North Dakota - WOW

April 26, 2007

Well, the day is beautifully sunny and 39 degrees when we got up. Looks like the bad weather has departed so we will continue heading northwest. We are trying to stay off interstates for the most part. It is just easier driving and we see a lot more.

Still have not fixed the awning as the weather was too bad yesterday and we wanted to get an early start today. We plan on staying near Rapid City, ND for several days, so will do the repair and rearranging of our supplies at that time. Over all everything is going well and we have settled into a routine.

It is hard to believe that it is so warm in FL. Spoke with Edie yesterday and she said that summer had arrived!!!

We are continually amazed at the wide open spaces and the few houses. We just came through Lewellyn, NE, all the roads in the town are dirt!!! We are starting to see some rocky out croppings, traveling route 26 west fom Ogallala, NE. Will probably stop at a campground in NW Nebraska, there seems to be lots to see there and the area is getting more and more lovely.

We are seeing such vistas we are in awe. We see the thunderstorms in the distance. We are in Chadron, NE and I think we can see South Dakota from here. The difference typography is amazing and keeps me from doing my crocheting as I don’t want to miss a thing!!!

April 27, 2007

We are so mixed up about what day it is. I have been putting the wrong dates in my log! Now we are getting confused about what time it is!! Yesterday we past the mountain time line and did not change the clock so I got up at 5am thinking it was 6!!! It was so cold I had to get up and get some coffee and hot cereal. I told Doug we were going to just have to start using the heat. It was 38 degrees when I got up today!!! That is even too cold for me!!!

We missed the turn-off to the campground I wanted to go to and ended up in a Wal-Mart parking lot again. I don’t really mind it, but I was hoping to find a place to stay for a couple of days.

We should have taken a bit more time to get here. We are finding a lot of campgrounds and museums don’t open until May 1st!!!!

The weather is clear and cold. We had a good rain storm last night, I was glad we were not parked on soil!!

We came up route 385 and stopped at Mammoth Museum in Hot Springs, SD. It is where they uncovered a sink hole in 1978 with the remains of many mammoths. They built a building right over the hole and are still excavating it leaving the remains where they find them. It was very interesting.

We then continued on through Black Hills National Forest. We got real excited when we saw fields of prairie dogs. They are so cute.

We spotted a bison grazing along the road but Doug could not stop the RV fast enough for me to get a picture, so he pulled off the side of the road and we ran back up the hill. I watched him graze hoping he would lift his head so I could get a good picture. He finally did and stared right at us. I got a couple of picks and then he started walking toward us. We backed up and he kept coming. Real smart tourists we are!!! It kept coming so Doug and I started running down the hill - Doug yelling “the RV’s not locked”!!! The bison did not increase his pace but he didn’t stop either. As I started getting in the RV Doug told me to get this real great picture, he was not 20 feet from the RV!!! Then we realized, we had parked right next to a mineral lick and that was what he was after - he really didn’t care about us!!! We had a good laugh, but also realized we had not been very smart!

We are parked at Horse thief Campground!! Doug says he feels right at home!!! It is a lovely park but only partially opened. As we drove in the creek along the road had large areas that were still frozen over!

After getting settled, Doug said he wanted to go for a ride!!! Believe it or not we were both ready. We drove through some really beautiful rock formations. I am only including a few here but have plenty to bore anyone who would like to see them when we get home. Nicholas, we have some great ideas for you to make my album into a video!!! Keep it in mind we would really like it and I think you would have fun doing it.

We got to Mount Rushmore and I was not disappointed. I know Chip, you said you were disappointed but I think it was because you were here in season. We had very few people and could really enjoy it. They were filming a movie with Nicholas Cage so some of the areas were roped off, but it didn’t spoil our experience. How amazing the vision the sculptor had to have, and the talent to complete such a project.

We drove back to the campground over what is called Iron Mountain Rd. and has extreme switch backs. What a great ride, but Doug was getting nervous as it was getting late and he did not want to be on that road after dark. We arrived back around 7pm. We have decided we need to be a bit more cautious about timing.

This is a really nice campground, not completely opened, but lots of trees and good facilities. We have deer grazing right at our spot. When I see them I think of Charlie Cook. I remember visiting him in NY and telling him how cute the deer were outside the kitchen window!! He was not at all happy with them!!! Guess it all depends on your point of view!!! We have already gotten so used to seeing buffalo, deer, prairie dogs, pheasants, goats and wild turkey, that we only comment casually about them!! I still get a good picture when I can!!

We had a great buffalo roast for dinner tonight that we got at the Bison Ranch. Rather expensive, but very good.