To the Black Hills - #52-03

May 29, 2005 (Sun)
Camp Cabela's Mitchell, SD A
Rochester, MN to Mitchell, SD (302/1656 miles) Q01396

Another first for us today and it's one that can't be claimed by many. We took showers in a Kohl's Department store parking lot. We also had breakfast there and got off at about 8:00 (60.0°). It was all I-90 today. Traveling on Sunday morning is wonderful. Hardly a car in sight for the first hour or two. The land through Minnesota is mostly flat, plowed for huge farm crops. As we approached South Dakota it began to undulate with small hills. On the side of one hill we saw a huge dark object that looked strangely like the head of a large bull. It was! The sculpture, metal we think, was 60 feet tall and the center piece for the Porter Sculpture Park. This is a good area for wind mills and we have seen several groups. All very picturesque silhouetted against the sky. We stopped twice for gas - more because the price was right ($1.89 & $1.93) than because we needed it. We see it mostly for $2.09 and up around here. Joy drove some today (the first time that I have driven this larger motorhome -J.) so we stopped twice to change drivers and another time for lunch.

Mitchell, SD is the home of the world famous Corn Palace, a rather garish theater building topped with highly decorated Moorish type minarets, turrets and domes. Around the outside and on the inside walls are huge murals made from multiple varieties, therefore colors, of corn. In addition to the theater inside there are, what the brochure calls, "corn-session" stands and pictures of each of the palaces since first built in 1892. It really is a-maize-ing!

We're camped out tonight in a Cabela's ("World's foremost outfitter" "Hunting, fishing, and outdoor gear") parking lot. They welcome overnight RVers. They even have a dump station. It should be real quiet here as we are a long way from the highway.
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May 30, 2005 (Mon)
Badlands National Park, Cedar Pass CG, #69 dry $5.00p B-
Mitchell, SD to Interior, SD (213/1869 miles) Q014174

49° at 5:30 when we got up this morning but it had warmed up to 57° by the time we got off at 8:30. I-90 was straight and flat. We could see farmlands way into the distance. The rest areas at about mile post 300 have miniature churches in back. They were the size of large doll houses. What could they be all about? The topography change upon crossing the Missouri River was astounding. Suddenly we are in the west. It's hard to describe what the change was but looking at the distant treeless hills made us expect to see a large herd of cattle being driven by hard riding cowboys.

On one hill we saw a metal sculpture of a life sized(?) T-Rex skeleton being led on a leash by a human skeleton. Interesting! Further on there was a flat metal sculpture of a four horse stage coach being chased by a group of Indians. Animal life along the way: a herd of wild horses w/young running across the plain, cattle of various colors, goats, several antelope, and a camel.

Coming down into the Badlands National Park was spectacular. The rock formations making it the badlands are like huge piles of sand - some several hundred feet high. And they are everywhere. The campground is situated in a basin of unnatural looking "mountains" at a distance all the way around us. After setting up, we went out with Ed and Kathy in their toad and got some close-up views and many pictures.
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May 31, 2005 (Tue)
Rafter J-Bar Ranch #211 w/e/s $35.00p B+
Interior, SD to Hill City, SD (117/1986) Q014291

It rained all night making it easy to sleep and we slept well - and late. But we got off in good time (7:50 55.4°) and followed the Badlands Loop road out of the park. The odd landscape was no less awesome in the morning although driving through it was less dream like.

We had begun seeing bill boards for Wall Drug 322 miles out on I-90 and then every few miles from then on. We had to make it a stop especially since it was on the way - more or less. It turned out to be an ordinary drug store - a small part of it. The rest was tourist trap, albeit a nice one, that sold everything from clothing to gift shop items to six shooters (and holsters to carry them in). The place was huge - several shops linked together with doorways between. It even had a chapel. Well worth the stop.

On the way to Rapid City where we stopped for gas (at $2.19) we passed the Box Elder (exit 66). We got into the Rafter J-Bar Ranch campground where we met up with friends of Ed and Kathy's. We're in the middle of South Dakota's black hills near Mt Rushmore. After setting up, the six of us crammed into Ed and Kathy's toad and headed for the Crazy Horse Memorial. This mountain carving of the Sioux Indian chief Crazy Horse, when finished, will be the largest sculpture in the world. But even after 50 years only the face is complete. But the work goes on.

June 1, 2005 (Wed)
Rafter J-Bar Ranch, Hill City, SD (2)

We took a scenic tour through the Black Hills this morning. The Needles Highway is appropriately named for the many formations of tall pointed rocks that the road wound around and through (literally!). It was good that we were in Ed and Kathy's car as there were three one lane rock tunnels way too small for a motor home. One of them was 8'4" wide (Q is 8'6" wide without his mirrors!) We met a couple at the turn near that tunnel who were afraid that their large SUV wouldn't fit. It would but barely. The Iron Mountain Road has similar scenery complete with severe switch backs and narrow tunnels. But the tunnels on this road were wide enough for a bus - with a few inches to spare. On entering two of the tunnels, the famous Mount Rushmore sculpture was framed in the exit portal. The turn out at the highest point in the road presented a view of the Memorial as a carving on a rugged outcropping of rock among many. An interesting perspective. Although we drove under and around Mount Rushmore, we did not stop.

Animals seen along the way: Buffalo (Bison), burros, pronghorn antelope, and mountain goats.

This afternoon was for relaxing. Although the wind is gusty enough to rock Q at times the sun is out - between occasional sprinkles. The temperature is 70°.