Mount Rushmore - and a stuck RV

Day 37 - Mount Rushmore

This morning started with more business - setting ourselves up with Medicare Part D prescription drug plans.  Then we headed out for Mt. Rushmore.

We stopped at the Forest Service office to inquire about free or low cost camping, since we've already decided to stay around this area for more time after our campsite reservation expires next Monday.  The Black Hills are beautiful and the people very laid back and friendly.  If it weren't for the winters this would be a great place to live!  We got some good information on camping places we will check out, but the ranger also told us we should use the back roads - SD87 (Needles Highway) and US16A to get to Mt. Rushmore as they are more scenic.

This was the understatement of the century!  The Needles are spectacular granite towers and spires and as you drive, they surround the road, making for other worldly views.  The road itself snakes up and down mountains and has many tight turns.  It also has a series of tunnels cut through the rock which would be impassable for our RV.  Signs on the road (and a panel on the South Dakota highway map) clearly tell you the height and width of each tunnel.  As we approached the second tunnel there were parking places as the road widened, providing viewpoints of The Needles.  There were so many stopped vehicles in this area that there was nowhere for us to park, so we decided to proceed thru the tunnel, which we couldn't see due to a 90 degree turn in the road.  There were 3 motorbikes blocking the road and we inched up to them, hoping they'd take a hint and let us through.

This is when one of the motorcyclists told us the road was blocked by an RV stuck in the tunnel!  We got out of the car and I took some pictures of the stuck RV, with 3 people on top of it, pushing on the rock walls of the tunnel as the driver tried to inch forward.  Fortunately a parked car pulled out and went back down the mountain, giving us a place to park, so I was able to witness the final freeing of what turned out to be a rented RV.  Presumably the drivers didn't know the dimensions of the RV, or just ignored the warning signs!

We let the traffic go through the one way tunnel and witnessed a tour bus, which shouldn't have go through it, make its way safely through.  Finally we were able to continue on our way, and enjoy the Needles, which were reaching for the sky.  Eventually we were able to take a shortcut and get onto US16A, which approaches Mt. Rushmore.  On this road, by design, you can see the faces of the presidents through several of the tunnels, which was really cool.

So we arrived at the mountain.  We parked the car and obtained a parking pass good for one year (everyone does - I wonder how many people use it more than once!).  There's an information center and then a short walk to a restaurant, gift shop and ice cream parlor.  Vicky had a cappuccino while I indulged in raspberry soft serve ice cream, which was probably the best I've ever had.  We enjoyed these treats while sitting outside and enjoying the antics of a family of marmots that clearly had a nest under a nearby rock.

Stomachs satisfied, we proceeded down an avenue of flags of the states, with the heads of the presidents right in frost of us, and down some steps to the Visitor Center.  We watched the inevitable NPS orientation movie, learning how Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum made it his life's work to prepare a "shrine to democracy".  He died just before its completion and his son Lincoln finished it.

We learned why Borglum chose the specific presidents he sculpted.  George Washington, the "father of the nation", repeatedly sacrificed his personal wants and needs when called on by the country;  Thomas Jefferson oversaw the expansion of the country through the Louisiana Purchase and was, of course, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence; Abraham Lincoln took the reins at a time of great crisis, preserved the Union and took steps to ensure that all Americans, whatever their color, would have equal rights; Theodore Roosevelt championed conservation and also the rights of the common man at a time when corporate greed threatened to destroy the American Ideal.

The exhibition included a historical timeline covering the time from Washington to Roosevelt, detailed descriptions of the construction of the Monument, and interviews with some of the men who worked on it.  Amazingly, there were no deaths or serious injuries during the construction, but several of the men described how scared they were when lowered down from the top of the mountain in a sling chair.  We really obtained a detailed understanding of the scope of the work - another 3 hours reading everything there was to read!

