Category Archives: South Dakota

It was perfect! All the planning, anticipation and excitement all came together in five wonderful days in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

It did take a great deal of planning. We first had to find the right venue. Last year, we spent days traveling around the Black Hills looking at sites for this reunion. We found places with cabins and no RV sites. There were places more like campgrounds with cabins with no facilities (no bathrooms, no linens, no kitchens). We visited mega resorts with plenty of nice rooms, but we would not have had much space to ourselves, and it didn’t have the Black Hills atmosphere we wanted. After days of looking and not being happy with any place, we went to the last place on our list – Spokane Creek Resort. It seemed to have it all – an RV site close to really perfect cabins. These cabins had nice linens, full kitchens in some and little kitchenettes in others. Bathrooms that seemed new and modern with decent towels. And one great feature was that the cabins were all a little different giving us the opportunity to choose exactly what fit our family configurations. We talked to the owner, Brian, who that very day was taking ownership of the resort. He took the time to talk to us, had a workamper show us some cabins and we right then and there wanted to put down a deposit for this summer, 2022. Well, Brian didn’t operate that way and told us that he would put our reservation manually in a “book” but that we could not leave a deposit yet. We were a little uncomfortable – but when we called a few months later we were able to secure the reservation.

Doug and I arrived this year on Friday, July 8^th, a few days before the gang arrived. That gave us time to get organized, get a feel for the resort, test out the facilities and get ready. We had an extra day to shop which was vitally important. We took Cabin 3 one day early, Sunday, July 10^th, to allow us to fill the refrigerator and start staging all the items for the rest of the cabins. This was a good idea because doing it all in one day would have been crazy.

Our family started arriving on Monday, July 11^th. Jake and Julie and their 3 children were coming in from a long camping trip from Washington to Yellowstone and then through Montana to South Dakota. This was their first long trip in their converted storage trailer. They had a great camping adventure, loved Yellowstone and really enjoyed their camp set up. They arrived tired but excited to see us.

Becky and her sons, Benjo and Mati arrived from Philadelphia – unfortunately, Becky’s wife Paola could not make it. Becky and the boys are seasoned travelers and even though they had gotten up at 3 am and had a longer layover than planned, they seemed no worse for it. Becky and her boys settled into Cabin 3, excited about the bunk beds. Jake and Julie and the kids took the other bedroom where Paisley and Griffin also loved the bunk beds. Beckham slept in his porta-crib. Cabin 3 was full of fun and noise.

My brother Dan and his wife Lisa arrived in their Roadtrek after weeks of traveling from Lauderdale-by-the Sea, Florida, to New Jersey, to Illinois and then through to South Dakota. As soon as we could we got them settled into Cabin 9 – the cabin that was to be our home base for cooking and serving food. They had a small bedroom which they shared with their little dog Buddy. Then Josh and Sarah arrived and got their stuff into their bedroom – a double bed and bunk beds. Now Cabin 9 was occupied.

My brother Steve, his wife Sharon and their teenage son Nico, got there safely and we tucked them into Cabin 8 – a small but nicely furnished rustic cabin with a double bed and bunkbeds and a kitchenette with table and chairs. Although their flights were not too bad, they had the worst experience just prior to boarding their first plane. They had left their dog Felix at his doggie daycare – a trusted place where Felix is loved, and the staff are well-known. They got a call that Felix had been bitten by another dog and was being brought to surgery. It was horrible news. They continued with their plans only after assuring themselves that Felix was being well cared for. Of course, given airplane silence, rushing to their next flight and notoriously bad phone connections, the next few days were filled with worry about their much-loved dog. The doggie daycare did everything possible to take care of Felix and keep our family aware of what was happening. By the end of their stay, Felix was doing okay and once they finally got him home, he seemed to be recovering well.

Next to get in, much later than planned, was Jon and his girlfriend Aurora. Their flight was delayed enough to get them in so late that they had to drive on the very narrow, twisting road through the Black Hills in almost dark. Once the got there they moved into their room in Cabin 10.

Last to get in – but not until the next morning was Amy. Brodie was unable to come so she traveled alone and after her flight cancellation spent the night in the Dallas Airport. She said she made friends there but got no sleep. Doug picked her up in Rapid the next morning. After a long shower and a longer nap, she was ready to join in the fun.

Monday night was a simple dinner of mac ‘n cheese and charcuterie boards. Dessert was a bucket of my homemade cookies. With everyone coming at different times, this seemed the best.

