Monday, May 23, 2022

Temperature 45 Degrees, Sun, then Rain, then Sun

Custer State Park

Wildlife Loop Road

Neither cold, nor wind, nor rain (and sometimes you get all three in one day), will keep us from going sightseeing. After all, that is what we came here for. And who knows if we will ever be back this way again. So we are going to make the most of it regardless of what Mother Nature throws at us.

We decided to begin with a tour of Custer State Park. A park which by the way will in all likelihood be renamed within the next several years. No one has any idea of the new name but probably something that will honor the indigenous people in this area. Old General Custer is not well liked in these parts. When you dig into his history you find that he was a loud-mouth braggard that thought little of the native American Indians who once lived in this region. It is going to be interesting, I believe, to discover what the park will eventually be known as.

But one thing that is sure not to change is the very character of the park. There will still be the scenic drives, fishing lakes, bison herds, all other kinds of wildlife, campgrounds and resorts, and towering granite spires . This is what we were here to discover and see for ourselves firsthand.

We began our exploration of the park with a stop at the Visitor Center.

With an area of 114 square miles it is among the largest state parks in the United States.

We learned that Governor Norbeck was the overwhelming driving force behind the formation of the park and the development of the scenic drives throughout the park. He believed in both the preservation of the natural beauty of this region but also that the region should be accessible so that all could enjoy its beauty and wonders.

It was Custer’s expedition in 1874 into this region that led to originally naming the park after him. We’ll have another blog on both Custer’s expedition and also Gordon Stockade.

As in many other areas of the country during the Great Depression, The Civilian Conservation Corps was instrumental in constructing much of the infrastructure and many of the buildings in the park.

There is so much to see, to discover, to learn that at first it was overwhelming. We were wanting to go in too many directions at once. Eventually, we put a plan together and began to implement it.

Pick any building in this region and you will find one, if not many walls decorated with furs, and animal heads, and mounted animals.

Where do we feel most at home in the park? I don’t believe we can answer that just yet. We are still in discovery mode. Check back with us later and perhaps we’ll know.

There is also a large and very informative exhibit regarding the bison that inhabit the park. However, just a week ago they opened the new Bison Center that almost mirrors what is in the Visitor Center. So, in a future blog I’ll combine information from both the Visitor Center and the Bison Center and share with you some interesting information about the Bison herd that roams the park.

We discovered that there are three scenic drives within the park: Wildlife Loop Road; Needles Highway; and, Iron Mountain Road.

We decided to first drive the Wildlife Loop Road. The road is 18 miles long and loops around the southern part of the park. There are numerous turn-outs along the way that allow you to stop and enjoy the views. We had high hopes of seeing all kinds of wildlife along the road. Alas, that was not to be the case. We later discovered that if you really want to see wildlife you need to be on the road no later than 8 am in the morning. Uh, I don’t know if that is going to happen.

Then, there they were. The bison of Custer State Park.

Of course the signs are everywhere warning you to stay away. They may look slow but they can cover the distance of a football field in little or no time.

Now, we have an animal of a different sort.

Here we have what are affectionately known as the begging burros of Custer State Park. These animals were first used as pack animals to get visitors from Sylvan Lake Lodge up the steep path to the summit of Black Elk Peak. When the tourist trips ended the burros were released into the wild. They are extremely friendly and if you meet them on the road don’t roll your window down unless you have a cracker or an apple for them to eat!

OK, time to call it a night. Time once again to bring the extra blankets out, turn on the electric heaters and let the water drip. Yup, another cold night. We’re sort of, just sort of, getting used to them. But warm weather is on the way. Should be here, now let me see, I believe this Thursday or Friday. How long will it stick around? You got me.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Temperature 38 Degrees, Snow off and on

This Is Crazy!

How low can you go? I’ll tell you. How about 20 degrees. That was the temperature last night around midnight. And the same is forecast for tonight.

In 4 years of full time RV life we never witnessed temperatures this low. Especially in the month of May. But I guess there is a first for everything. However, this is one first that I can do without.