This took us up to dinner time and this time we stayed on site.  I enjoyed a flavorful buffalo stew and another sample of that amazing raspberry ice cream.  Then it was time to move to the huge amphitheater for the evening program.  This was a moving experience - a short ranger talk emphasizing many of the things we'd learned in the visitor center, an emotional film emphasizing the achievements of the four honoree presidents and the beauty of the USA and the climax - lighting of the presidents while everyone sang the national anthem.  The program concluded with all veterans and active duty armed forces being invited onto the stage, and the lowering of the flag.  A definite "goose bump" experience and a fitting end to a great day.

Another plus - no more warning signals on the car and it ran well all day despite the mountain grades.  Thank you, God, for taking care of us and our car.

Crazy Horse Statue - a work in progress

Day 36 - Tuesday - Crazy Horse

I took the car out for a short drive and the check engine light was still on, so I researched Ford dealers in the area.  The closest is Rapid City and the earliest appointment I could get was Wednesday of next week.  The service advisor said it could be something or nothing.  He also said if the light isn't flashing there should be no problem until I got to his shop, and also that the light could go out if it was a false positive.  So I made the appointment.

We spent quite a bit of time on the phone and both applied for a Medicare Supplement plan to replace the Arizona plan we previously had.  It's now gone to underwriting so see if we qualify for the lowest rates.

Then we headed to the Crazy Horse Memorial, only a few miles from our RV park.  This is a work in progress - a stone carving of the 18th Century Oglala Lakota (Sioux) chief who fought against US soldiers after the US government reneged on a treaty that confirmed  the Black Hills as the home of the Lakota.  This happened after gold was discovered in the Black Hills.  The carving shows Crazy Horse riding his horse, and when finished will be bigger than the presidential statues on Mt. Rushmore.  It's funded entirely by private donations and admission fees, and has been in progress for 70 years,  Our tour guide said his best estimate of the completion date is another 70 years.

It was commissioned in 1939 by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota chief, who asked Polish American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to create a sculpture "to show the White Man that the Red Man has heroes too".  Ziolkowski twice refused offers from the US government to fund the construction.  His family continues the work today.

While the sculpture is still in progress, the site has much more to offer.  An amazing museum describing the history of many Native American tribes, along with artifacts; an orientation movie telling the story of the memorial; a museum dedicated to the American Bison; Indian dancers and artisans; bus tours to the foot of the carving and more.  We spent over 3 hours there, taking in everything.   

We came back to the RV for hamburgers cooked over the campfire and then returned to the site for their evening program - a laser and light presentation on the face of the memorial after dark.  You can sit in your car to watch it (which we did) and it was preceded by a very impressive lightening display that I wasn't able to capture on my camera.

When we returned for dinner, the check engine light on the car was off, so I'm hoping the problem was a false positive.

Black Hills and battery problems

Day 35 - Badlands to Black Hills

Woke up to find Vicky was cleaning the windshield on the RV using the stuff our new friends (who we met last night) had given us.  It seems to work well.  We then went over to the campground office where they serve pancakes and sausages in the morning.  Had a good breakfast (Quill and Cosette had their usual raw cat food, not pancakes) and then packed up and hit the road.

We retraced the path we'd taken yesterday through the Badlands National Park.  The rock formations look different in daylight, but we only stopped once - to examine the different grasses and plants on the prairie.  We learned that early settlers introduced new plants to "beautify" the prairie, and inevitably the introduced plants took over from the native plants.  However, forest fires, which are a natural phenomenon,  wipe out the non-native plants, but the native ones grow back.  Rangers are now using controlled burns to wipe out the "alien" grasses and plants.

We continued past the point we reached yesterday and eventually made it to the western exit gate.  If anything, the scenery we saw for the first time today was even more impressive than yesterday's.  This really is a place to come back to and spend more time.

On the way out we saw more prairie dogs, some bighorn sheep and a bison.

8 miles from the park gate, and we were in the town of Wall, home of Wall Drug.  "So what?" you say.  Well, all the way from Sioux Falls along I-90 we had been seeing signs telling us of the things one can do at Wall Drug, so we had to stop.  It IS a drugstore, but also a restaurant, soda fountain, western clothing store, gift shop, ice dream parlor and a whole lot more, expanding over a city block.  We had lunch - buffalo burger for me - while the cats slept.   In 1931 - during the Depression, a couple bought the drug store and gave themselves 5 years to make it successful.  This was a time when nobody in the town was making any money, and the couple was getting nowhere.  Then the wife had the idea of offering free ice water to travelers on hot summer days.  They put signs along the highway - the precursors of the ones we had seen - and the rest is history.  They still offer free ice water and 5 cent coffee.  We had the coffee and offered water to the cats, who refused.