To get the party started we gave everyone a red bandana (to be worn for group photos or whenever). And we gave each family unit a copy of the book of memories that Doug and I wrote in response to the gift Amy and Julie gave us – the gift of us writing an essay every week for 45 weeks of our childhood memories. We are proud of our year-long effort and it was fun to give each family a copy.

I took a leisurely afternoon making Mangia Italiano – Cheese Lasagna, Ratatouille, Chicken Cacciatore (vegetarian and meat), Bracciole and 4 cheesecakes (2 ricotta, caramel walnut and chocolate). At night it was spin-copter time – shooting little copters high into the sky and every child running and running to get them. Dance party and glow sticks kept everyone entertained.

Wednesday was Fiesta Day – breakfast burritos to start the day and a dinner of Green Chile Enchilada Casserole, with bean and cheese quesadillas, Mexican Rice, and Mexican Cole Slaw. For dessert I served the Apple Empanadas I had baked a week before and that had filled my refrigerator during our travel.

That day the troops visited Legion Lake. The beach and water made for lots of fun – Jake’s kayak got a lot of use. They had a sun shelter and water guns and they all came home tired and happy. After dinner we gathered together, listened to Dan playing his new autoharp and singing old familiar songs. Aurora treated us to her most delectable chocolates and we got to happily sample the delicious varieties. We sampled and sampled and pledged our chocaholic love!

Thursday was an Egg Bake Breakfast with English Muffins. The sightseers spent the day at the Fossil Museum and then at the Mammoth Site. Everyone came home with shark’s teeth and rocks. Aurora had bought a huge geode and everyone got a chance to chop at it and keep its pretty sparkles.

We had rented the Pavilion and had our Big Birthday Barbeque Bash that night. We grilled on their gas grill – had the usual burgers and hot dogs (vegetarian and meat) plus Grandma Lytle’s Potato Salad and a Thai Cucumber Salad (with really hot serrano peppers on the side). There were grilled veggies thanks to Jon and Aurora and watermelon. Dessert was Make Your Own Birthday Cake (large muffins with syrups, whip cream, icing and sprinkles to create individual cakes). Everyone wore their red bandanas, posed for group photos, danced to the music Doug had compiled and did various crafts. Amy and Steve face painted the kids.

The banner that said, “Happy Birthday to Us All” and the other one with all our birth dates on it was made months ago. Everyone got a Happy Birthday sticker, an American Flag and a Pride Flag. We also gave each family unit a genealogy compiled by Doug’s brother Nelson.

Friday was declared Easy Peasy Day – breakfast of Granola and Yogurt, muffins, mini bagels and left-over breakfast burritos. No dinner for me to prepare since we ordered pizzas from the resort’s café.

The family all went to see Mount Rushmore and Keystone. Our friends from Kartchner, Art and Brenda, had the day off from the workamper jobs at Custer State Park so they visited us for lunch. So nice to connect to them and we fed them leftover lasagna and cheesecake.

After dinner, we hung out at our picnic tables while Jonny and Aurora treated everyone to s’mores. We played a family trivia game and treasured our time hanging outside with the huge full moon.

Saturday was Sayonara Day – I made a large pan of Apple Cinnamon Roll Bake for breakfast and fed everyone sandwiches and leftovers until they had to leave for their flights.

Jonny and Aurora left very very early for their flight to Philadelphia. Amy went with Becky and the boys to the airport. Sharon, Steve, and Nico took off for their really awful series of flights home to New Jersey. Dan and Lisa packed up and got back on the road to travel south and east to Miami. Josh and Sarah left after lunch to get back to Tucson. As they left, we gathered our stuff from the emptying cabins. We kept some things in Cabin 3 which we had for one extra night so Jake and Julie could help us with everything before they too left to drive home to Colfax, Washington.

On Sunday, July 17^th, we stuffed things back into the RV and pulled in our slides and took off for Rozet, Wyoming for our first night away from this wonderful family. We loved every minute with every person and every bit of this experience was a dream come true.

Our children are talking about doing it again – maybe on the East Coast next time – whatever they decide, we will be there – grateful for this happy, loving family.

We have a number of errands to do on this part of the trip.  South Dakota is our home state – our official legal residence.  We have an obligation to show up every five years to get our driver’s licenses renewed.  We only have to show proof that we have spent one night every five years in this State to be a resident.  It’s not much of a burden, especially since we love this State.

We are also planning to have a family reunion in the Black Hills in the summer of 2022.  We will be looking at venues to hold this event.  We also still have lots of exciting things on our South Dakota bucket list that we want to do.  There are caves here to see and some attractions that our family might be interested in so we can check them out.

