Final Destination, Colorado

We said goodbye to South Dakota and headed on down the road.  Our last stop before Colorado was Sidney, Nebraska.  We stayed at Cabella’s RV Campground.  Yes, I know Cabella’s is a well known sporting retailer and who would believe that they have an RV campground as part of their establishment?  Certainly not me, but they do and it was quite nice actually.  So far on our trip, we have not encountered any real issues with truck or RV.  However, that luck ended here.  We discovered a tire was beginning to separate in places, yikes!  So, we found a tire dealer and bought a new set of trailer tires.  Good we discovered it before anything bad happened, bad that we had to spend the money.  Oh, well on we went.

We arrived at our final destination, Colorado early in the next afternoon.  We joined up with our friend Bonnie for a nice visit.  We are basically out in the middle of the beautiful mountains on a 35 acre ranch.  All around us are mountains and beauty that takes your breathe away!  The air is cool and refreshing, just what you would expect at 9,000 foot elevation.  Setting up our camp was a bit of a challenge as the ground had a pretty good slope, but being “old salts” at this, instead of using the auto leveler system we did it the old fashioned way, manually with a level.  How wonderful to throw open the windows and let the air inside and the girls were thrilled to get to explore.

Being at altitude is interesting; shortness of breathe at the slightest exertion and a little headache is a constant.  At night, once the lights are out the darkness is like a curtain covering everything.  The silence is absolute except for the occasional Coyote calls in the distance.  The temperatures drop into the 50’s or even the 40’s so we snuggled up under the blankets and even turned on the furnace!  With the dawn, life is all around us.  There are all sorts of birds, lots of hummingbirds and cows.  Yep, cows roam freely on this open range.  You can hear them mooing to each other and the girls had an absolute fit!  I started mooing to them and they to me while Charlotte looked from me to the cows to Jim as if to say, what???  So funny.

 We went into one of the little nearby towns to enjoy a music festival.  It is a tiny place with some interesting establishments and other eclectic collections of vintage, rusting cars among other things.  There are all sorts of folks that came down from the various ranches.  True mountain men and women who live life on their own terms.  I saw more beards of every description some of them were….well yikes would cover it.  We danced and drank and had a ball. The locals are so very friendly and welcoming.  It was a good time.




Here are pictures of the beauty of this wonderful place.  We are loving "dry camping" and waking each day to the wonder of nature.

Our lovely vista.

11 Mile State Park

Fixer Upper

Interesting gate marker

Alpaca Ranch nearby

Donkeys beside the road

He was near our RV one morning

Unusual markings for a donkey

This fella came running to us braying away, guess he wanted some food.

Lovely ranch tucked at the base of this ridge.

Badlands National Park

Just saying the name “Badlands” bring to mind visions of vast wasteland, deserts and landscapes without color.  But nothing could be farther from reality.  We headed out to visit the park mid morning.  The drive from Hermosa took about 90 minutes.  As soon as we were out of town, we passed a herd of Bison!  I was totally unprepared as my camera was still in the case.  Rats!  Ah well, I have seen them before but still….

The landscape passed through grasslands and ranches of cattle and Bison.  A pretty drive with everything green and lush.  Gradually, we began to see rock formations in the distance; we were finally approaching the park.  Badland Park contains waste land, desert-type areas but it also contains grasslands with cattle and farms with corn etc.  It is an amazing place.  Pictures tell the tale.

Large herd of Bison was a surprise.

Lone Bull Bison

Prairie Dog basking in sun.

Yep, two happy campers!

On the Road to Hermosa,SD

Before I begin sharing our next adventure, you need to know that for much of the time we are out of cell and/or wifi.  When wifi has been available, the signal has been so weak that publishing has been impossible.  So, please enjoy even though they are not timely.  Bobbye

Leaving Medora behind, we headed to South Dakota.  The landscape changed from the flat prairie to rolling hills.  There were more cattle farms but the ever present corn was also all around.  Many of the farms grow Alfalfa to be used for hay.  Apparently, this is the time of the year when it is harvested and baled.  It is interesting that we saw large numbers of bales between the highway shoulder and the fencing for the farms.  We asked about it and it turns out that farmers can apply for permits to plant this area and harvest the hay along with their fields.  It is a neat way to keep the highways clear of weeds and make extra income at the same time.

It is amazing what you see as you travel along the way.  We saw this plane flying low in the distance.  When we were close enough to see what it was doing, we realized that it is was dusting the Sunflower fields.  He swooped low over the rows in the field and banked and climbed at each end.  Amazing to watch the process especially since we both flew and know the skill it takes.

At Bowman, we came across some interesting airplanes on the road side.  I have no idea what they were designed to be, but they sure did catch our eye as we drove past.

Our destination, Hermosa is on the far side of Rapid City.  On the near side, lies the small town of Sturgis.  We had been told that our arrival day coincided with the beginning of an annual Motorcycle event.  It is a week long “party” and riders come from all over the place to attend.  There were groups of bikes on the roadway as we drove in.  Campgrounds were filled to the brim as far as 100 miles away!  It looked like it was going to be quite a party!!  But as they say, what happens in Sturgis, stays in Sturgis.  In all honestly, it is not just about partying, they raised money for charities and had events for children and all sorts of things.  Bikers are more than leather and loud noise, they are good citizens.

