8/24/14 – Morning was brilliant blue sky and sunny,  but stayed pretty cool, we hiked a few trails in the park, driving west on the park road. Really neat rock formations and features, breathtaking views at many trail spots.

After, we drove on through the park, stopping at vista points,…

…and at one spot for a herd of female bighorn sheep slowly ambling across the road.

Exited from the west end of the park back to the I90, and stopped Wall Drugs. There we had bison burgers on gluten-free buns, very good! Then we toured this unique landmark with all its stores, amusement areas and attractions, before heading west again.

We detoured south around Custer State Park to Wind Cave National Park, pausing to watch some bison at the side of the road, then heading straight to the campground.

We chose a site all by ourselves – nice to feel a little secluded again – in an open area where we could watch for wildlife.

That evening we attended a ranger talk on mapping at the amphitheater, which had a pretty good turnout considering the emptiness of the campground!

8/25/14 – We got moving early today, wanting to make the first cave tour at 9 am. We drove down from our campsite to the visitor center, picked up our FREE tickets, and still had time to check out a film on the history of the park and cave first. The cave is one of the largest in the world in terms of extent, over 140 miles of mapped passages so far in several levels, and most of the passages falling within a 1 mile square under the visitor center. Estimates are that this is only about 10% of the true extent. This is considered a ‘dry’ cave system – not enough water filtering down to create stalactites and stalagmites. Instead, the walls have extensive covers of ‘popcorn’ and ‘frost’ features, as well as ‘boxworks’ – about 94% of this last feature found in the world.

After the tour, we drove the rig to a trailhead to hike a loop trail we THINK is the one we saw on the TV show ‘Motion’. We turned back when we discovered that poison ivy was rampant in the riparian sections of the trails, doffed our shorts, donned our jeans, and headed back out. A short time out on the trail we spotted a herd of bison resting and grazing a bit off to one side, then were chided frequently by sentinel prairie dogs as we tromped through their towns.

Shortly we spotted a female elk a little ahead grazing, then a few more, including a male with a huge rack, and then as our trail approached them they began to head upslope away, and more and more began bounding away and over the hill. As we crested the hill, we saw where they were gathered ahead, and realized the full extent of the herd – at least 50, with many mature males among them! This is the most either of us had ever seen at once.

We continued on, traversing many different terrains. While following the trail through the woods, a pair of young male mule deer broke cover and bounded away. The trail was generally well marked, but after crossing a stream it appeared to head steeply straight up a hill. After reaching the top, exhausted, it was apparent from my little Garmin GPS that we were way off track from where we were supposed to be. At this point we bushwhacked directly across virgin prairie to intersect the trail we had started out on, then followed that most of the way back. Worn out, we drove out of the park, and headed a route skirting north around Custer State Park and up towards the town of Keystone, gateway to Mount Rushmore. Our campsite was at Kemp’s Kamp on Old Hill City Road. We drove in the long way on this canyon road, which could not be negotiated at higher than about 15 mph, and criss-crossed railroad tracks up the canyon at least a dozen times. Luckily, the steam train that carries tourists up and back on this track from Keystone probably does not top 12 mph. Wild turkeys greeted us as we pulled into our campsite.

Dinner and a laundry load rounded out our evening, punctuated occasionally by the train slowly chugging past and tooting at every crossing on the road…

8/26/14 – Since we had our campsite until tomorrow, and no obligations until our friends arrive in the evening, we relaxed in the morning, taking our time, doing some laundry, cleaning our home, watched the psychotic wild turkeys dancing back and forth across the road. Eventually we got the rig ready for travel up to Mt. Rushmore, headed up and parked - $11 for the parking, entrance free. We took pics, toured the exhibits, and enjoyed a demonstration of Lakota song and dancing by a young native woman and her older male companion. Very energetic and evocative.

We left and got back to our parking spot JUST as the rain started. However, it dissipated by the time we arrived back at our campsite, so we relaxed some more until Mary and Angelo came by to pick us up for dinner. Our friends were finishing up their car trip from their home in Florida, westward through the south to Los Angeles, and had just arrived from the Grand Canyon.We went to the Powder House restaurant in Keystone, where we caught each other up on our respective trips, and enjoyed our well-prepared meals – I had breast of pheasant, Nancy elk medallions, Mary and Angelo both enjoyed the Walleye.

After they dropped us back at camp, we spent the remainder of the evening discussing where to go from here and when we wanted to arrive home.

8/27/14 – Our goal is now home – over three months away from it, and now just close enough we’re galloping for the barn. Most places enroute are repeats of previous trips, so the lure of exploration and discovery can’t hold us back. We are still passing neat scenery enroute, so we may post a few pics here and there. As we enjoyed breakfast and coffee in the rig, we watched a family of deer graze and cross the road from the campground to the traintracks and up the hill. One, however, paused just across the road, then trotted back past our cab, back over to the tent sites, where a family was packing their minivan to leave. When they saw the deer headed over, one of them held out some food he had, and the deer came right over and ate it from his hand! Eventually he went back and joined his mates, but none of the other deer had paid any attention.