Returning to I-90 we continued towards Rapid City to find the wind was picking up.  Nowhere near as bad as on Saturday but not much fun either.  We ended up making a detour that took us through the center of Rapid City, since we found some (relatively) cheap gas which is important considering how much the RV uses.   After leaving the Badlands we were at first on the prairie but soon came into rolling hills and by the time we reached Rapid City we were in hills, the famous (and beautiful) Black Hills.

We were climbing all the time for the final part of the journey to Custer, at an elevation of 5,318 feet.  We're staying at Beaver Lake Campground for the next week.  Our site is quite private, with great views of the forest.  The campground has rabbits but we didn't see any yet.  On arrival we had a shock.  The car was in tow.  We'd locked it in Wall and when Vicky went to unlock it with the remote, she couldn't.  I did unlock it with the key and found the battery was dead.  We unhitched and brought the RV to our great camping spot. Meanwhile, the people at the campground were very helpful and got the car started for us with a charger.  I found a wire connected to the positive battery terminal that had a 20 amp fuse in it, and this fuse had blown.  I'd later find out that this was part of the package put in to power the car ligts and brakes from the RV when towing.  Still don't know why the fuse blew, but it hasn't happened again - touch wood! 

We then let the engine run for a while and drove the car  into town to stock up on supplies.  I sat in the car with the engine running while Vicky did the shopping.

I discovered the "check engine" light was on, and consulted the manual.  It said the onboard diagnostics had detected a fault with the emission control system.  It shouldn't affect driving but ought to be checked.  I then checked email and found we had several messages from "Hum", which is a diagnostic system for the car that we got as part of our subscription to Verizon for phone service and internet.  They had notified me about the battery problem yesterday, but being out in the country I hadn't checked it.  Today they gave me 4 mysterious codes so I called their tech support line.  They said the codes had something to do with the transmission control module.  The tech asked me if the check engine light was on.  He said that since it was solid and not flashing, and the car was drivable, I would probably be OK but I should take it to a Ford dealer as soon as I could.

He also said it could be a false warning because of the flat battery, in which case it would go away after about 3 or 4 drives.

So tomorrow, as well as visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore, we'll probably be making an appointment with a Ford dealer.  Never a dull moment on the road - I wish there were a few.  But this place is still beautiful and the people are friendly and helpful.

Into the Badlands

Day 34 - Sunday - to the Badlands

We were deli  We didn't know that something had happened to the car that would come back to haunt us later. 

ghted to find the wind had died down, and were able to get the RV, with the car in tow, out through the gate and on the road back to I-90.

I didn't describe the terrain yesterday - it went from hilly around Sioux Falls to flat prairie with huge crop fields.  As we approached the river there were more rolling hills and more trees.  Now, as we left the river behind, we were back with the crops.

Every few miles there were signs telling us we had to visit Wall Drug, which we would do tomorrow.  For today, we were headed for the "don't blink or you'll miss it" town of Interior, close to Badlands National Park.  We didn't know what to expect from the Badlands - I was expecting something like the Painted Desert in northern Arizona, with weirdly shaped, brightly colored rocks.  So it was exciting to watch the scenery gradually change.  First we saw what looked like low hills on the horizon, and as we got closer we realized they were not so much hills as rock formations.

Eventually we reached the exit for SD240, the so called Badlands Loop Road, and after filling up the RV (we HAVE come a lot of miles in the last few days!) we headed down that road.  Eventually we reached the National Park, but not before getting a taste of the raw beauty of this unique area.  The name was given by both the native Lakota and the French settlers, because nothing would grow there.  But why would you want to, was my question.  Ever changing rock formations, changing both in shape and color, were interspersed among the prairie grasses.  So we not only get to explore the rocks, but got our first real taste of what the prairies looked like before people started cultivating them.

