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Custer Country

We will be back! Two weeks in Custer was terrific, but not long enough. The town was great, people were friendly, and we arrived in time for Gold Rush Days – which meant another parade as well as in-town festivities! Don’t miss the Buglin’ Bull restaurant…

In no particular order (below,) I’ve included a few pix and brief descriptions from the highlights. Beginning with the end of our visit, we drove to Deadwood, just north of Custer through some very pretty Black Hills NF country. We met friends from my working days at the Iron Horse Inn.  The Inn has a particular connection to our family since it was owned and operated by our son-in-laws mother’s parents (the Wagner family).

Seems the geology of the Black Hills is such that it contains many caves. In particular the Jewel Cave and Wind Cave.  We made the underground trek through part of the Wind Cave which is noted for its unique ceiling box structure unlike the usual stalactites. An hour and a half underground was sufficient, so we passed on the Jewel Cave. Something left for the next trip.

A Balloon Fest was part of the town’s celebration…we watched from lift off to touch down. With 10 balloons, it provided a sampling of what we expect to see at the Albuquerque Balloon Fest in October.

We were fortunate to have reservations at the Wagon West RV park and 7^th Calvary Café. Can’t say enough good things about the Park or the Café…. super friendly owner/staff, delicious food – don’t miss the breakfast! And, a view out our front window that we never tired of. This was the site of General Custer’s encampment, and is so noted on the monument just across from us… We had many pleasant evenings and mornings watching the deer feeding, and the fawns playing, in the field in front of us.

What to say about the donkeys? They wander wild in Custer State Park where we spent a lot of time wildlife watching.  That they wander wild, doesn’t suggest the degree to which they are friendly!  Stop the car, get out, and you will have a dear friend looking for a pet – or a scratch behind the ear!

One of several day trips took us around the Needles Loop – by car NOT by RV – a beautiful drive and spectacular scenery of rock formations, vistas and narrow rock tunnels… one way and about wide enough, tall enough for a car or pickup truck.

Of course, we couldn’t pass up the Crazy Horse Monument or Mt Rushmore. I have to say, of the two, the Crazy Horse Monument was much more impressive both in scale and in the visitor’s center. What the Korczak Zidkowski family has built in addition to the mountain carving he started (first blast) in 1948 is amazing.

Coming back to Custer State Park – it wouldn’t be a visit without time spent watching the Bison. Now, I’d rather not be the guy on the motorcycle… but they passed him by without incident – lucky man. These are wild animals weighing up to 1,200 lbs. And mating season was underway. We watch old bulls fighting and chasing the younger ones out of the herd.  Females were tending calves, some of whom were still nursing. What a great time to be at the Park!

As I noted at the beginning … We will for certain be back!

PUZZLES and more…

Puzzles are supposed to be fun. They offer mental stimulation and challenge without consequences. If only RV itinerary planning was just such a puzzle. Alas, there are consequences to failing to solve the puzzle, and the challenge is multiplied several fold by an assortment of other folks who get to decide, seemingly at random, whether you have a place to stop (i.e. park your home) for the time you plan. So, the simple task of routing our 38ft motor home, with tow, from point A to point B can take on a herculean quality. For the experienced RVrs, I’ll acknowledge upfront the Walmart et al options. So, yes, there are safe places to land that require little or no advanced planning. But, parking lots are not the scenery most of us are seeking.

Planning around distance/time calculations, costs, clearance and weight limitations, road conditions, weather, scheduled events and seasonal availability, AND available/suitable campground space is but part of the puzzle. In some instances, RV park reservations need to be made months in advance. And, it takes only one of those conditions to completely alter the route and/or timing. The more you travel, the greater the complexity.

Now the good news. It is all worth it 🙂 We are blessed to have the ability and the time to travel across our Country. There are so many remarkable places to experience, and we are working our way to see as much as we can, and to visit many friends along the way. Since we sold and left our Maryland home last April, we have travelled through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota. At each stop, whether for a day or a week or more, we have created memories to carry with us and experiences to share with family and friends.

Catching up a bit… since about the end of June, we’ve travel through Wyoming to our current ‘home’ in Custer, South Dakota. It took us to Rock Springs, Pinedale, Jackson, thru Yellowstone NP, Cody, and Casper. Wyoming is such an amazing area of the Country with spectacular scenery around every bend. In addition, we got to meet good friends along the way, several of whom we had not seen in about 10 years. The following captioned pix will provide just a taste of this part of our journey.

In Pinedale I had the fun of showing Denise Trappers Point and the story about Pronghorn migration patterns – and the ‘wildlife overpass’ constructed to move the thousands of animals safely along their seasonal path between summer and winter range.

We made a brief stop in Jackson to visit a former boss and friend – had a delightful breakfast conversation before heading up thru Yellowstone. The YNP plan was to drive through to Cody with the motor home, then return to tour by car.