We left Keystone this morning with a goal of Casper, WY, but not much to see under mostly rainy skies, other than grazing pronghorns.

However, the roads were excellent, uncrowded, and we made good time, so we pressed on to a KOA in Rawlins on the I80. Dry and chilly this evening, with the whine of truck tires from the freeway to lull us to sleep. A practical note: we stopped at our second Walmart for shopping since re-entering the US. Neither one had free wifi, so this may be unique to Canada. We had also found some desirable products in the Canadian Walmarts that seem to be unavailable here.

8/28/14 – Westward bound on the I80, I drove for awhile in excellent conditions, blue skies, so after a rest stop, Nancy took over. Within a couple of miles we again hit a construction zone with one narrow lane and the other direction only a row of cones away…and the clouds started to gather. However, no rain, but as we descended toward Salt Lake City, traffic started converging from all sides as we transitioned to the 215 and then the I15, although it kept moving right along. Finally, after leaving Lake Utah behind, we were once again in the country, with gorgeous mountains to our left as companions, and the pilot could relax. We pulled in for the night to Yuba state park, temp about 78, and dry. No hookups, but front row to the lake, and with fans going, the rig kept cool as the evening progressed. Dinner of grilled bison steak, grilled marinated zucchini, seasoned potatoes, a tomato, cucumber, orange pepper salad, and a bottle of Zinfandel.

8/29/14 – This is the last post. Today we drove to Vegas, temps rising from 57 F at 9 a.m. to 103 F at 2 p.m. in the Circus Circus KOA campground. Roof air full blast can barely keep it liveable inside until sunset, so we walked over to the casino for a buffet dinner –   not worth a comment, but decent restaurants in Vegas are NOT a bargain – then walked around a bit inside to see what has changed in the two decades since we were last here. We had thought of strolling the Strip, but this is not the season for that. Tomorrow we hope to get home at a decent hour to start cleaning, repairing, maintenance, etc…or maybe just collapse.

Thanks to those who have been enjoying the blog, and especially all the comments! We’ve read them all, even if I haven’t been able to always reply. It turns out I’ll be posting this from home, as the wifi here is now shared by hundreds of rigs. So, for now, it’s goodby, eh!

8/21/14 – This morning, we drove around the lake to take pics of a house at the end Nancy’s brother remembered, then headed southeast on forest service roads to Cisco Bar in Cisco Landing, on Cisco Lake, for pics of another of her brother’s memories.

Finally, we reconnected with the 2 west and headed to the west end of the UP, across Wisconsin, and into Minnesota at Duluth, where we connected with the 35 south. Our goal, as time is getting short, is to make tracks to South Dakota’s Badlands and Mount Rushmore, no slight to the intervening states. We spent the night in Hinkley at the Casino, very nicely groomed full-service RV park, inexpensive, and free shuttle back and forth to the casino. We had a decent, very inexpensive dinner there, and Nancy used our free scrip to win $11 at video poker.

8/22/14 – Below Hinkley, we took the 23 southwest to the 90, immediately crossing into South Dakota and stopping at the visitor center. Unfortunately, it turns out there is WAY too much to see and do there, starting a couple miles down the road, so we headed a few miles north to Garretson, and spent the night at Palisades SP. The weather seemed a bit threatening, so we stayed in, and shortly after going to bed, thunder started rumbling, a few good cracks, lots of lightening flashes, and then the rain. For hours it poured, most of the night.

8/23/14 – Morning was cloudy, but no rain, so we walked around the park trails to the fascinating rock formations in and around Split Rock Creek.

After that ,we drove just north of town to Devil’s Gulch, and hiked around the neat topography at that end of the creek, including the bridge across the gap Jesse James leapt his horse over to escape a posse!

Back on the 90 west. At 58 mph, it takes a LONG time to cross this state, so we took a break at Mitchell. In town is the Corn Palace, basically a country music hall, and the outside and inside are decorated every year with murals composed only of corn. Quite an artistic endeaver! It takes them most of the summer to complete them, and then next year they do it all again.

Nancy took over driving for the first time in quite awhile, and of course had to endure major lane narrowing and simultaneous heavy downpours, through major construction projects. I had to endure her colorful language. She held up, though, and drove most of the rest of the day.

I took over shortly before the turnoff to the Badlands, where we drove a few miles into the National Park to the Cedar Pass campground.

Only no-service sites left, but the views were great across expanses of prairie with the rock formations pushed up around the perimeter. Storm clouds threatened, with streaks of lightning and strong wind gusts, and occasional light spurts of rain, but near sunset, a brilliant double rainbow appeared, from horizon to horizon. Unfortunately, it was WAY too immense to fit in the frame of a snapshot.

A pleasantly chilly evening.