our “Maiden Voyage” has been challenging.  We closed on the sale of our house at 5:00 PM yesterday, May 20^th.  We rushed to my office to turn in the file on the sale and then parked our Enclave in a friend’s garage because storms were predicted.  Around 6:00 we got to the RV campground and set the Fifth Wheel up for the night.  I began supper and then the weather news said the storm was imminent.  So I turned off the stove and we took shelter in the bath house along with several other campers.  The wind blew like crazy, rain pelted down and lightning & thunder was abundant. It rained most of the night, but no more storms.  Thankfully, there was no damage near us, but our hearts ache for those in Moore, OK.  With God’s help and grace, we’ll be able to meet almost any challenge during the next year as we tour the USA. Here is our new home!  Spacious and very comfortable!

So far, we've really enjoyed our new place. It has a lot more storage than you would think, so we brought a lot of extras.  After all, we are going to call it home for a year or so.

Today, Danny got the fifth wheel ready to roll in the rain, and we headed to Branson for a few days.  It is chilly and damp, so we have used our fireplace to knock the chill out of the air.  It was a lazy day and Danny even got in a much needed nice long nap.  Tomorrow is suppose to be sunny, so we’ll take in some of the sights of Branson and might take in Silver Dollar City, too.  Our good friends, Les and Carolyn, are coming to Branson tomorrow, so we’ll have fun doing things together.

On May 24th we returned to Springdale to leave our fifth wheel at Pilgrim's Rest Campground so we could travel to Jason and Karla's in Abilene.  They've agreed to care for and use our SUV while we are on the road.  How wonderful to spend some quality time with them in their home and also at the Ft. Worth Zoo. AND how honored we were to attend the Citizenship Oath Ceremony in Irving, Texas and see Karla become a citizen of the United States of America!!    SHE'S A KEEPER!

                                                           Back Yard Fun in the Pool

Paint Time With the Girls

Panda Express for Lunch

                                              What an Impressive Zoo!  We Really Had Fun!

                                                   Jason, Karla and Two of Our GRANDS!

                                     Karla and Jason in front of US Citizenship and Immigration
                                                   Services Building in Irving, Texas

                                                      Karla Craddock, New Citizen!!

The Happy Family!!  

Danny and I returned to Springdale to pick up our Fifth Wheel and headed out for El Reno, Oklahoma on June 3rd. By mid-afternoon we met our good friends and traveling buddies, Mike and Linda at the El Reno South KOA  and enjoyed dinner at the Cherokee Trading Post Restaurant.  There was a Trail of Tears Mural painted on a building - see background- and a painted buffalo.Perfect photo op!

After enduring a fourth night of severe storms - but thankfully no tornadoes - we awoke to clearing skies and headed to Tuttle, OK for a tour of the Braum's Ice Cream and Bakery Facility!  Their facility and farm are amazing and no wonder their milk and ice cream is so delicious!  Followiing the tour, we enjoyed an ice cream treat and drove to OKC to do a little shopping at the Outlet Shoppes!  Got to pair of shoes, now I have to find a place for them in our packed RV!!

This ends our first couple of weeks as homeless folks!  Not a bad way to live except for the insecure feeling of being in a fifth wheel during storms...... NOT FUN!  
Until later.... M