I'm posting some pictures, which will do more justice to them than my words can, but let me say that at every turn we were gasping afresh at the beauty.  We drove past the Park Visitor Center and then took the short road - SD377, to our campground.  We saw only a Budget Host Motel and campground, which is not what we were looking for, but half a mile further found us at the end of SD377 which meant we'd missed the campground.  We called them (fortunately there was cell service even in the middle of nowhere) and found that the Badlands Interior campground was also the Budget Host motel.  So we were able to check in and unhitch the car, which was still fine despite the lurking, and still unknown to us, problem.

We then headed back into the park, toured the Visitor Center and decided to take a drive further along on the Badlands Scenic Road.  We'd be going this way tomorrow with the RV, but by driving in the car we could both enjoy the spectacular views and pull off at interesting spots.  The first such spot, replete with warnings to beware of rattlesnakes, was a short but rugged trail up into the hills.  We didn't get too far as we weren't wearing hiking boots, but we did see the rock formations close up.  Later we took a walk that introduced us to the fossils of animals that lived here in prehistoric times.

This area was once part of an inland sea, inhabited by large animals (not dinosaurs) such as the titanothere, which became extinct 34 million years ago (before we got here).  Other fossils include a 3-toed horse about the size of a large dog, and another animal believed to be the ancestor of all of today's canines (the animals, not the teeth!).

The spectacular rocks in the badlands represent deposits at various times in history.  The oldest, black sedimentary rocks called Pierre shale, was deposited from 75 to 67 million years ago when the inland sea covered the area.  Above them is a distinct "yellow mound', formed when the sea drained and the black shale was exposed to air.

The grey Chadron formation is only 34 million years old, and was deposited by successive floods of rivers.  Alligator fossils have been found here, so it was much warmer then.  Above this, the tan colored Brule formation dates to 30 million years ago when the climate became cooler and drier. Next is the Rockyford Ash, a grey deposit from volcanic eruptions, and finally the Sharps formation, much of which has already eroded away.

If you're still with me after the geology lesson let me tell you that on our drive we saw buffalo, prairie dogs and, most excitingly, 3 bighorn sheep right next to the road.  We would have gone further but we wanted to attend the evening ranger talk, so we went back to the RV, packed sandwiches and returned to the outdoor amphitheater.  They had telescopes set up and we were able to see Jupiter and some of its moons clearly.

A ranger gave a very interesting talk on water in the Badlands, highlighting animals that have adapted to the lack of water there, including the prairie dog which, we learned, can survive on the water in the plants it eats!  We have to leave in the morning, but this is an area that merits more time so we'll be back another year.

Gone with the Wind

Day 33 -  Saturday - Gone with the Wind

We have 3 days - 2 nights on the road - to get all the way across South Dakota from Sioux Falls to Custer in the Black Hills, where we have reservations for a week of camping.  There was rain overnight but for once the forecast was correct and it had stopped by the time we were ready to leave.  We'd packed up a lot of stuff the evening before so it wouldn't get wet, so it wasn't difficult to get going.  Fill up the fresh water, dump the used stuff and drive away.  We usually try to avoid super highways but with almost 400 miles to do in 3 days, we'll be on Interstate 90 most of the time.

....which would have been no problem if the winds hadn't been around 25 miles per hour - no problem in a car but no fun in an RV, especially when they're cross winds.  By the time we reached Mitchell, our planned lunch stop, both of my hands were numb from gripping the steering wheel so I was ready for a rest.  While Vicky prepared lunch I took the camera to get pictures of the outside of the Corn Palace, of which more anon.  Crossing the road to return to the RV, I saw a familiar looking cat walking along the grass near where we were parked.  Sure enough, it was Cosette.  Don't know how she got out, but I had no problem getting her back into the RV - maybe she was trying to tell us Mitchell would be a good place to live.

Lunch having been enjoyed we left the cats to their afternoon nap and went to visit the "World's Only Corn Palace".   I'd visited many years ago on a business trip when with AT&T, and wanted to show it to Vicky.  The outside has murals made entirely of corn cobs - they grow corn in different colors and change it every year.  Some years, if the corn crop is not plentiful enough they can't cover the whole outside with corn so they paint parts of it.  The inside has some permanent corn murals.