After setting up camp, we decided to make the most of the balance of the day and head for Mt. Rushmore.  I have seen pictures many times, but like seeing Lady Liberty, it just does not do it justice.  The figures left to right are Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln.  We would have loved to see them at night when they are bathed in light, but we wanted to move on to our next stop.

About 30 minutes from Rushmore is another mountain of rock that is being carved with the likeness of Crazy Horse.  The Indian people wanted a carving to represent their contribution to our great nation.  They also wanted to establish a museum of their culture and history as well as a university.  The work began in 1948 with the first explosion of dynamite.  In the ensuing years, the museum has been completed and the university has also been established.  But the carving itself, well you can see the picture.  When completed, it will depict Crazy Horse astride his horse, his right hand holding a spear and his hair blowing in the wind as he rides.  Since the project is strictly funded from donations and no government monies are accepted even though it has been offered a couple times, it could take many more years to complete.  We were a bit disappointed but Rome was not built in a day!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a wonderland

The old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words" is true.  I could write a book about how we were impacted by the beauty of the park.  We spent three hours plus driving the loop road (and repeating part of it), stopping and taking pictures and watching wildlife.  So many folks go into the park with the only goal of seeing wild animals.  While it is nice to see the bison or horses or prairie dogs, it is the land itself that draws us in. The striations of color in the formations and the vistas of beauty to be seen, well it is worth the time to take it all in.  When we entered, the ranger at the gate said something that hit us both.  As we drove away, she said "enjoy your park".  That says it all.  Like the song, "this land is your land, this land is my land...."  Enjoy a few of the many pictures I took of this wonderful place.

We saw two groups of "feral" horses that day.  The horses are commonly called "wild" however, wild refers to horses who have never been domesticated.  Feral are horses or any animal who have been released into the wild and thus are referred to as feral.  I never heard that before but it makes sense.

There are several Prairie Dog Towns" located in the park.  These tiny creatures are funny to watch and we could hear their squeaking as we enjoyed watching them.

There are hundreds of these
mounds forming their "towns"

When they are alarmed, they
disappear into the holes and can
reappear in another

These guys were in another "town"
but cute as a button

The landscape is amazing.  It reminded us of a combination of painted desert and canyons in Utah.

Red color at the top glowed in the sunset later in the evening

The formations are raw looking.

There were campgrounds near here, a lovely place to be.

This formation reminded me of a lion ready to pounce.

Medora, Salute to Theodore Roosevelt

The road to Medora was an easy drive; smooth and straight as an arrow.  As we drove along, the landscape began to change from flat prairie to more rolling, green hills.  The ever present corn and soy beans were still there as were the Sunflower fields.

Any time we drive from place to place, we are bound to see all sorts of billboards and other things designed to lure you into a stop.  Sometimes, you pass something that has no explanation like this piece of sculpture.  It looks much like an eye to me.  There was no explanation but it certainly caught my eye and demanded a picture.  Perhaps is pays tribute to all the migratory birds that go through ND.

Medora, population 132 is the gateway to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the number one tourist destination in ND.  Imagine that!  It is a tiny town but filled with pride and patriotism for its country and the history of this town.

Our final night here, we went to a dinner and musical production called Medora. It is held at a venue on top of a bluff where an amphitheater has been created for the show that has been in operation for 60 years+.  We were told that they have served as many as 1200 people at a time!  How can a town of 132 support this I wondered.  Well, volunteers from all around come and donate their time for a week, imagine that.  The dinner features "fondue steak" as a signature dish.  They actually put steaks on pitch forks and put them in oil or seasoned broth, I am not sure which but the result is delicious.  The show was very well done and entertaining.  As the show was beginning, on the hills above we could see two large Elk.  Now, it was not by chance mind you that they were there.  Somehow they had "trained" these two to come everyday at this time.  They put some food up there and as soon as they open the gate, the Elk make a beeline to get the food.  However it happens, it was amazing to see.  The show had many elements that honored not only our country and her veterans but also Theodore Roosevelt, conservationist whose efforts ensure our nation's natural wonders can be enjoyed for years to come.

Maltese cross 

Maltese cross cabin

If you remember your history, you know that he lost both his Mother and wife within hours of each other.  Suffering from profound grief, he left his infant daughter with his sister and made his way West ending up in ND at Medora.  He lived, worked and wrote in what is now known as the Maltese cross cabin.  Teddy and his companions used spent rifle cartridges to pound the Maltese cross into the end of one of the exterior logs of the cabin which was moved to the grounds of the visitor center of the park that bears his name.

Teddy loved North Dakota.  He found peace and solace here living the life of rancher, hunter and explorer.  It is here in Medora that his ideas about conservation and the “strenuous life” took root.  Without his experiences here, we would not have the National Park system that is so important to us personally and to our country.

We started our visit to the park at the visitor center where there was a great deal of history about Teddy and people he met and worked with in Medora.  People like Marquis de Mores and his wife.  They shared the love of the ND land and the life of peace it brought.  I could go on and on but this is a blog not a history lesson, right?  One of the things that struck me at the museum was a statue of Teddy astride his horse.  It is made from strips of wood, painstakingly put together to form not only the horse but the figure of TR as well.  The figure is wearing clothing that he wore on a daily basis.  It was an amazing work of art.

After the museum, we joined a line of traffic waiting to proceed into the heart of the park.  Road work is necessary for sure but it can be a pain in the neck when one wants to get going.  The first 13 miles of the road into the interior is under repair so we had to wait for the pilot car to lead us through to the other side.  But once we were in the park, well, you have to read my next blog to find out!