And we are very happy to have a few days of fun with Dan and Lisa who are traveling in their RoadTrek.  They drove from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea to Lisa’s family in Illinois.  Then they checked out some Geodesic Domes in Minnesota with the intention of building their own in New Jersey.  It was only natural that we would meet up here in Hermosa, South Dakota.  Then they are leisurely making their way to Las Vegas for their daughter’s wedding in early June.  Eventually they will get back to their home in Florida.  They love their travels.  They are more adventurous than us – drifting from place to place, often without plans or reservations.  Dan and Lisa have signed up for Harvest Hosts and have had some great experiences at these unique stop-overs.  They should write their own blog about their travels!

Today is cold here at Heartland RV Park.  Last night in Scottsbluff, NE, we had a bad wind storm before it got dark.  It was worse here – lightning and hail. I’m looking forward to warmer temperatures tomorrow.

The road getting here was pleasantly not flat most of the way.  Lots of rolling green hills dotted with some cows and a sprinkling of yellow wildflowers.  There were some hills with exposed rock and deep chasms.  The cows seemed oblivious to the overcast skies.  We saw a sign for a Fiddle Contest in Crawford and I was wondering what that was like.

We finally saw signs of civilization as we neared Crawford.  Driving along, Doug saw a snake coiled right on the highway.  I missed it.  For the most part, there were no signs, no nothing just grass from one side of the horizon to the other.

As we got to South Dakota we saw a glimpse of the Black Hills up ahead.

The resort we are staying in, Heartland, is one of the places we are thinking about for the reunion.  We are doing our due diligence by taste-testing their breakfast tomorrow morning.  We will also try their pizza.  It’s too cold for checking out the pool and other child-friendly activities.  The dog park is right in front of us and so far, that gets good marks from us.

The sites here are a bit tight and the ground is a little soft in some spots.  But the staff and volunteers here couldn’t be more helpful.  The laundry is clean and a decent price.  The store has lots of convenience items as well as plenty of fun stuff to buy.  They have an outgoing mailbox for my many postcards, and we were able to receive a package as soon as we arrived.  So far so good.

It was great to spend the time with Danny and Lisa.  Too bad the weather was awful.  One of our days together we just sat inside our RV because the rain never stopped that day.  Lisa got wet walking Buddy.  Then the tornado watch turned into a tornado warning.  The four of us and Buddy gathered up our important things, got into the car and drove to the Restroom/Laundry building behind the office.  The Restroom side had glass doors, but we were able to sit in the tiny space between the wall and the showers.  We met two other travelers, also with their 2 small dogs.  Talking with them about their custom van and their travels helped pass the time.  The threatening clouds turned into sheets of rain.  When it let up and the watch was over, we went back to sitting around the RV.

On Saturday, Doug drove us to the Wildlife Loop of Custer State Park.  It was a happy surprise that the park entrance was free that weekend.  After another day of rainy weather, Doug drove us up Iron Mountain and down Needles Parkway.  We ate lunch at a visitor center patio at Sylvan Lake and had a great day together.

On Tuesday, we said goodbye to Danny and Lisa after sharing breakfast.  We left to go get our driver’s licenses renewed.  It was a very efficient and pleasant experience.  Our appointment was at 10:15 and we got there early.  The text on our phones told us when we could come in the building.  We filled out a few forms.  Immediately got called to the window.  Did the eye exam, signed another form, had our photos taken, and we were finished.  We left before 10:15.

With that chore done for the next five years, we went into Rapid City.  We walked around checking out the bronze statues of Presidents and found Barack Obama.  He has one of his daughters with him and his corner is next to a pretty church.  It was good to see him taking his place with all the other presidents.

We drove home through grassy hillsides.  This part of South Dakota is just grass.  We did see a life size statue in the middle of the field.  It was the Madonna of the Prairies.  Just a pretty statue sitting in the grass.

On May 26^th we spent the day looking at venues all over the Black Hills to hold our family reunion next summer.  We ate our lunch near D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery, but we didn’t stop in.  We have to finalize our summer plans for next year before we make a commitment to volunteer so we didn’t want to visit with our volunteer supervisor just yet.  Lunch was just on the other side of the parking lot where we sat in the cold wind eating our picnic lunch and hoping the weather gets better!

We looked at campgrounds and RV parks in Lead (Wikiup Cabin Village), amazing rental homes on very steep roads on Terry Peak, a huge resort called Palmer Gulch, some local KOAs, and a rental building right next to Deadwood.  They were possibilities and we went home to compare them.  The drive home was a long, cold ride through dense fog.

