There’s Rain in Them There Hills

Weather has not been the best in the Black Hills so we haven't been getting out much to see the sights. For over a week, we have had a heavy mist and/or rain over the southwest area. Could be worse, it could be snowing. The hills are so green right now that we feel like we are in Washington State instead of South Dakota. There are some pictures posted in Webshots under Black Hills. If the weather clears up, we will definitely add to the folder.

The first couple of days were great with beautiful blue skies and fat fluffy clouds. We took it for granted and did not rush around trying to look at all the sights. We drove the Pigtail and Needles scenic highways. We were able to see Mt. Rushmore through the Pigtail tunnels. We stopped to see many different lakes and hiked up a couple of the trails. At one pullover, Dan found himself surrounded by chipmunks. We think Sandy’s camera clicking brought them out. One chipmunk thought he was a model. He would pose – click – move closer – pose – click – move closer. This went on until he got so close to the lens that Sandy finally had to get up before the chipmunk climbed on to her camera. On another rainy day, we drove through Custer State Park and saw many buffalo, antelope, deer, wild turkeys, and of course, the Burro Gang.

On a different day, we drove up to Sturgis. It certainly looks different than it did during Sturgis Bike week. We had lunch in Deadwood at Kevin Costner’s restaurant Jake’s inside the Midnight Star. The restaurant is entertaining with costumes and posters from Kevin’s movies to look over while waiting for lunch to be served. We also stopped by Saloon Number 10 to see where Wild Bill was shot in 1876.

Traffic Jams & Highway Robbery!

We were very happy to see the Black Hills of South Dakota after traveling through the plains of Kansas and Nebraska. Kansas and Nebraska were very pretty with miles of green wheat fields, but we were ready for some pine trees and mountains.

We thought we were done with traffic jams and tolls for a while only to run into both! On our way to Spokane Creek Campground, we spent a half hour in a traffic jam. Please see pictures to the right. Some people tried to reason with the buffalo only to be chased back to their cars. Others tried to sneak around the buffalo only to be blocked in on the wrong side of the road. There was no reasoning with the big guys. It took a group of motorcyclist’s rev’ing engines to convince the buffalo to move off the road.

The next day, we decided to go for a drive before visiting Dan’s sister, Kristy and her husband, Dick. We ran into a highway robbery already in progress. When the Burro Gang saw us, they immediately surrounded us. The leader stuck his head through Dan’s window and started demanding food in order for us to pass. We only had stale tortilla chips, which they took, but we were told next time they would expect something better. Whew! Close call!

We are having a wonderful visit with Kristy and Dick. We enjoyed a quiet Sunday on their back porch watching a variety of wildlife go through their yard. We are also doing a lot of sightseeing so we should have lots of pictures to add to Webshots the next time we post a travel blog.

Wichita Mountains NWR, OK

We hope you had a very nice Memorial Day Weekend. This picture was taken at Ft. Sill’s Historic Museum area.

We arrived in Lawton on Tuesday, 19 May with our new refrigerator installed. We decided to stay at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge just outside of Lawton, Oklahoma. What a great choice! This feels more like retirement in the slow lane. The Doris Campground has 50-amp electric, but no water or sewer hookups, so we are semi-dry-camping. We are parked in a heavily wooded area with no close neighbors. We barely have room for our coach and tow car with all the trees. Right from our campsite we have seen deer, wild turkeys sounding off to warn the others about a coyote wandering through, squirrels, and many birds waking us in the morning instead of an alarm. There is a lone buffalo hanging around the campsite and grazing nearby. He spends most of his time around the public restrooms, but he has been roaming around the campgrounds as well. He does not seem to be bothered by people. Of course, people tend to go out of their way to walk around the buffalo’s personal space.

We drove to the top of Mt Scott, which is located on the eastern edge of the Refuge. It is one of Oklahoma's most prominent mountains, rising 2,464 feet above sea level. On our way to the top of Mt Scott, we were surprised to see two skateboarders coming down the hill with their buddies in a car behind video taping them! One of them threw his arms up and with a big grin, yelled “WooHoo!” as he passed by us. On our way back down the hill, we saw the guys getting ready for another run. We found a good stopping point on the side of the road and waited for them. You can see the daredevils’ pictures along with many others in our album Wichita Mountain NWR.

Our granddaughter, Bryanna, spent Thursday night with us after her last day of school. We took her for a bike ride around the campground the first evening, pointing out deer and a buffalo along the way. We sat around a fire later and ate barbequed hot dogs and S’mores. While sitting around the fire, we heard crashing in the underbrush. We were surprised to see a lone buffalo running between the campsites. We were glad he did not run directly through our area. No one got hurt, but he did scare a mother with a toddler near the public restrooms. The next day, we took Bry for a hike, seeing wild turkeys, a coyote, turtles, lizards, and Canadian Geese.

On another night, Mad Max was watching the buffalo that meandered within ten feet of our rig. After the buffalo passed behind our rig, Max disappeared under the chair for hours. When he would come out, he would stare down the hallway towards the back with his worried look (wide-eyed, radar-ears, tail-wagging). It took us a while to figure out that he thought the buffalo was still back there and might be inside!

On Saturday, our daughter Misty brought our grandkids Bryanna and Violet out for barbequed hot dogs, grilled pineapple, and S’mores. We took a walk around the campground and saw quite a few deer, but no buffalo. Violet got very excited over the “big dogs”. She started to squeal until we explained the deer would run away.

Dry-camping for seven days is a new experience for us. We are not used to rationing water for more than a couple of days. We learned very quickly how to save water after running low before the third day, and refilling at the entrance to the campground. Ticks became another concern for us. Every time we planned to be outside, we coated ourselves in bug spray. Every time we came back in, we checked our clothes and ourselves. We started checking our cats as well. During one of our walks, we saw another camper checking his dog. Dan overheard the owner say to his dog, “Why do I keep finding ticks on me, but not on you?”

We will be heading towards South Dakota on Tuesday, 26 May.