Category: South Dakota

We departed from Stockade Lake South Campground at 10:45AM MDT and headed back East through Custer State Park in order to head North to the Spearfish City Campground in Spearfish, SD. We had hoped to take US-385 North through Deadwood but due to construction it’s down to one gravel lane with guide cars, etc. We stopped off at the Spearfish Walmart to stock up on supplies.

On the way through downtown we stopped off at Stadium Sports Grill for a late lunch. Beth had the Beef Tip Quesadillas and a cup of Bacon Cheeseburger Soup which were delicious. I had the Hot Knuckle Sandwich (Tender strips of chicken, ham, and cheese topped with hot wing sauce) which was also delicious. A gentleman sitting next to us at the bar was reading two new comic books and I asked him if he had bought them from the Comic Book Store next door (which we had parallel parked in front of) and he said yes and strongly encouraged us to go in and get a some comics or toys for our grand-kids, so we did. The owner and one of the customers were very helpful recommending some FUNKO Pop! Figurines in the latest comic book or movie characters.

We arrived at the Spearfish City Campground just after 3:00PM MDT. This is a city campground with full hookups. The sites are a little small so you have to be friendly with your neighbors (which we were). Before I could get out of the cab after parking, Beth was already off introducing herself to all the neighbor dogs and their owners. At least three of the campers behind and beside us are all family members gathered for the holiday. They invited us to join them behind our camper (out of the hot sun). They were all great people and we had a good time hanging out with them. I’ll have to take inventory when we leave Friday and make sure Beth hasn’t permanently borrowed “Veris” the 120lb Bernese Mountain Dog Mastiff Mix.

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	Available but Useless	Available but Useless
Starlink	274	14
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	3	0.4
US Mobile – Beth (AT&T)	n/a	n/a

TV	Quality
Antenna	No Channels
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a

Stockade Lake – South Campground – Site #14 – 6/28-7/2

We moved back to the Stockade Lake South Campground for our final four nights in Custer State Park. We dumped our black and grey tanks and filled our water tank on the way out of Blue Bell Campground. We then headed back into Custer to stock up on groceries.

We woke up the first morning in this site (Sunday) at 6:30AM MDT to heavy rain and then what sounded like more than rain. I asked Beth, “Is that hail?” She opened the shade and sure enough it was. Fortunately, it didn’t last too long, but when I got up to use the bathroom and looked outside it looked like snow on the ground. The day was cloudy, but quiet until about 5PM when we received another major storm and hail. It didn’t last too long and the hail was smaller than what we experienced in the morning. No signs of damage to the RV.

The following day (Monday) was glorious with chamber of commerce weather. We sat outside all day and then grilled pork chops over the fire that Beth had soaked in Patti’s Sauce for two days. The were delightful.

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	n/a	n/a
Starlink	95	16
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	11	0.1
US Mobile – Beth (AT&T)	n/a	n/a

TV	Quality
Antenna	6 Channels (PBS)
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a

Blue Bell Campground – Site #22 – 6/26-6/27

We moved to the Blue Bell Campground for two nights. This is our first stay in this campground. The sites seem to be much more level than those in Stockade Lake South campground. They are also a bit larger. We drove the scenic Wildlife Loop Road to get to the campground and finally saw a small herd of Buffalo along with burros, pronghorn, and prairie dogs. There’s a dump station and potable water at the entrance to Wildlife Loop Road so we stopped, dumped, and refilled our water tank. The Wildlife Loop Road ends near Blue Bell Lodge. We stopped in at the lodge for lunch. Beth had the Wrangler’s Buffalo Brisket Sandwich and I had the Deep Fried Buffalo Steak Tips. We shared our meals and both were great. The Steak Tips had a nice blackened flavor.

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	n/a	n/a
Starlink	329	23
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	No Connectivity	No Connectivity
US Mobile – Beth (AT&T)	No Connectivity	No Connectivity

TV	Quality
Antenna	6 Channels (PBS)
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a

Stockade Lake – South Campground – Site #19 – 6/23-6/25

Today, after spending one night in Site #15, we moved four sites away to Site #19. In the process of moving, we elected to run back into town to grab some items at Ace Hardware. We also purchased some roadside firewood on the honor system. We were happy to have plenty of firewood with today’s high being 65 degrees. Then we went Buffalo hunting back into the park about 10 miles. We were unsuccessful finding any Buffalo, but once we reached the Game Lodge Campground we elected to dump our tanks and top off our water supply while we were near a campground that had the facilities necessary to complete this task. This will prevent us from experiencing “tank anxiety” wondering if we will fill our black and grey tanks the remaining three days in our current campground. After dumping our black and grey tanks we topped off our water tank and then stopped at the Custer State Park Visitor Center across the road to purchase trinkets for the grand-kids. Unfortunately, that was a bust. The Visitor Center didn’t have much in the way of trinkets. On the way back to the campground we stopped at the Grace Coolidge General Store where Beth hit pay-dirt with trinkets for the grand-kids (Phoebe and I waited patiently in the camper). When we got back, we didn’t mind sitting close to Beth the pyromaniac’s fire. It was a crispy afternoon (no complaints).

