This and that

I last blogged from Billings, Montana.  We decided that we only wanted one night there.  The campground was OK but it was overpriced for the location, the wifi was crap and they were a bit disorganized.

We were still traveling without reservations so we kept moving towards the Black Hills of South Dakota.

  If you have been reading my blog, we have changed directions.  We have been making our way west for several months but we have some east coast business to attend to.  We are not sure how far east Lewis is going to go but all the mammals and Clark will be on the east coast within the next couple of weeks.

We were looking to land somewhere in the Rapid City, SD area so we left Billings, got on I90 and we were off.

We decided to stop for gas a couple of hours down the road and we had an interesting encounter.

We pulled into a gas station and noticed what appeared to be several vehicles traveling together with young adults.  These vehicles parked in and around the pumps and the occupants started getting out.  After we had pulled into a pump, one of the adults approached Rob.  He began chatting with him.   Within a few minutes of initiating the conversation, the guy chatting with Rob began to explain that he was part of a group "selling" magazine subscriptions for charities.  He continued to explain that if he sold the most subscriptions, then he would get a cash award.  The gist of the deal was give them a check or your credit card number and they would send a magazine subscription to a charity.  SERIOUSLY?  Rob was trying to politely decline but this guy was not giving up easily.  I asked for ID and proof of their cause and he pulled out some crappy little laminated card.  I gave him my classic "Are you freaking kidding me?" look and he shook Rob's hand and walked away.  We got into the RV and realized that these folks had us boxed in.  I gave it about two minutes and then got out and pulled out my classic "hands on the hips pissed off pose."  They looked up and offered to move.  They got out of the way and we left.  The entire experience was a mixture of creepy, maddening and sad.  These kids were driving around in packs scamming folks.  It was sad because they were young.  It was maddening because they were all of an age of consent and should know better. It was creepy because you just do not know what people will do these days. If you are ever approached, they are a group called GDCI and they are full of crap.  I Googled it and every single post said "scam."

The rest of our trip was uneventful.  We called ahead and got a spot at Rush No More RV park in Sturgis, SD.  Yes, it is fairly close to Mount Rushmore. (about 40 miles away).  The park is only a couple of miles from the interstate but nestled well into the hills.  The only sounds we get are wild turkey, other birds and the sounds of horses neighing.  We are facing east and we get lovely sunrises over the Black Hills.

We got up Wednesday and found a good place to run.  We headed to a Centennial Trail trailhead.  The CT runs for 111 miles through the hills and valleys of SD.  We had not had a good trail run since leaving Bryce so I was in runner's heaven.  The narrow but well marked trail offered beautiful scenery, good ups and downs and a soft running surface.

WE STARTED IN THIS FIELD AND ENDED UP IN THE THICK OF THE FOREST

SO MANY TRAILHEAD OPTIONS

VERY WELL MARKED

After a really good run, we returned to Lewis, got the girls and went exploring.  

We drove into the Black Hills and went through Deadwood, Lead and several small towns.  We stopped at a trailhead for The Roosevelt Monument.

Mount Theodore Roosevelt Monument, also known as the Roosevelt Friendship Monument or Friendship Tower, located in the Black Hills National Forest on the outskirts of Deadwood, Lawrence County, South Dakota, is a 31-foot stone tower, including the six-foot-high platform, honoring Theodore Roosevelt. It was the first tribute to the president's memory and was dedicated July 4, 1919. 

 Theodore Roosevelt was a deputy sheriff in Medora, North Dakota in 1884. While looking for a group of horse thieves he met up with Seth Bullock who was the Sheriff of Deadwood. The two became lifelong friends and when Roosevelt died Bullock wanted to erect a monument for his friend. The Society of the Black Hills Pioneers provided financial support to build a tower and it was dedicated on July 4, 1919. In 1966, the Society donated the Tower to the United States Forest Service.

Rob and I love visiting obscure sites like this.  They offer interesting bits of history and take us to places less traveled.

The tower offers beautiful 360 views of the Black Hills.

After a busy afternoon of exploring, we made our way back to the RV.

The campground advertised a Wednesday evening bluegrass jam session so we decided to check it out.  We walked the short distance to the office area and musicians were already setting up.  We found a couple of seats and were treated to what was obviously a very popular weekly event.  The musicians continued to trickle in and included a pianist, a banjo, a fiddle, many acoustic guitars and one bassist.  All the musicians were locals and they just enjoyed getting together once a week to jam.  Lucky for us that they chose to get together at the campground.

MELVIN

THE MULTITUDE OF MUSICIANS

85 YEAR OLD EDNA, MOTHER OF MELVIN

Edna was wonderful.  She plays by ear and cannot read a note of music.  She has the energy of someone much younger and got up in the middle of one song and did an Irish Jig.  Her son Melvin, is equally talented and also plays by ear.  

They played mostly country and gospel and it was such a pleasure to be there.  Experiences like this are another great thing about RVing.  Being a part of small community traditions is such a treat.

As the jam session wound down, we walked back to the RV and settled in.

On Thursday, we got up, went for another trail run and then decided to drive to Mount Rushmore.  Mount Rushmore is one of those sights that needs to be seen to be appreciated.  It is very touristy but it is also amazing.  That someone had the vision to take a huge chunk of rock face, orchestrate the creations of the huge and very recognizable renditions of Washington, Roosevelt, Jefferson and Lincoln, is amazing.

WE ARRIVED TO SEE THE END OF 188 NEW US CITIZENS TAKING THEIR OATH OF CITIZENSHIP

We did not stay long because, once again, no dogs allowed.  The NPS wears me out with this rule.  There is absolutely no reason for a no dogs rule at this place.  The really sad thing is that the person that told us where to park also told us to "just leave the dogs in the car."  Really? 

We chose a different route to take us back to Lewis and we stopped at another Centennial Trail trailhead.  This trail had a creek and Penny Lane got to enjoy a good soaking.  Annie Belle did her usual walk/carry me thing.

MY LITTLE HIKER

We got back to Lewis and got the grill going.  It was a beautiful evening so I set up the picnic table and we had a delicious meal outdoors.  We ate, took the dogs for a short walk and spent the rest of the daylight hours sitting outside.

We'd had a busy few days and we were all ready to turn in.

Another great day in this thing we call life.