We started our day at Wind Caves National Park. This is a sacred site to the Lakota who believed that the Great Spirit sent buffalo and people forth into the world from this place. White men discovered the cave in 1881, drawn by the sound of the wind which whistled in and out of an 8-inch by 10-inch hole in the ground. Underneath that hole is a honeycomb network of caves that, to date, has been measured at more than 140 miles long - all contained within one square mile. They are still exploring the spaghetti-like passages, so the length continues to increase. The depth reaches 600 feet. It is a dry cave, so there are no stalagmites and stalactites. Instead, there is a unique calcite formation called box work
The next stop was Custer State Park, which is known for it's large buffalo herd. We loved the scenic rolling hills in the park. A ranger kindly directed us back a gravel road where we found the herd and were able to drive among them. What magnificent creatures they are! Traffic was thick, but mostly kept moving. The buffalo were quite experienced at crossing the busy road between cars. Streak was fascinated as it probably stirs memories of his youth in which he lived on a cattle ranch. Charlie tried to bark at them, but we quickly quieted her. Angie was determined to see Deadwood, which was more than an hour drive away. Hank took a nap while she took the wheel and navigated us there. The Black Hills are incredibly beautiful - diverse and enthralling. The views vary from wide green plans bordered by mountains to steep, narrow canyons to hilltop vistas. Blue skies and temperatures in the low 80s made for an epic day. Deadwood was a gold mining boom town that never died. Throughout the day, roaming actors in period costumes staged re-enactments of historical gunfights, based on original newspaper accounts. The highlights are the murder of Wild Bill Hickock at a poker table and the subsequent trial of his assassin. The dogs were not fans of the gunfire. We found a basement bar that let us bring the dogs inside. They had great pizza and a guitarist showed up to perform while we were eating. When we clapped after each song, Charlie chimed in with her loud barking. The musician appreciated her feedback, as the crowd was small. We returned to Ellsworth to do laundry and stock up on supplies before continuing our trip.
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We got an early start to Mt. Rushmore to beat the crowd. We were second in line for the self-guided audio tour handsets. What an awesome and inspiring sight! We loved the stories of the history, construction and dedication of the monument.
Having just finished "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," there was no way we could miss a visit to the Crazy Horse monument. Only the face and the beginning of the arm and finger are visible at present, but the museum and performance stage were worth a visit on their own. We saw an outstanding hoop dance performed. The dancer took time to explain a lot about Lakota culture and history. For $8, we got a private guide to ride with us in our truck to the base of the monument. We talked a lot about the history of the government's dealings with the Lakota people and his own personal story as well. The average income of a family on a Lakota reservation is $7,000 per year. To date, the Lakota have no large casinos to help fund social programs for their people. One recent proposal was stymied by local government who refused to extend a sewer system to the proposed site - even though it would have been funded by the tribe. In the evening we attended a chuck wagon dinner and variety show at the site of the Fort Hays set from the film "Dances With Wolves", which is Angie's favorite movie. We were able to go inside the office where the unhinged Major assigns Lt Dunbar to the Army’s most distant outpost, Fort Sedgewick. We watched part of a documentary about the struggles Costner had to go through to get the film funded as well as the production challenges during filming. His directorial debut earned 7 Oscars and grossed over $400 million. After a beautiful sunrise over the hills on the east bank of the Missouri River, we hit the road. A timely potty break brought us to the Minuteman Missile National Monument. Hank was less enthralled, so our time there was limited.
The next stop was Badlands National Park, which looked kind of like the painted desert or perhaps a miniature version of Bryce Canyon. We learned that the name came from early French trappers. The oldest fossils there are from the period when there was a shallow inland sea across the plains of North America. There are many fossils of large mammals from 20-30 million years ago, including ancestors of the modern dog and horse. We saw big horn sheep on the way out of the park! No visit to South Dakota would be complete without a visit to Wall Drug. https://www.walldrug.com/ the iconic tourist stop that travelers anticipate for 300 miles as they read the periodic road sign stands that extend for at least that range in both directions on I-90 from the tiny town. Hank first learned of this roadside attraction, which was founded in 1931, in a business school case study in strategic management. It started as a simple drug store. Now it is a 76,000 square-foot roadside attraction and emporium that pulls in more than 2 million visitors and $12 million in revenue. Our main interest was the t-shirt shop, but we also enjoyed the five-cent coffee and homemade ice cream. There are signs all over the world that show the direction and distance to Wall Drug. If you want to calculate the distance from your location, here are the coordinates: 43.9929° N, 102.2415° W. We arrived at our campsite at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, SD; it was beautifully constructed and well maintained. It was close to I-90 and had a large adjacent lawn where we could run off the dogs' excess energy. Hank was surprised how green South Dakota was. We're not sure if this is typical for late July. There was more hay than corn compared to what we saw in Nebraska - and the corn was not as tall. But, nevertheless, the prarier was quite green.