We disconnected our water at the spigot last night therefore we didn’t have any issues with pipes freezing. We’re grateful, too, that our furnace, heat pumps and electric heaters are working like a champ. It may be cold outside but inside we are warm and comfortable.

Come now to this morning. It was a bit challenging. It began when I poured Ms. Barbara her morning cup of coffee and set it down on her table which was next to her. The cup had sprung a leak! Some paper towels and that mess was cleaned up.

We turned our TV on and received the message Complete Signal Loss. Now what? Well an eyeball inspection of our antenna and I believe I can see what the issue is. In a couple of hours I’ll go up and confirm my suspicions. If I’m correct it should be an easy fix.

What’s the old saying? Bad things usually come in three’s? Ms. Barbara started to make breakfast and turned on one too many appliances. All of our outlets were dead in an instant. But I knew immediately what had happened. This happened once before about a year ago and I learned at that time what happens. The circuit breaker on our converter/inverter had popped. Outside I went to reset it and in seconds we had power again to all of our outlets.

That was our morning. Challenges indeed. We’re inside today. No sense running around in the cold. In a day or two it is supposed to get warmer. Like in the 40’s and 50’s during the day. That my friends is a heat wave in these parts.

Have a great day and make the most of every moment that God gives you.

Friday, May 20, 2022

Temperature 39 Degrees, Solid Cloud Cover

Black Hills Burger and Bun

South Dakota Railroad Museum

Holy snow flake Batman its snowing!

Yesterday we watched the temperature plummet from the 50’s to the low 30’s in no more than an hour. Than, imagine my surprise – or should I say shock – when I looked outside and it was snowing. That’s right – snowing. OK, it was only a snow shower but it lasted for hours. Then this morning the forecast indicated we would be getting an inch of snow. Fortunately, they were dead wrong. But come on now isn’t this the month of May.

But wait, it isn’t over yet. Tonight and tomorrow the temperatures are supposed to go into the low 20’s. Now this is getting down right ridiculous! Ms. Barbara was talking to the owner of the RV park and she stated in her seven years of ownership this is the first time in the month of May that temperatures have every gone below freezing. I wonder, should I feel honored that it waited for my appearance to take a nose dive!

Time to go into polar bear mode. I have Reflectix in all the windows. I’ve taped the bedroom window shut since it doesn’t really close tight. The kitchen slide is in since it basically has the majority of our plumbing in it. No sense having it all hang out in the wind and cold. I’ve got a trouble light in the wet bay. I’ve treated the diesel fuel with Power Service Anti-Gell recommended by Cummins. Our water lines have been disconnected and drained. Our electric heaters are out and going strong. I believe we are ready.

Enough of that stuff. Today we pulled out our winter coats and our hats and decided to just get out.

Our first stop was Custer. It’s a typical, small tourist town. If you blink, you’ll miss it.

Specifically, this is where we were headed. It was a recommendation from a local and we decided to give it a try.

I thought that this sign was really unique. And speaking of unique. . .

They also had some nice glass light globes and stained glass windows.

But I bet what you really want to know about is the food. In a word it was scrumptious. We had fried pickles which were oh so good. As for our burgers, they were absolute winners. I savored each and every morsel from beginning to end. Want a burger? This is the place to go.

But we weren’t done for the day yet. Off to Hill City we went.

This was to be our first stop. However, they were closed since staff was in training today. This was not looking good.

Next stop, and it was open. This is the South Dakota State Railroad Museum. It is located next to the Black Hills Central Depot. It is a small museum but we soon discovered that it has some very interesting exhibits.

Over and over we’ve learned that the railroads built a region, a city, or even a state. We’ve also learned that all too often over time the majority of the rail lines have been abandoned. It makes one wonder why? And makes me ask would we be better off today as a country with a stronger rail system in place?

Graffiti actually once served a very practical purpose. It was used to note arrival and departure times, contents of cars and their weight.

I always thought it was a station. Now I know what it really is – a depot.

The depot agent must have been a very busy individual.