The next day, Doug suggested we check out one more place – Spokane Creek RV and Cabins.  We were excited!  The owners had a workamper show us a few cabins.  They were perfect.  The price is right, the location is good, and the RV sites and cabins will accommodate our family.  We can’t make the reservations until early next week when they open up for next year.

We figured out what we need in terms of cabins, we finished our Save the Date flyer, and we confirmed everyone’s email address.  It is great that we found a place we are happy with and now we can start on all the little projects that will go into making this family gathering a happy time.

With that big chore done, we checked out another cave – Rushmore Cave.  This one is pretty dried out.  The tour was a good one – interesting speleogens and a few speleothems (formations).  It is a cool cave to explore – very tight spaces, 412 stairs, including a ladder, and about a half mile of walking on a sometimes slippery cave floor.  We enjoyed the new experience of this cave.  There are also lots of adventures on here on Rush Mountain, but we weren’t interested in zip lines, rope walks, and some other crazy rides.  When we got home I took some pain meds for my aching knees and arm.  Maybe that was too many steps for me – not just the 412 inside the cave but another 100 up to the cave and then 100 down to the car.  I am rethinking which tour to do at our next cave – Lewis and Clark.  It makes me appreciate Kartchner Caverns – tram ride up the hill, no stairs, safe flat concrete pathways!  We love these caving adventures but my bones complain.

Left South Dakota on May 30^th  – finally had a really nice weather day!

We returned to South Dakota, to a nice campground we had been to before – Heartland RV Resort in Hermosa.  At this campground the hosts gave us ice cream sandwiches!  A first in over 130 campgrounds.  So nice!

We spent our first day in Hermosa watching the Senate Judiciary Hearing.  It was a difficult day.  In the late afternoon we made a quick trip to stock up on food and I used the convenient laundry at the campground.  Life goes on.

On Friday, we went to Wind Cave.  Our tour guide greeted us and we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was Ranger Ben from Kartchner Caverns.  Ben gives a great tour – entertaining and filled with info.  We caught up with him over lunch.  Ben’s on his way to Kartchner Caverns for the winter where he will bring our greetings to all our friends there.

After our great tour of Wind Cave which took us deep into a huge cave by way of over 700 steps, we visited Mammoth Site.  This site has hundreds of mammoth bones – both Columbian and Wooly mammoth species.  These big guys wandered into a muddy pool once upon a time and then couldn’t climb over the slippery edges so their remains remain intact there.  Many of the bones are perfectly preserved in almost full skeletal bodies.  Incredible!

We couldn’t pass up a chance to revisit Custer State Park.  Our plan was get up at dawn and see the annual Buffalo Round Up.  In this event, ranchers herd the bison into corrals.  Since the herds are doing well, in order to keep them healthy and thriving, the ranchers cull them.  They remove the old and sick bison who are then auctioned off – yes, to make bison burgers.

Well, we never really saw dawn that morning.  A quick peek out our bedroom window showed us rain and the low temperatures convinced is to stay in bed.  We did drive the Wildlife Loop later in the day and saw the bison up close in the corrals.  We went to the Arts Festival in the Park and met up with the Democrats at their booth.  We talked to them and they gave us information on voting for our State and Local candidates.  We mailed in our ballots a few days later.

I’m a little ashamed to state that I chose this opportunity to try my first bison burger at the festival.  It was pretty much like any cheeseburger I’ve eaten.

October started with a fun but busy day for us.  We went to the D.C. Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish Canyon, where we would love to volunteer one summer.  We enjoyed the interpretive guides the last time we were here and this time we met with the Volunteer Coordinator, who answered our questions and interviewed us for the positions.  We did our best to impress her and her staff and we’re hoping this gig works out in our future.  We saw the really nice camping sites along the Spearfish River in the Volunteer Village of the nearby city campground.  Looks like a great place to spend the summer!

We ate another great Mexican lunch at Barbacosa’s and explored Downtown Spearfish.  Then we went on a beautiful two mile hike to Roughlock Falls.  The weather was perfect – just a little cool but sunny.

We made a little detour to Belle Fourche, SD.  This is the designated center of the United States.  Of course to be the center you have to include Alaska and Hawaii.  There is an impressive monument where you can stand in the center and of course, take a photo in what seems to be the center of the country, but this monument is about 20 miles south of the actual center, which is inaccessible because it is on private property.  We met a couple there from Pittsburgh and they took our photo and we took theirs.  The Tri-State Museum (SD, MT, WY) on the property was closed so we will visit it another time.