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	n/a	n/a
Starlink	189	13
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	7	0.1
US Mobile – Beth (AT&T)	n/a	n/a

TV	Quality
Antenna	6 Channels (PBS)
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a

Stockade Lake – South Campground – Site #15 – 6/22

Today we moved from Big Pine Campground outside of Custer State Park to the Stockade Lake South Campground within Custer State Park. We had been wanting to wash the millions of bugs off of the front of the camper that the last two campgrounds would not allow us to wash off. So, as we stopped off at Lynn’s Dakota Mart grocery store for supplies, Beth went in to shop while I parked way out back and began setting up to wash the bugs off of the front of our camper using our cordless pressure washer and a 5 gallon jug of water that we filled before leaving the previous campsite. We were pleased with the cleaning results and our campsite, although we could not perfectly level the RV due to the incline.

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	n/a	n/a
Starlink	211	24
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	10	0.5
US Mobile – Beth (AT&T)	n/a	n/a

TV	Quality
Antenna	6 Channels (PBS)
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a

Big Pine Campground – 6/20 – 6/21

We departed from the Bar Nunn KOA at 10:30AM MDT and headed Northeast to Big Pine Campground in Custer, SD (193 miles). I have to correct the statement in my previous post regarding Wyoming lacking in trees and grass. Today’s drive through Eastern Wyoming was very grassy (not too many trees or humans) and quite beautiful. Along the way we noticed a sign that stated Blasting Area, Orange Cloud Possible, Avoid Contact. Then we saw the largest hole we’ve ever seen. It was the Black Thunder Coal Mine. Their sign states that it’s the largest surface coal mine in North America. I can’t argue that fact. It was HUGE. We drove by it forever and on the opposite side of the road there were miles of rail cars filled with coal. We stopped for Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) at the NAPA Auto Parts in Newcastle, WY and then bought fuel at the local Maverik station.

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	n/a	n/a
Starlink	211
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	13	0.5
US Mobile – Beth (AT&T)	n/a	n/a

TV	Quality
Antenna	6 Channels (PBS)
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a

We arrived at the Big Pine Campground at 2:25PM MDT. We are quite pleased with this campground selection. It’s located on a hillside just East of Custer. The owner assured Beth that we had chosen the best campsite in the park. Due to the power and sewer connections being on the left side of the site, it’s a “pull-in” site rather than “back-in”, allowing us to be antisocial. My guess is that the connections are on the left because if they were on the right, the sewer connection would be uphill.

It’s a bit hot here today with temperatures in the low 90’s, but I think that’s the case across much of the nation. Tomorrow’s high is forecast to be 84 followed by 70 and a string of days in the mid 60’s.

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	15	20
Starlink	298	22
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	78	9
US Mobile – Beth (AT&T)	n/a	n/a

TV	Quality
Antenna	6 Channels (PBS)
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a

Today we began our migration East towards my parents’ house in northern Indiana. We left Custer State Park at approximately 8:50 AM MDT. I had originally planned to travel East across US-20, but the temperature forecast at our first night’s stop in Nebraska was 101 degrees. I checked the forecast for spots along I-90 (about 50 miles North) and it was the low 90’s, so we adjusted accordingly.

We stopped for fuel in Kadoka, SD (just East of the Badlands) at a Sinclair station and then stopped further down the road at a Rest Area for lunch. We had planned to stop for the night at a campground in Plankinton, SD, but the Exit was closed with a detour sign directing us to the next exit and instructions to back track. At that point it just seemed easier to move on to the next town, Mitchell, SD (home of the famous Corn Palace). We may have to at least drive by the Corn Palace on the way out of town tomorrow.

We are staying at Dakota Campground. It has lots of shade which we appreciate with these temperatures. We are in a pull through site with full hookups. Due to the trees, I had to break out our portable satellite antenna (R2D2), but didn’t have any trouble connecting to the Dish Western Arc satellites. The sites are somewhat close together, but not too bad. We would definitely stay here again for the price ($30/night).