I believe I’ll stick with my cell phone regardless of the problems I sometimes have with it.

They had a two wall mural time line from which I learned some new things today. For instance:

The Time Zones we know today are a result of the railroad. Before they went into effect it was hard to set a schedule for a train since times varied widely throughout America.

The handwriting appears to be on the wall as they say.

Well, I definitely learned a number of new things today which makes it a good day.

But before we go, see if you can figure out what the following is:

So, they don’t want you to sit on the Velocipede. But what is a Velocipede? I had to know. Time for Google. I discovered that it was a light, three-wheeled, self-propelled vehicle used for railroad inspection. However, with three iron wheels and an ineffective spring under the seat to absorb bumps, it soon was given the nickname boneshaker.

There were, of course, more exhibits in the museum but I hope I’ve shared with you some of the more interesting ones. It is one of those museums that I’m glad I took the time to visit but not one that I would necessarily say is a must for a bucket list. But, if you are ever in the area do give it some consideration.

OK, time to go pull out all the blankets that we an find. It’s 10 pm and the temperature is already down to 29 degrees and forecast to go lower – like around 21 or 20. Yup, once we’re back home this will definitely be a trip that we will talk and chuckle about. If we don’t freeze in place before we get there!

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Thursday, May 19, 20200

Temperature 62 Degrees, Overcast

Mixing Business with Sightseeing

Black Hills Visitor Center

Museum of Geology

From The Refrigerator to the Freezer

Yesterday Ms. Barbara had an 8:30 am Lab Appointment in Rapid City. Which meant we had to be up and out no later than 7:15 am. Ugh.

We arrived with time to spare and figured she would be in and out within minutes. NOT! It seems her doctor had not faxed the script to the lab. She now began to play phone tag with her doctor. She finally, forty five minutes later, was able to reach someone to fax the script over. You know what they say better later than never.

Since she could not eat before the lab test, immediately after she was done we headed here.

Time to order.

I mean they have every variety of coffee one could ever want. I always go for a Frappe. The bottom line, the bagels were delicious and so was the coffee. I’m so glad we decided to support this local business.

After breakfast we went to the Black Hills Visitor Center. We usually find the visitor center a great place to start when you move to a new area.

A very inviting place which was well laid out and chock full of information about the area.

An introduction to the Black Hills and the Black Hills Forest. And, yes, we do intend to slow down, relax and discover as much as we can that this region offers.

We’ll start here inasmuch as we are located in Custer and Hill City is the next town over.

Definitely on the must see attractions.

We’re not crazy about Crazy Horse so we’ll have to decide later whether or not we’ll go.

We’ll also go underground, at least one of us will! Still trying to decided which cave or caves will be on the list. We also want to do some of the scenic drives that are in the region. Again, which ones, maybe all of them, we’ll decided in the next couple of days.

Yup, another T-shirt to help remember our time here.

Time now to move on.

The next attraction we went to was The Museum of Geology which is located on the campus of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. The museum features mounted skeletons, rare fossils & exhibits. Come on and I’ll show you what they mean.

He was right over your head as you entered.

For any of those who like to fish.

Hook either one of these and I bet you would have the battle of your life!

Remember our friend mosasur, the giant marine lizard who lived in the waters that once covered the Badlands?

This specimen is 29 feet in length. The skull was large and had numerous sharp teeth. It’s limbs were adapted to aquatic life and help to steer the lizard. It’s tail was long and powerful and was used to propel it through the water.

Well, there were numerous other similar exhibits as well as all kinds of exhibits about rocks and minerals. While we found the museum fascinating it would not be one of those you just have to see it ones.

We’re home today and getting ready to go from the refrigerator to the freezer. We’re supposed to have temperatures below freezing for the next several nights. Come on now, isn’t this the month of May? We’ll be putting up reflectix in all of our windows before we to to bed tonight. It will stay up until at least Monday. What a crazy region of the county to live it. Talking to some natives of the region they tell me any time the temperature goes above freezing it is shorts weather. Really! Not this fellow.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before