Found some late Spring snow along the way …

Way to much beauty to try to capture in a few photos…and assorted wildlife along the way – more about bison later …..

Amazing hot springs, but the summer tourist crowds made a visit to Old Faithful impossible….couldn’t get near the parking areas for that and other sights. But we found beauty everywhere…

Then came Cody…. If you want a good ‘western’ time, come to Cody for the 4^th of July!  But make your reservations early….

We got VERY lucky to get a spot at an RV park in town. With all the folks in for the celebration, and the traffic through to YNP, it is a busy time.  We did two rodeos (Denise’s first), two huge parades, fireworks and other assorted activities. In addition, we spent a great evening and breakfast with good friends. Visiting with them was way past due and made for a beautiful ride up the canyon …

The parades – all three, but we only saw 2 – we’re great, and quite different from what you would see back east….

Sat up on the hill overlooking an amazing fireworks show…

..and a spectacular sunset..

And then there were the rodeos…. What great fun!

They even got all the kids in the act to try to catch the ribbon off the tail of a calf – sorry I missed that action…

Visits to Cody, and with Cody friends always are too short! We had a great time, but needed to move along. Next stop was Casper. Interestingly, at the Izaak Walton League Chapter’s RV park. Made interesting since I had worked as the National Conservation Director for the Ike — different to come to a chapter as a visitor…and paying guest.  Casper was in part a work stop. We got a minor recall service at the Freightliner shop, as well as general engine service having just turned 5,000 miles.

The Casper RV park folks were great and it made for a good rest stop.

Lots left out, but on to Custer, SD …. and promised bison pix …. See next post!

Dam fun !

We made a few stops on the way from Kansas to Cody, Wyoming, including Rock Springs, Pinedale and Jackson as well as a pleasant trip through Yellowstone NP. With a little extra time, we made a quick day trip to the Flaming Gorge Dam from Rock Springs.

The dam captures the Green River and creates a huge and beautiful reservoir. For the geology buffs, the associated canyon walls, cut by the Green River, expose rocks over 1 billion years in age.

Apart from the remarkable engineering feat required to construct the dam, the beauty of the area is well worth the visit. The Visitors Center provides the fascinating story of its construction and the surrounding geology. For those interested, it also created a wonderful fishery.

Then there was the Buffalo Bill Dam. Built on the Shoshone River after rather remarkable technical and other struggles including the first labor dispute/strike. The dam, just West of Cody, was named for William “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Completed in 1910, it was the tallest concrete dam in the world – and no steel rebar was used in the construction. Nearly 90,00 acres below the dam were opened to agriculture as a result of the irrigation waters it provided.
The visitor’s center allows for a trip down the inner workings of the dam to the thundering spillway, as well as an excellent video describing the construction. Keep in mind there was little in the way of mechanical help at the time of its construction – enormous human labor was all that was available.

If you look carefully at the top of the dam picture, you will see a small human figure providing a sense of scale.
In addition to this amazing structure, a visit to nearby Cody is always worth the time – a step into western culture and history.

New times, new places

It’s just days now before we move on. Full time RV living is on the very near horizon. Scrambling to sort, pack and move to storage those things we intend to keep – that is, what we will want if/when we move back into a house. Working our way through the list of all the last minute preparations: set up bills for auto pay, changing address to our mail service, stopping home electric, fuel, internet/tv, pest control et al …. and all that needs to be timed with our scheduled settlement on the house – just days away as I write this.  Then, it’s all just mechanics. The real ‘moving on’ isn’t about this.

How to balance the sadness of leaving a long established home and removing an ‘anchor’ for your adult children who still think of this place as home against the excitement of new adventures. After gathering the family here for so many holidays and other celebrations, it’s time to pass such traditions on. Many have done this.  We certainly are not alone. Yet each finds their personal way forward. Getting past the highs and lows can be a challenge. The highs feed the energy that’s essential to keep the processes moving, and encourages the planning for visiting new places, revisiting old favorite places and looking up distant friends. Inevitably, the lows arrive about 2 in the morning and you begin racking up a troubling sleep deficit amid all the second guessing. There are much deeper, personal issues that nag and come to the surface unbidden, often unwanted, at not always convenient times. This is the real stuff of ‘moving on’.

Lest friends worry about some apparent depression, rest assured we’re finding that balance, and are focusing on the exciting times ahead. Having been retired for several years, I am soon to have my wife join me. We will have the precious commodity of time together – a gift, we know only too well, that lacks any certainty.

If you’ve read this far, you will recognize the emotional aspects of the leap we are about to take. Writing this for me is but one piece of the balancing. And, perhaps it shares something of value for others who find themselves in similar transitions. In any event, it helps to know that we will look back on all this at some point with a good ration of humor – so, you’re welcome to laugh now either at or with us later!

Here are a few pictures of our beautiful motor coach, and we will have good times making it our home for however long it works…… you’re welcome to follow along here!