We followed the Missouri River to the Northwest throughout the day, finally arriving at another Corps of Engineers campground. This one was free of algae and watermilfoil, but the weather was windy, so we passed on paddle boarding. We opted instead to explore the large campground and let the dogs chase their toys in the water and on the grass. This campground had some unique, curved privacy screens around each picnic table. Someone got quite creative with this design, to the good effect We had a leisurely morning preparing to depart from Joe and Lynn's house, while waiting for FedEx to deliver a refill of Charlie's allergy medication. We hugged out our good-byes and rolled on to South Dakota. Joe sent us a photo of his very sad dog, Bailey, who was already missing her ball playing buddies.
Our first campground was at a Corps of Engineers dam on the Missouri River. We crossed the state line from Nebraska to South Dakota as we rolled over the dam to enter the campground. We had a site just across the gravel drive from a quiet cove with a man-made shore of boulders. We found a fairly level spot near a stormwater inlet where the dogs could access the water to fetch their toys. There's nothing Charlie likes more than swimming to retrieve her toy! We inflated the paddleboards with our electric high-pressure tire pump, which took about 50 minutes. Hank kicks himself every time we go through this process, because he chose to leave behind our high volume stand-up paddleboard pump in order to save space. Argh! He should have known that Angie would have found a place for it. Packing is one of her super powers - along with trip planning. She has a knack for finding great sites within great campgrounds with an ideal driving distance between them. What a girl! The calm water and sun were fun to paddle in, but there was a lot of algae along the shore, which made for a smelly ingress and egress. There were also large patches of watermilfoils, which presented a bit of a navigation hazard. While Hank was crossing one, the long weeds grabbed the fin on the bottom of his board and he fell to his knees. After that, we slalomed between the hazardous patches. Our hypothesis is that the algae and watermilfoil are present because of fertilizer that farmers use on their corn and soybean crops. Fortunately, we have not seen this on other Corps of Engineers lakes. Angie's brother, Joe, double filters his home drinking water because of the pesticides and fertilizer. Charlie's longer coat retained the foul, algae smell so we had to bathe her. We used Joe's trick of using a half-gallon jug of soapy water to lather the dog. Hank repaired our outdoor shower while we were in Pennsylvania, so rinsing was a snap, too. After a leisurely morning of coffee, visiting and playing with the dogs, we had lunch in town. Lynn departed for a get-away with her daughter, while Joe and I gave Angie her first golf lesson at the driving range of the local 9-hole golf course. Joe explained that they wouldn't waste enough good farm land for an 18-hole course.
In spite of our verbose, overly detailed and sometimes conflicting instruction, Angie hit the ball quite well! Now that retirement affords ample time for cycling and golf, Hank is hopeful that Angie learns to love the game. There may be a gift of video golf lessons in her future. A family friend and former client of Joe's, Travis, joined us for dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. We returned home to enjoy the movie "The Great Outdoors," which featured the youthful Dan Aykroyd and John Candy cracking us up. The waterskiing stunts and the grizzly bear scenes were the best we had ever seen. Throughout our visit to Nebraska, we saw low-flying crop dusters plying their aerobatic trade. After returning to camp, we hitched up and hit the road. We made stops at Trader Joe's and Walmart to stock the trailer. We had a pleasant drive across Nebraska on Interstate 80 through Omaha and then shortly got on two-lane roads through large farms. We arrived at David City, a farming town of about 3,000 people, where Angie's brother, Joe, and sister-in-law, Lynn, live.