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Stockade Lake North Campground – 8/12/20 – 8/14/20 – Site #42E

Today we left Lusk, WY at 9:45 AM MDT. We headed north on US-85 until US-18 split from it and headed east at Mule Creek Junction. When we reached SD-89 we took it north until it combined with US-385 and took us on into Custer, SD. The scenery was beautiful throughout the trip and for the second day in a row we encountered hundreds of motorcyclists going to and coming from Bike Week in Sturgis, SD. Apparently, a lot of them leave Sturgis and visit Custer because the town was packed with motorcycles when we came through around 11:30 AM MDT.

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We arrived at our campsite in the Stockade Lake North Campground inside Custer State Park at 12:00 PM MDT. We are in site 42E which is right at the entrance road, but it is huge and the campground is fairly quiet (even with all the Harleys running in and out). The Verizon LTE coverage is excellent. There are a lot of tall trees, so satellite reception was tricky, but we managed to find the right spot to receive all three Dish Western Arc satellites after a couple of tries with our portable antenna (R2D2).

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Game Lodge Campground – 8/14/20 – 8/16/20 – Site #21

We could only find campsites available for two or three days at a time within Custer State Park, so after two nights in Stockade Lake North Campground we migrated to the Game Lodge Campground. It’s back toward the eastern entrance to the park and somewhat close to the main road, but a very nicely laid out campground. The area is flat enough that the sites aren’t built up on mounds like they are in Stockade Lake North Campground. However, our site was downhill from back to front so by the time we got the RV leveled the front wheels were several inches off the ground. I had Beth lift it a couple more and then put two 2″ x 12″ boards under each tire and had her lower it back down onto the boards and re-level. This campground has a dump station and potable water so we filled our water tanks and dumped our black and gray upon arrival and on departure. It also had washing machines so Beth got caught up on laundry.

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After setting up our campsite we decided to hike Lover’s Leap Trail. The trailhead was just a half mile from our campsite so we walked over to it. Along the way a ranger stopped to warn us that a herd of buffalo was grazing at the trailhead and to be very careful. We went behind a couple of buildings to get as close to the trailhead as we could without encountering the buffalo but when we got close the herd was about 20 yards from the trailhead so we carefully slid along weeds and ducked onto the trail.

We took Lover’s Leap Trail clockwise (it’s a loop) so that we could get the difficult climb over with first (this is what most reviewers recommend). It was a pretty serious climb and we had to stop and catch our breath regularly, but we eventually made it to the top and the view was worth the effort. Once you reach the top of the trail you still have to scramble up some boulders to get the best view. Scrambling up wasn’t too tough, but coming back down was a bit nerve racking. The remainder of the hike was downhill, but still not easy. The downhill hike back to the valley was steep enough to make our quadriceps burn and it felt like our toes were going to come out through the front of our hiking boots. Once we reached the valley it was a fairly flat hike along a creek (which we crossed numerous times). By the time we got back to our campsite we had hiked a total of 5.2 miles and enjoyed a cocktail while we built a fire to cook our steaks.

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Legion Lake Campground – 8/16/20 – 8/19/20 – Site #5

After two nights at the Game Lodge Campground we migrated to the Legion Lake Campground. Beth went ahead of me to verify that our site was open. The previous occupants were just leaving when Beth arrived so she gave me the “all clear” to come ahead. As I approached the Legion lake Lodge (just prior to the campground) I had to stop for a lone Buffalo Bull that was walking down the middle of the main highway in the park. He eventually moved off the road and I was able to pass. As we were setting up our site he slowly meandered into the campground. He was one big buffalo and he slowly worked his way to the back of the campground and disappeared.

We like this campground. It is just across the highway from Legion Lake (which is beautiful). Beth kayaked on the lake later in the afternoon and when she was done we both walked down to the beach and swam in the frigid mountain waters (it was quite refreshing). Our site is literally just off the side of the main entrance road, but it’s still a nice site. The only negative is all that we are right across the road from the bathrooms and the trash, so we are often awakened late at night and early in the morning to the bathroom doors and the lids on the garbage bins slamming shut. On a positive note, it’s only a few feet to the public showers so we are able to conserve water here in our electricity only campsite hookups.

