Monthly Archives: November 2014

Badlands, Bison, South Dakota, Travelog

Pre-paving the adventure

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Should we stay or should we go?
Wind warning! Should we stay or should we go?

Many different philosophical and spiritual teachers discuss the notion of pre-paving, be it through deeds, thoughts, affirmations, visualization, or praying. Today, Liz and I appreciated the pre-paving of our adventure through experience from just the past few days.

The switch from Daylight Savings Time has really affected our travels in that it has gotten dark before 5pm. Having to be navigated, situated, and camped before sunset has proven difficult. Luckily, the moon is almost full right now and the pre-paving already happened.

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We have heard great things about Badlands and were eager to get there. But, today began with yet another wind advisory, cautioning light and “high-profile” (aka RViejo) vehicles against traveling in the 20-30 mph winds with gusts up to 50 mph. The advisory was from 8am to 4pm, prime travel time, across the entire region from Custer State Park where we were staying to Badlands. We debated all morning whether to attempt the drive and ultimately decided at noon to give it a shot. This was not our first wind advisory nor our first drive in heavy winds. Thank you pre-paving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABrQkea1Iys

We traveled slowly, took a 2-hour break to do laundry and for Liz to have a really good burger at a truck stop in Hermosa, and arrived at the ghost town of Scenic at 4:15pm.

Ghost town (mostly) of Scenic
Ghost town (mostly) of Scenic

The purveyor of the sole open business confirmed that the 15 miles to our intended camp site on Sage Creek Road was indeed all dirt and gravel.

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Luckily, we had tackled just a road on the way to Devil’s Tower 2 days prior. Pre-paving at work. Undeterred, we set out on our course.

As we weaved our way across moon, rocks, grassland, and farms, the moon rose majestically over the horizon. The sun set beautifully, as the guides we read claimed it would.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMC4aitde1E

We then encountered the bison, which the purveyor also spoke about. Had we not run across all the bison in Yellowstone, these sunset encounters would have almost certainly sent us back. However, this time we took the beasts’ presence in stride.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyBLfhOSDt4

 

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They were a welcome and enjoyable addition. Pre-paving again.

Their excrement was another story. Rubi found it particularly important to investigate.

Very important investigation underway
Very important investigation underway

Tonight’s camping is free, but is boondocking in the backcountry. We even got to sign the register!

The bathrooms are clean and pleasant, but beyond those vault toilets we’re on our own. Water and heat are for us to provide. Luckily, boondocking is becoming old hat. We may even be getting good at it. 🙂

The evening has not been without novelty. After being in bear country, we were happy to feed Rubi outside the van. Just after bringing her in from the cold, we heard a coyote braying a bit too close to our door. Since the door was not shut properly, we quickly addressed the issue, sending a haunting slam through the valley. We haven’t heard from him or her again. Here’s to a peaceful night’s sleep and an enjoyable tomorrow.

Travelog

Peaceful hikes, peaceful nights

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The day began peacefully with some warm coffee, a little tetherball, a clothed visit with the ranger, and some cereal. Then we were off for our first real hike on this adventure..

After wandering through the campground looking for the trailhead sign we saw the previous night on the way in, we arrived at the edge of the campground. Confused and a little defeated, we let Rubi wader through the tent camping sites as we doubled back to the host station. Finally finding the sign, we continued up the campground road on our way to Centennial trailhead.

Forty minutes later, we still hadn’t reached the trailhead. Instead, we found brief cell tower reception, a boat dock, more deserted (or, more accurately, closed) campsites, and a well-worn unofficial trail leading around Sheridan Lake. Rubi thoroughly enjoyed being off leash, sniffing the grassland and trees, investigating more deer poop pellets, and romping along the lake’s edge.

We packed up camp as 3 new campers arrived. Happy at our luck of having the campground to ourselves for the night, we ventured off to the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Everyone we spoke to raved about Crazy Horse and enjoyed it more than Mount Rushmore. Liz and I would agree.

The memorial’s scale is huge as is the mission to promote better understanding and appreciation of native people.

Crazy Horse scale model (foreground) and construction of full monument (background)
Crazy Horse scale model (foreground) and construction of full monument (background)

Currently, only the face and part of the arm are completed. They have removed 6 million tons of stone, but still have 1.5 million left. It’s unclear how long the project will actually take to finish. Since the project refuses to take any state or federal money, it relies entirely on private donation, visitor’s fees, and sales at the gift shop and restaurant for funding. If you’re in the area, head over and support the project.

The story of Korczak Ziolkowski, the sculptor, and his life’s dedication to the project is quite moving. The fact that his wife, until her death this year, and 7 of his 10 children continue to work on the memorial after Korczak’s death in 1982 speaks to the family’s commitment and dedication.