We had dinner at Abie's Place, an old schoolhouse restaurant in an even smaller town, Abie, population 69. This is the town where Lynn's family live and farm. The special was roast pork with cylinder-shaped dumplings and sauerkraut prepared Czech style, which contains rye and has a slightly sweet taste. After dinner, Joe drove us around miles of networked dirt and gravel roads through fields of corn and soy beans to spot game for upcoming hunting trips. Joe and Angie reminisced about their previous adventures which netted deer and turkey. We toured town in Joe and Lynn's golf cart. Every passing driver and most pedestrians gave us waves. The town has a typical, old-fashioned downtown and square, like you might see in an old bank robbery movie scene. There are some lovely Craftsman and Victorian-style homes on large, flat lots. There is also a modern, public fitness center and outdoor pool. We enjoyed a cozy night in real beds and luxuriated in spacious showers with ample hot water. After exercising the dogs, we took a 20-minute drive over the Mississippi to a yoga studio in Bettendorf, IA. It had been a couple of weeks since our last yoga practice and our stiff muscles were screaming for relief from long hours on the road. The class was challenging and invigorating.
Our audio book at present is "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". After reading and reflecting about American pioneers (including our own ancestors) that settled the frontier in Virginia and Kentucky, we wanted to hear the other side of the story. It is a sad story of unsatiable greed, racism and broken treaties. There is no more apt word than "genocide" to describe America's overall treatment of the native peoples. The book contains transcripts of impassioned letters by some American leaders who were shocked to witness these events and raised their voices to try and stop the cruelty. But the tidal wave of immigration, westward expansion and the discovery of gold combined to create an overwhelming political force that crushed any attempts to provide reasonable accommodations for the natives - even by well-meaning leaders like Ulysses S. Grant, who was the only president to appoint a native man to lead Indian Affairs. The book features many articulate and moving speeches by chiefs who desperately wanted to establish a fair peace, but who were betrayed and discredited again and again. The book is another reminder of how easily we tend to de-humanize those whose interests run counter to our own. It is discouraging to see how self-righteous we can be. I think that is only with God's help that we will be able to overcome this dark side of our nature. After driving across the low rolling hills of Iowa and navigating the thick traffic in Des Moines, we arrived at a Corps of Engineers campground situated along the spillway of a dam on the Des Monies River west of town. Our neighbors were a delightful local couple (Eric and Kate) who camp at this place every other week throughout the summer. Eric had been fishing at this spot for more than 40 years. They gave us directions to a small lake we walked to and took the dogs swimming. We stopped at an assisted care home to visit Hank's sister, Eleanor. Angie brought her laptop and showed Eleanor many pictures of the reunion and visits with their brothers, Douglas and Joe and their aunt Jean, who did not attend the reunion. Eleanor was delighted to see everyone. She was also very taken with Angie, who she called "beautiful" and "an asset to the family". Eleanor was tiring after a 90-minute visit, so we hit the westward road.
We stopped at another Corp of Engineers camp site - Fisherman's Corner North - on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River at Lock and Dam Number 14. There was a lily pad marsh along the shore of our campground, but a short three-quarter mile walk on a bike trail brought us to a sandy shore where the dogs could play and swim. When the dogs were done swimming, we noticed that a couple of tugboats were tending a string of five barges at the upstream entrance to the locks. From our campsite, we had a good vantage point to watch the two-hour process of maneuvering the barges through the locks. The barges were about 200 feet long, so they couldn't get all five barges, plus the tugboat, through in one pass. A helper tug stationed at the locks pulled on the front of the string, while the main tugboat pushed the string into the locks. They disconnected the first three barges from the last two, closed the lock doors and lowered the water level to downstream depth. The helper tug pulled the barges out and stood by while the locks were refilled and the upstream doors were opened. They reconnected the barges when both halves of the string were on the downstream side and off they went. It was very interesting to watch. Facing one of our longest drives of the trip - 6-1/2 hours - we got an early start. We spent several hours on two-lane roads through Ohio farms before reaching the highway. We had some very hard rain showers that caused us to reduce speed to 45 mph, due to poor visibility. We set up camp in the rain and set to work to catch up on our blog.
This private campground had a couple of tame, white donkeys on site that were friendly and curious to meet our border collies. |