Tag: Elkhorn RV Resort

Spearfish Canyon and Custer State Park

This is us at Elkhorn RV Resort. It is expensive, but the sites are lovely, as you can see. Note the wonderful steps next to the motorhome. Kevin is determined I don’t fall down the motorhome steps again! I should have taken the picture at a different angle so you could see the hills around us. Oops!

Blue skies too

You can’t stay in Spearfish and not drive the gorgeous scenic byway down Spearfish Canyon! We spent most of Wednesday in the car, but it was worth it.

Forested hills the entire way
Craggy rocks are underneath the trees
Very craggy!
This waterfall was right by the road

The scenery doesn’t disappoint after the byway either.

Lake Sheridan on the way to Custer State Park

You go through the old mining town of Lead, SD the way we drove. The locals pronounce is “Leed,” and it has historic sites all over the place. The Homestake Mine was the deepest and biggest gold mine in North America. It was discovered during the Black Hills gold rush of 1876, and was in production until 2002. It now serves as an underground scientific laboratory, and it was where neutrinos were discovered.

Ruins of the famous Homestake Mine mill in Lead, SD

We eventually arrived at Custer State Park. Lots of rocks, hills, and trees, and absolutely lovely.

Rocky crags similar to those of Mount Rushmore before carving
Classic Custer – trees and rocks

The most famous drive in Custer is the Neeldes Highway. It has six one lane, low narrow tunnels carved into the rock, restricting it to passenger vehicles only. You can get an idea in these two pictures.

There is a reason for the name “Needles Highway.”
This is one of the bigger tunnels
Views for miles

We ate lunch at the historic State Game Lodge where Presidents Coolidge and Eisenhower spent time in the summers. They had a very nice buffet, but I had planned on one of their traditional bison burgers! The buffet was a quite acceptable alternative though. We came back through the craziness that is Keystone (just outside Mount Rushmore) and Deadwood. I try to stay away from both. I just can’t get excited about Rushmore. We have seen it, and the carvings are interesting, but I much prefer more natural sights. And Deadwood is just the definition of a tourist trap! Come to think of it, so is Keystone.

Oh, and I found a great little quilt store in Spearfish. I bought backing for my great niece’s baby quilt, and the lovely women said I could use their tables to sandwich it! Fabulous news, and I will do that on Friday.

We have to move sites tomorrow from this huge pull through site to a large back in due to their reservation mixup. I have discovered a car wash that has an oversized outside bay we are hoping to wash the motorhome in. The poor baby is absolutely filthy. So tomorrow we will move the Jeep to the new site, then take the MH for a wash. When we  get back and set up, I will go sandwich my quilt.

Finally out of the heat dome

It was just so bad in Chamberlain we decided to leave a day early. Not only was it hot, hot, hot, but an even worse wind was forecast for Tuesday. I was tired of driving a big box in heavy winds! We made reservations in Wall, SD at Sleepy Hollow RV Park. It fit the bill for a straightforward full hookup site, but no extras. However it was lovely and cool! The temperature never got above 85, a fabulous change. We actually had to turn the heat on this morning with the temps in the low 60s. Well, at least Kevin had to turn on the heat; I was doing just fine LOL!

Wall is just outside Badlands National Park, so of course we had to go for a drive. It is a lovely place, but I have never seen it so crowded! We decided we would just enjoy a drive through without stopping for much. We just wanted the basic experience, and we have been at the park probably a dozen times. It was quite relaxing. Of course I did have to get a couple of pictures of the badlands plus a flower picture.

Classic badlands photo with scary clouds
The Yellow Mounds area is one of my favorite. No color correction – they really look like this
Prickly pear cactus flower

The scary clouds ended up a serious thunderstorm not long after we got back to the motorhome. Lightening was very visible, but we missed the worst of it. And the prickly pear was a surprise. There were hardly any flowers visible in the expansive, tall grasslands. These guys were tucked at the end of cut banks where the grass wouldn’t out compete them. The petals are like crepe paper – thin and textured.

While in Wall, one must go to Wall Drug – an absolute requirement. We bypass the tourist part and head to the restaurant for the best cake donuts I have ever had! It is a tradition with us. We also both got cups of their very weak 10 cent coffee.

Mine are the plain ones and Kevin’s are the caramel frosted ones.

We went for breakfast this morning a few minutes after 8:00, the normal time they opened. There was a sign that said they would be open today at 10:00, and this is why.

Two stream of water to tap down hot spots

This is across the street from Wall Drug, the Cactus Cafe and Lounge. A fire started around 9:00 pm, and this is what it looked like at 10:30 am. The one building is obviously a complete loss, but they saved the other buildings on the block, though the ones next door to this obviously will have significant damage. The fireman just adjusts the sprays occasionally, making sure no hot spots remain to flair up later.

We drove to Spearfish, SD, arriving at Elkhorn RV Resort just after 1:00. It took some delaying tactics to make it that late, mostly be Kevin stopping by the Cabela’s in Rapid City and just relaxing a while in their parking lot. This place is much fancier than we normally stay at, but the sites are relatively spacious and well kept. However they got our reservation confused, and we may have to move sites on Thursday. Somehow they wrote the dates down in July instead of June! We think we have things settled though, and we plan on enjoying the Black Hills, a lovely place.