The first Corn Palace was built in 1892 to showcase South Dakota's agricultural produce.  It was also an attempt to put Mitchell on the map - at the time it and Pierre were competing to become State Capital.  Pierre (strangely, pronounced peer) won, but Mitchell is now on its 3rd Corn Palace and gets the tourists.  The inside of the Corn Palace includes a small movie theater, a basketball arena which becomes a market most of the time, historical exhibits and a stage.  They have a concert in late summer each year, which has had big names over the years including John Philip Souza and Lawrence Welk.

Spectacle over, Vicky took over the scary driving to get us to Chamberlain, where we visited the Akta Lakota museum, featuring exhibits on the history of the Lakota (Sioux), artifacts and beautiful clothing, and a retelling of the shameful deception practiced on these people by the US government in the 19th Century.

As we would later find out, we could have stayed at a COA campground right in Chamberlain, but Vicky hadn't found it, so we had another 27 miles of windy driving to Left Tailrace, another mid-Missouri River COA campground.  This one had a difficult turn at the entrance - we had to disconnect the car to get in - but the campsite was spacious, and the river views and sunset were spectacular.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Days 29 thru 32)

Day 29 - Tuesday thru Day 32 - Friday - Our new hometown

On Tuesday we packed up and left the great campground in the middle of the Missouri and had a very easy drive to our home for the next 4 nights in Brandon SD.  Brandon is an eastern suburb of Sioux Falls, where we were about to establish residency.  The campground, in Big Sioux Recreation Area, was delightfully rural.  There was nobody at the booth so we disconnected the car and were going to head for our campsite. 

There was a dump station on the left as we drove in, and since we'd spent several nights at places with no dump, we decided to dump on the way in.   Vicky drove the RV into the dump lane, which was designed for vehicles coming the other way, so she had to make a loop.  To avoid a drop-off on the right, she kept close to the left - too close!  As I came over after parking the car, she said "the RV won't move!".  I checked and discovered the reason it wouldn't move was it was now "connected" to a metal post which had already damaged the door to one of the under-floor compartments.  It's actually a good thing it wouldn't move because one inch further and the post would have taken out our exhaust!

With the help of another RVer (who was even newer at this than we are!) we got the RV extricated, completed the dump and safely backed into our campsite among the trees.  Had a good meal cooked over the fire (including smores) and that ended Tuesday.

Wednesday we drove the car into Sioux Falls and visited our new home address - the mail forwarding service office.  It's in an old warehouse close to the railroad tracks.  The second and third floors have been converted into offices, and the first (ground) floor has interesting shops and restaurants.  Erin from the mail forwarding company showed us the old doors into the stairwells, which still have counterweights to endure they close if you forget!  We checked out a gourmet kitchen/food store, had coffee in a cute restaurant and Vicky made an appointment to have her hair cut on Friday.

After picking up our mail we got directions to the county office and went over there to get our car and RV registered.  On the way we got our first view of Sioux Falls which, as we would find, is a very friendly and well tended city.  There was a huge line for registration but it moved very quickly since there were a lot of open windows.  We produced ID and were able to get our South Dakota plates for the car with no problem.  When we came to do the RV we had everything except the unladen weight of the RV, which they needed.  Deb, the very friendly lady who was helping us, tried everything and I went online trying to find it, but no luck.  I know it's on a placard in the RV so we'll have to come back after photographing and uploading it.

Next stop was lunch in another surprisingly good Mexican restaurant and then on to the driver's license office.  One requirement to establish SD residency and get a license is to prove you spent one night in SD in the last year.  We had that, along with the receipt from the campground in Brandon.  2 problems with that - it only had my name on it, not Vicky's, and it had our Arizona address on it.  The person at the DL center told us exactly what to do - I called the campground and got them to email me 2 receipts, each with the correct address and one in each of our names.  Then we drove to a Fedex office where the guy kindly printed the receipts from our email and didn't even charge us.  Back to the office and in less than an hour we were both bona fide residents of SD, carrying drivers licenses and registered to vote.

