The Black Hills

What a shock it is to drive endless straight, flat miles across South Dakota's farm land, and come to the beautiful Black Hills--even though the map tells you they are there.  Mt. Rushmore is, in a word, awesome!  There are many points to view the Presidents from miles away, and many different angles from which to admire the monument from the park itself.

Crazy Horse is a work-in-progress, many times larger than Mt. Rushmore, promised to be completed in this millenium--and visible from the George Mickelson bike trail...if we had gone in the right direction--which we didn't.

Custer State Park must be the reality show for, where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play all day--sometimes in the same field at the same time!

As nasty as the buffalo are, the babies are very cute.

We sat beside a field one evening and witnessed a most amusing display of turkey courting.  A dozen hens were pecking along seemingly unaware, unconcerned and certainly unimpressed by 3 toms in  glorious full fan of feather hopping around in circles!!  Those toms must be in a raggedy condition by the time the spring season has passed. :)

I think this area of South Dakota is on the short list of where our retirement home might be--it has everything:  mountains, wildlife, charming small towns, a bike trail and a nice low tax base.  We  lunched at the Kunckle Saloon biker bar in Sturgis, feasted on pie at The Purple Pie Place in Custer and tasted a bit of wine at Prairie Berry in Hill City. 

Although we could easily spend a lot more time here, it is time to continue our journey.  Alaska is calling us!!  

Badlands Nat'l Park

It occurs to me that we are indeed fortunate that so many wise people came before us to recognize and ensure protection for unique and special places across the U.S and the world.  The Badlands is such a place.  Geologists estimate that erosion will completely destroy the spires and buttes that are the Badlands in  +/-500,000 years.  Time is of the essence--don't delay.  Get to the Badlands while there is still time! :-)

We drove through the Park, walked some of the trails and watched the resident wildlife.  The fossil soils are carved into fantastic, multi-layered shapes that tower into the sky ending in what appear to be pencil points, knife edges and flat shelves, and all are completely surrounded by miles and miles of National Grasslands.   The Park deserved more time, but we were anxious to get to The Black Hills.

 For what it is worth, my astute observation of buffalo is this:  They are mean!  They push and shove each other and bang their heads together.  They have the whole damn prairie, and they're fighting over a blade of grass.

Elkhart, IN

The Bighorn is in need of major reconstruction to repair a "flexing" problem in the overhang and a new floor in the large slide-out.  We have arrived, donuts in hand, at Heartland's corporate headquarters for the necessary procedures.  While our house is out of commission, we'll use timeshare in South Bend--a vacation if you will. :)

Relaxing at the condo.

The weather was windy and cold, but we amused ourselves nonetheless.  We had dinner at Das Dutch Essenhaus with Bill and Jean who were in town having work done on their Redwood.  Al and Bill spent an afternoon at The College Football Hall of Fame--which meant neither Jean nor I had to go!
Notre Dame University was close enough to attend Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.  Northern Indiana is the RV mecca of the U.S. and home to all things RV, including The RV Hall of Fame and Museum.  We also took a tour through the Bighorn plant at Heartland's manufacturing facility.  

A room with a view...at ground level!

One last thing to do is drive to The Indiana Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore on Lake Michigan.

It was a wild and windy day on the shores of Lake Michigan, but Al climbed Mt. Baldy--the hill of sand, and I ventured down to the beach for a quick photo and a bit of sand for my clamshell.

This butterfly makes me remember that a few days ago, we stopped in Paducah, KY to tour the National Quilt Museum and visit with Al's high school friend Judy, who is the Curator.  What a great collection of modern art, using quilting as a medium, and conventional new and vintage quilts.  The Museum is in the cobblestoned, old port section of town adjacent to the muraled flood walls that provide protection from the mighty Ohio River.   

Finally, the Bighorn is restored to its former pristine condition by the very nice folks at Heartland. Westward ho!  This time, we'll take a northerly route across Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana.

It's Billy and Cheryl time!

When we find ourselves within a few hundred miles of Billy and Cheryl, the decision is a no-brainer.  We must see them!!  Mostly, there is marathon yaking, catching up and laughing when we are together, but in between they were gracious enough to tour us around Memphis a bit.

Of course, there was a mandatory evening on Beale St. where we were lucky enough to see the Memphis Flippers perform!  Our good friends treated us to a delicious dinner downtown ensuring the other thing we all do when we're together--eat good food!!

We spent an afternoon strolling through a most unique and beautiful cemetery accented with many wooden-looking benches, arches, gazebos, trees and bridges that are not made of wood at all, but cast in cement.  The ponds and fountains and gardens, curiously enough, draw people in want of formal photos.  In fact, a bridal party was in full pose as we were visiting.

Quite amazing, was the walk-in, cavern-like grotto with almost life-sized figures and scenes depicting Bible stories.

It was a perfectly delightful weekend with our old buddies, and Al had time to make a stop at the West Fraser office to visit with his friends and former co-workers. 

All on board!!  The Bighorn has an appointment in Elkhart, IN.