Hello from Rapid City, SD on this Holiday Weekend

To all of our American heroes, past and present, thank you for your service.  Let us not forget the real reason we all celebrate this Memorial Day weekend.  It is wonderful to get together with family and friends but we all need to remember that it isn't just an extra day(s) off work but a day to take a few minutes to think about the freedoms we all enjoy thanks to these wonderful men and women.  God Bless them all!!

We had an uneventful trip from Cheyenne to Rapid City on Monday.  An RVer always likes 'uneventful' trips.  It was a total of about 340 miles, with some interstate and a new route for us on some state highways that brought us right into Rapid City almost right next door to the campground.

South Dakota has had a long and cold winter so even though we've had a little rain this week, lots of wind (pretty common here), and some sun here and there, the locals definitely think that spring has arrived.  Temps have varied from 40's in the mornings, to low 70's by afternoon.  Most afternoons you see the storm clouds forming off in the distance and some move away from us and others have brought a little rain but nothing serious.  We have been here several times so we've done the touristy things here at least once, some of them twice, so we decided to try and find a few new things to do this trip as we had decided to spend the holiday weekend here and not be on the road.

Tuesday we renewed our SD drivers licenses for another five years which was our main reason for coming here this year.  SD is very RV friendly and so this was an easy process and within 20 minutes we were out the door with our new licenses.   We ran a few errands after that and then came home to plot what we wanted to do this week.

Some former 'neighbors' here at this park in 2011, Herb & Ginger, had told us that they had some friends from VT that would be arriving sometime this week to become SD residents & register their new motor home, etc.  We were on the lookout for them and turns out they are parked right across the street from us so we've had some nice visits with Larry & Suzette, and their dog, Logan.  They are relatively new 'full timers' with a beautiful new motor home and so we shared stories about our RVing days. We went to dinner at Sanfords (I wrote about this restaurant last year in the blog…..it is the one with rooms of antiques, junk, whatever these folks could find they decorated the restaurant with).  The food was good and it was nice to share Sanfords with Larry & Suzette.

One of the things we hadn't done here was the SD Air & Space Museum so we checked that out on Thursday.  This museum gets very nice reviews online and we couldn't agree more.  It is next to Ellsworth Air Force Base here in Box Elder, and there are over 30 historic aircraft on display, both inside and out.  We were just in time to take a base tour which included a stop at a minuteman training missile silo which was very interesting.  A very worthwhile stop, we learned a lot, and better yet the museum is free.  The bus tour does cost $8 I believe.

Another museum we hadn't visited was the Journey Museum which takes you on a journey through time here in the Black Hills.  We watched an interesting film called 'Over the Black Hills" and it was entirely an aerial view of western SD.  Beautiful countryside!    There are many exhibits and galleries in this museum from geology, to archaeology, to a Sioux Indian Museum, Pioneer times, and a gallery called the Adelstein Gallery, where the exhibit changes periodically but usually relating to the local area.  This particular gallery can be also rented out by private parties and while we were there they were taking pictures to show someone who is interested in renting it for a wedding reception.  There are also many other smaller exhibits such as an Aviary Room where there are over 9 dozen stuffed birds and animals from the Black Hills area.   Another enjoyable learning experience.

There are a lot of things to see and do here in this area so definitely a 'must see' if you are passing through.  Of course, the most well known is Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse, Sturgis about 30 miles away, home of the huge motorcycle rally later this summer, and the list goes on.

We will leave Rapid City on Tuesday heading to Pender, NE and a stop at Blue Ox, our tow bar company for a check up on that system.

Until next week……..please remember freedom isn't free.

SD Air & Space Museum

Ellsworth AFB is home to the B-1B bomber

Looking down into the missile silo 

Looking up to the top

The Journey Museum Learning Center

Triceratops, SD State Fossil

Aviary Room at The Journey Museum.  Beautiful bald eagle
in the middle of about 9 dozen other SD stuffed birds
and animals

Hello from Cheyenne, WY

I will say again for anyone new following the blog this year there probably won't be a lot of new things/places to share with you this summer.  Sometimes, this mobile lifestyle is a 'repeat' just like a stationery lifestyle.  We are making our way to Rapid City, SD where we need to renew our drivers' licenses and then to IN where we'll start the process of having the interior remodeled.  The plan is a month in IN so we'll see how that goes.

We made our overnight road trip to Kingman and Bullhead City, AZ to see Wally, our New Zealand friend.  He is anxiously awaiting word from the VA when he can have his hip replacement surgery and begin to feel good again.

We left Cottonwood on Thursday, 5/15, and spent the night at a truck stop in Casa Blanca, NM.  We did have an interesting experience as we got on I40 at Flagstaff.  There were hundreds of motorcycles coming from the west and we rode alongside them for about 5 miles.  This was a very organized ride with all of them in the left lane riding two wide.   Once out of Flagstaff and in the open, they moved to the right lane and the traffic was able to pass them.  They had many 'road guards' and several patrols cars along the way that kept an eye on things.  We stopped in Winslow at the Flying J and here they all came for fuel and whatever else.  Dick & I talked about 'maybe' they were on their way to Washington DC for the big Rolling Thunder rally beginning at the Vietnam Memorial over the holiday weekend.  Sure enough when Dick went in to Flying J for a soda he asked the gal and she said yes that they stop every year on their way east.  We had noticed almost all of them had some sort of Vietnam insignia on their bikes, clothing, etc. so we were right.  What an impressive site they were and I can only imagine the revenue they bring in as they travel but we wondered where they spend the nights, eat, etc.  And I suspect the group gets larger as they make their way east.  It was a little intimidating to drive alongside them but they never wavered and slowed when necessary, etc. etc.