After Crazy Horse, we took a short drive to Custer State Park. It was relatively quiet, with a few other RVers on the property. We plugged in, took hot showers, and enjoyed a bowl of matzo ball soup to warm up before turning in for the night.

Another Van-cooked meal (matzo ball soup) over route and camp planning
Another Van-cooked meal (matzo ball soup) over route and camp planning
Travelog

Crossing into the Dakotas

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr8QDAan0pQ

We are spending the night in the Black Hill Mountains of South Dakota, like Rocky Raccoon. The day started with our thinking we had the entire Keyhole State Park campground of Pat’s Point in eastern Wyoming to ourselves. While getting dressed with the windows open, the ranger approached us. I guess people actually go to work on Monday morning. Since there was literally no one else at campground, he looked past Rubi playing tetherball off leash.

We decided to go the most direct way to Devil’s Tower, on a road that turned to gravel at the park’s edge and turned to very well-maintained dirt and gravel about two miles later.

12 miles of this on the "direct" route
12 miles of this on the direct route

A mile or so after that, I realized that our driving 12 miles per hour on the direct road would result in a 15 minute longer driving time than if we’d just stuck to the regular roads and driven around the park. But by then we were on an adventure and happy to drive off the beaten path. RViejo got a little dusty, but handled very well.

Devil’s Tower involved a nice visit with the prairie dogs and an hour-long hike sans Rubi since it was again a national park.

So cute!
So cute!
As we approached
As we approached

Devil's Tower

Two hours later, we arrived in Deadwood, SD.

South Dakota

We drove through the cute, historic town quickly as we were attempting to make the Mt. Rushmore light show, which everyone said was the best part of the national monument. We arrived at Mt. Rushmore at 4:45pm, but it was already mostly dark and there were literally about a dozen people at the entire site. As far as we could tell, there is no light show in the fall. 🙁

Just lights...no show
Just lights…no show

Mt. Rushmore

We later realized that Deadwood is where Liz’s paternal grandmother Hazel was raised. Maybe we’ll go back. We also looked for the Horse Thief Inn, but only saw the Horse Creek Inn. The Horse Thief Inn is where Liz’s grandmother worked and there are early pictures of Jim Moore, barefoot, on its grounds. We couldn’t find the Horse Thief Inn on a map either, so we assume it closed.

The moon is mostly full so the stars are out, but not as plentiful with the moon’s bright light. It did make for a pleasant evening stroll with Rubi, without the need for headlamps. The pines swooshed in the gently breeze and we heard a few ducks settling in for the evening as well.

RViejo

RViejo

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Ever since we started this trip, people have been asking what our vehicle is called. For the record, neither Liz nor I are in the habit of naming cars. My first car, a grey 1990 Honda Civic, was “My Civic”. My second car, a silver 2003 Volkswagen Golf, was “The Golf”. Thus far, our current vehicle, a 2006 Gulf Stream Vista Cruiser on a Freightliner Sprinter chassis with a Mercedes Benz engine that’s white with beige RV accent paint, has been the “The Van” or “The Rig” or “The RV.”

The Rig

The Van had 23,000 miles on it when we bought it in 2014, meaning it had been driven very little. It was in very good condition, with everything working properly and with few signs of use. It had a few quirks from the beginning, the most notable being this wood storage container mounted to the dinette table.

Custom made from the original owner, we think
Grandpa’s Box, custom made by the original owner we think

We have made good use of it, as you can see, but from the beginning called it “Grandpa’s box.” There was also a little wastebasket screwed into the side of the passenger’s seat and empty holes from where who knows what used to be affixed, our guess mainly for organization. So began the theory that an elderly gentleman had bought the RV new, intended to use it for weekend fishing trips with or without Mama, and then died.

We ran the Carfax report and found a story rather consistent with our fabricated one. Someone bought the vehicle near LA with cash, owned it until 2013, and then it went to auction. At some point, it traveled from California to Arizona where we purchased it.

Meanwhile, in Mexican culture, an old man, both literally and a husband you’re forced to keep around, is called “Viejo.” Liz’s stepmom called her father, Jim, viejo all the time, as in “Come on, Viejo, get your own pills, you silly man” and “Ay, Viejo!”

While driving down the road, talking about Jim Moore, thinking about our rig, we realized (OK, I said it because I can’t help but come up with horrible names that are puns, like our dog L.B., thus named because he was both a “lazy butt” and from the pound. I’m so clever!) that we might call our RV “ouR Viejo.” So, for the time being, that’s what he is.