It was a good stay in Hermosa but we heard that a wind storm was coming our way.  So we left extra early on Wednesday morning.  The winds were increasing but Doug was managing on the highway.   We stopped for just a few minutes at a rest stop.  The wind storm caught up with us.  I almost couldn’t walk back to the RV and in minutes after we got back on the highway, we heard a loud slapping sound along our driver’s side roof.

There was no way to stop along the highway.  Luckily there wasn’t much traffic.  We crawled along the shoulder at ten miles per hour to the first turn off.  We pulled into a KOA campground and I spoke to the owner.  He was closing down the campground for the season and was busy trying to get the few remaining campers out of the park so he could leave too.  He directed us to a large dirt parking area not too far away.

We limped into the dirt lot where a cattle car, another big truck and a small Class C were already huddled there.  The wind was crazy – bad enough to rock our RV.  Doug could see that the problem was the slide topper – a flap of awning material that serves as a cover to protect our slides when they are opened out.  The arm that prevents it from unrolling in the wind must have come unscrewed in the wind.

Doug called Tiffin (our RV manufacturer) for advice and together they came up with a repair with a wire coat hanger that we thought would work.   But no way could he climb up to the roof or use a ladder in that wind.  So we hunkered down in the 1880 Town Parking Lot.  We were just across the street from a local historic attraction with a gas station and convenience store.

Just to complicate things a bit, our tire sensor beeped us a message that our car’s tire was leaking.  We probably picked up a nail riding along the highway shoulder.  Doug walked to the convenience store where he got directions to a place in the next town where he could get the tire changed.  The wind and rain had mercifully died down just enough for us to unhitch and  put the spare on.  So Doug drove off to the town of Murdo.  I stayed in the rocking RV trying to quell my anxiety by crocheting.

When he came back with a fixed tire we re-hitched in the rain and walked over to the convenience store.  We spoke to the really nice owner who graciously told us not to worry about the No Overnight Parking – You Will Be Towed signs.  He invited us to stay the night – free.  We do meet the nicest people!  We bought some snacks in the store, went back into the RV without opening the sides, ate junk food and spent a safe, cozy night in the dirt lot.

By morning, all the other RVs and trucks were gone and so was most of the wind and rain.  I held the ladder; Doug made a secure repair and we were soon on our way again.  We never made it to our reserved site in Kennebec but were instead on our way to Sioux Falls.

We traveled to Sioux Falls along I-90.  Before we got there, we stopped at a rest stop in Chamberlain to see the Statue of Dignity – Of Earth and Sky.  It is a beautiful fifty foot stainless steel sculpture by Dale Lamphere to honor the cultures of the Lakotas and Dakotas.  It serves as a symbol of respect and promise for the future.  It was installed to celebrate the 125^th anniversary of South Dakota’s statehood in 2016.  It is beautiful, impressive and even has colored LED lights at night.  Along the view of the Missouri River right behind Dignity is a Lewis and Clark marker detailing the construction of the Memorial Bridge spanning the river.  Needless to say, it was one of the best rest stops we have been in.

Sioux Falls is our city of residence.  It’s where we get our mail and do our banking.  So we made a quick trip to Falls Park.  Our plan was to eat soup and bread in the café overlooking the falls.  We remembered our last delicious lunch there.  We also remembered the bitter cold there.  Alas, the café was closed for a private party and we had to settle for lunch somewhere else.  The falls are certainly worth seeing but hopefully next time we will be there when we can enjoy a nice walk without shivering.  The rock formations which create the falls through the Big Sioux River are Sioux Quartzite.  It’s silica-cemented sandstone – the oldest exposed rocks in South Dakota.  The rocks are all squared-cornered which is unusual for rocks pounded by a fast flowing river.  The Big Sioux River has flowed over these rocks for over 10,000 years but the rocks show little signs of erosion.

After a pretty but cold walk by the falls, we ran some errands.  We picked up our mail at Dakota Post, giving us a chance to thank the staff there for the excellent mail service they provide to us.  We went to our Sioux Falls Credit Union to make some changes to our account, visited Democratic Headquarters, found a well-stocked kitchen store for a few supplies and then did some food shopping.

Just a note – most places like banks in South Dakota don’t celebrate Columbus Day.  They instead celebrate Native American Day.

It was a short but productive trip to Sioux Falls and we said good-bye to South Dakota on Monday, October 8.