Friday night we were in Fountain, CO at a KOA.  We had 'tentatively' planned to stop and see some friends in the Denver area but that didn't work out this time so maybe we can catch them on our way back to AZ if we come that way.  Saturday morning we left Fountain and got into Cheyenne around noon.  Last weekend Cheyenne had 10" of snow (yikes) but now all that's left is some along the interstate and the roads were clear.  We checked into the Terry Bison RV Ranch/park and got settled in.

This is a large working bison ranch here in Cheyenne with about 2500 head of bison roaming the ranch.  Guests can take a rail express little train on the ranch's own railroad and see about 400 of the bison up close.  The rest of them are roaming the 27,000 acres.  The rail trip is $12 a person & we decided we'd pass as we could see them close enough from our campsite.  There are guest houses here, cabins, a couple of restaurants, of course a gift store, and even some ostriches.  They also brought in 5 camels back in 2001 hoping to train them to let the guests ride them.  Well, that didn't work and so they have their own pasture and heated barn to live the good life now.  Interesting place to stop if you're in the area.

We have a friend here so we called him and got together Saturday afternoon for awhile and got caught up at a local diner called, Luxury Diner, that once was a rail car. A locals favorite he said and we could see why.   Cool concept and even though we didn't eat lunch (had already eaten) he had a burger that looked very good so we went back this morning for breakfast and it was really good!!!  A definite must stop next time we're here.

Saturday evening after we returned to the RV, the sky got 'black' and we had some rain that turned to hail for about 10 minutes.  Then it was over but it really cooled down for the night to in the 40's & a little windy.  Of course, to us AZ wimps that was pretty chilly.

We will leave here tomorrow morning and be in Rapid City tomorrow night until after the holiday weekend.  We hadn't planned to stay that long but we don't like to travel on holiday weekends so we will enjoy the area weather permitting (lots of rain in the forecast they say).

Until next time………

Riders heading to Washington DC for Rolling Thunder Rally

Riders stopping at Flying J in Winslow, AZ

Snow along the interstate in WY

Hail at the Terry Bison Ranch in Cheyenne

Luxury Diner, old rail car, and they were waiting in line
for breakfast this morning as we left

Downtown Cheyenne at the Depot Plaza 

Sunday, May 11, Mother's Day

Thinking today about my mom and Dick's mom, Kathryne.  Both are watching over us from above but we think about them and miss them every day.  In particular, my mom probably wouldn't approve of this 'mobile' lifestyle but I think once she realized that we were loving it she would be just 'ok' with it.

We left Sun City on 5/1 as planned and drove a whole 88 miles that day to Cottonwood where we always spend two weeks doing some what I call 'deep cleaning'.  Dick spent the first couple of days washing and waxing the outside of the rig and on the third day it rained!!!  Never fails!!!  So he wiped it down again and so far so good.   We love the park in Sun City and have made many friends there but we all wish that the blacktop in the park was of better quality because the floors and carpets get so dirty after any time at all in the park……especially if you have a dog.  So I spent a few days cleaning the floors, and I wouldn't want anyone to see how dirty the carpet was…….and it had just been cleaned in December while we were in Yuma.  Oh well…….floors are cleaned, wood is oiled, leather is cleaned and conditioned, some reorganization has been done and we're ready to roll at the end of the week.

We have accomplished a lot but have also had time to check out Sedona and Jerome again, eat at a few of our local restaurants, and do a bit of shopping (yours truly).  Today I'm enjoying a nice Mother's Day with hubby and we'll soon try the Sunday brunch cafe at the casino in Camp Verde which we hear is very good.

Tomorrow, we're taking a road trip in the car to Kingman, AZ to meet our friend from New Zealand at Cracker Barrel.  It's a bit of a jaunt for us (200+ miles) but he LOVES Cracker Barrel and since he's having some hip issues we'll make the longer drive & then spend the night with him in Bullhead City, AZ for some more good conversation.  He's awaiting hip surgery at the VA in CA so in the meantime he's staying at a friend's condo in Bullhead City and enjoy the warm AZ weather compared to the damp winter over in New Zealand.  Georgea, his wife, will join him in a few weeks closer to the time of his surgery and then if all goes well they'll go back to New Zealand late summer or whenever the doctor says he's good to go.  He had the first hip replaced last summer at the VA there and has had absolutely no problems with it so we're hoping the same for this time.

We'll return on Tuesday and spend Wednesday getting ready to depart Cottonwood.  Our travels this summer won't be to anyplace new this year.  At least that's the plan for now.  We're going to do some remodeling to the interior of this motorhome so we will probably spend more time than we'd like in IN getting that all done.  Prior to getting to IN, we'll stop in CO to see some friends who are dealing with health issues right now, a friend in Cheyenne, WY, and on into Rapid City where we'll get new drivers licenses.  Then to Pender, NE to have our towing system checked out (since a piece of it broke last year) and then into IL to see family for a few days before getting to IN on 6/1.

I plan to do a weekly blog, probably on Sundays, so will keep you updated.

Happy Mother's Day to all………..  And to my mom……..a journey well traveled, a job well done, a life well lived, a rest well deserved until we meet again.  Love you!