We celebrated by stocking up on supplies and returning to the campground for a campfire dinner.

Thursday we played tourist.  Spent the afternoon at the Great Plains Zoo.  The snow leopard slept through our visit, but the Amur tiger did come out and pace for us.  The zoo is very proud of its Japanese macaques or snow monkeys.

We were impressed with the zoo, which clearly takes care of its animals, and which is part of the Species Survival Plan (like the Phoenix Zoo) dedicated to saving threatened and endangered species.  A surprising adjunct, however, is the Delbridge Museum of Natural History which has a collection of 150 stuffed animals, all shot and killed by a former Sioux Falls businessman.  Not what you would expect from an institution dedicated to saving animals from extinction, but it was very tastefully done, with the animals arranged in dioramas representing different habitats, along with explanations of the species.  It's a good way to introduce people to species that are not in the zoo's living collection, and nice to know that these animals, who died for no reason, are now used to educate people about the need to protect, not kill, animals.

We then visited the waterfalls that give the city its name.  The Big Sioux river flows the

city center over a series of cataracts, which are surrounded by a park.  They're very

picturesque but don't think Niagara.

The park also houses the remains of a mill built in the 19th Century to utilize water and wheat.   It was never successful and burned down in 1959.

We then went to a laundromat and ended the day with individual pizzas in a restaurant across the road from our "home".

Friday began with a visit to Wells Fargo to open a bank account.  They have branches in more states than any other bank and our own bank has none in South Dakota.  We then returned to the county office and got our plates for the RV, after which we investigated the pedestrian friendly downtown, having lunch in a sidewalk cafe and browsing the shops.  We left about the time they were gearing up for their "First Friday" block party.  Vicky went to her hairdresser and I got a haircut from an old fashioned barber across the road.

The evening forecast was for rain so we returned to the campground and packed up our screen house (where we can enjoy the outdoors without the mosquitoes) and the rest of our camping equipment.  The rain did come, but we were ready for it.

The verdict on our 4 days in Sioux Falls?  It's a city with a very comfortable atmosphere and friendly people, and we wouldn't mind living there after we leave the road - EXCEPT - we know what the winter is like! 

Exploring a new State

Day 28 - Monday - A New State

Today is Memorial Day.  We discovered two things about the Midwest:
(1)  Most attractions including state and federal park visitor centers are closed on Monday;

(2) The fact that it's Memorial Day maks no difference to this closing.

So this means that most of the things we want to see won't be open.  However, we're close to Sioux City Iowa which has a riverboat museum that will be open, and neither of us has been to Iowa, so that's our destination.   We travel along country roads so we can see a bit of the rural part of the new state.  I'm expecting nothing different from South Dakota - prairies - but as soon as we cross the Missouri river, everything changes.  The farmland reminds me of rural New England - smaller farms and little villages.  It's a pleasant drive and eventually we arrive in Sioux City and find the MV Sgt. Floyd.

Sgt. Charles Floyd was the only member of the Lewis and Clark team to die during the journey.  He succumbed to a disease they couldn't cure (it's now believed to be appendicitis) and was buried with full military honors on a site near the Missouri and an unnamed river that's now called the Floyd.  His grave is marked by an obelisk that looks like a small version of the Washington Monument.  The riverboat named in his honor is not in the river, but close to it, and contains a museum with more info on the L&C expedition as well as the history of riverboats on the Missouri, and relations with the native inhabitants.

We spend several hours there, learning few new things about the Corps of Discovery but a lot about riverboats and the fur trading industry.  The Missouri is shallow and riverboats were redesigned for safety on it.  The original boats had wheels on each side, but these could be fouled by floating wood or other debris.  The Missouri boats had a single paddlewheel at the stern, giving the whole boat the chance to clear out the debris before it hit the wheel.  They had a very shallow draft.  They were also prone to fire, apparently over 400 of the 700 known to ply the Missouri ended up burning down.

We had a good meal in a family restaurant, and then drove home via I-29.  The cats celebrated Memorial day by sleeping!