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On our third day in the site we got up early and headed to Sylvan Lake to hike the Sunday Gulch Trail. This is one of the most popular trails in the park and we were glad we got up fairly early. When we arrived at 8:30 AM there were very few parking spots left near the trailhead. The trailhead is actually behind the Sylvan Lake dam so we hiked around the south side of the lake to get there with the intent of hiking around the north upon return so that we hiked the entire lake as well. This was definitely one of the toughest trails we’ve hiked. We ended up hiking 4.4 miles from the parking lot. Based on all of the reviews, we chose to hike the trail clockwise to avoid having to climb down the decent over the rock face near the beginning of the trail (if traveling counterclockwise). The first half mile was all uphill, but there were plenty of switchbacks so it didn’t seem too bad (although we still had to stop a few times to catch our breath). After that, it was mostly downhill into the valley until we eventually started the ascent up the rock face. Just prior to the ascent, I was starting to feel the need for fuel, so we stopped and ate the delicious sandwiches Beth had packed. We were glad we did because we needed the fuel to get back up to the top. The rock face had hand rails (and stair steps in some places) and we were glad it did. By the time we got to the top (after many stops to catch our breath) our legs and arms were jelly. It was all worth it for the incredible views.

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Legion Lake Campground – 8/19/20 – 8/21/20 – Site #13

Today we had to move from Site #5 in Legion Lake Campground to Site #13. This site is near the back end of the campground so it provided a lot more privacy, but there were also a lot of trees so we were unable to receive any Dish Network satellite signals with either the roof mounted or the mobile antenna (now that’s roughing it). As an engineer it’s hard to give up on the challenge to find satellite coverage, but eventually I convinced myself that I was wasting my life away trying to win the challenge and kept hearing my Grandma McCally’s voice reminding me that as long as you have a book, you’ll always have a friend. So I took my book outside and watched my pyromaniac wife build a nice fire and cook the most delicious Eckrich hotdogs over it.

On Day #2 in Site #13 the forecast (which was accurate) called for afternoon rain. We decided it was time to send the chief sealant application engineer up on the roof to apply the Dicor Self Leveling Roof Sealant (using the new caulk gun we purchased at the Walmart in Pratt, KS) to address our roof leak. We think she was successful because we had light rain (sometimes moderate) throughout the afternoon and overnight and there are no signs of leaks.

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Stockade Lake North Campground – 8/21/20 – 8/23/20 – Site #42E

Today we moved back to this year’s original site at Stockade Lake North Campground (Site #42E). This will be our last stop in Custer State Park before we start heading east on Sunday. When we departed from the Legion Lake Campground in the morning we headed back towards the east entrance to use the dump station on the Wildlife Loop Rd and fill our water tank. Once we got setup at our campsite we headed into Custer to stock up on groceries and verify that the local Dairy Queen’s S’mores Blizzard was meeting corporate standards (it was).

On our second day back at Stockade Lake North Campground we got up, had a nice breakfast, and then drove down to the Stockade Lake Beach and plopped Beth and her kayak in the water. I setup my canopy on the shore and read a book while Beth paddled around the lake. When we got back to the camper we started a fire and cooked steak and baked potatoes over it. It was a great last day in Custer State Park.

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We had a short trip Monday from The Badlands to Custer State Park in the Black Hills. We took SR-44 West out of the Badlands Motel and Campground to Rapid City and then Bypass 16 to SR-79 which intersected with SR-36 which takes you right into Custer State Park. SR-44 was one of the most scenic drives we’ve taken. It runs parallel to the Badlands on the South side and eventually crosses a portion of the National Park as the park jogs to the South. A very heavy thunderstorm rolled through the previous night and it was very windy today. Fortunately, SR-44 is very desolate and we had the entire two lane road to ourselves most of the time.

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Custer State Park is incredibly beautiful and we crossed a major portion of it to get to the Stockade Lake North Campground which is closer to the West side of the park. Our local campground ranger assured us we were in one of the two best campsites in the campground and we certainly agreed. Site #23 was huge and very private. The cats got to sit outside in their portable cat habitat both evenings and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had campfires both nights.

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After arriving and setting up camp on Monday we chose to drive the 18 mile Wildlife Loop Road. This road lived up to its name from the very beginning. For starters, as we traversed back East along the main park road (16-A) we encountered a very large male buffalo grazing along the road by itself. We stopped, took pictures, and watched as it meandered right by our car without a care in the world. Within the first couple of miles on the Wildlife Loop Road we spotted a large heard of Buffalo grazing near Custer State Park’s airport so we turned the car around and drove up the airport road. The herd was heading down a dirt side road so we, along with many others did the same. We eventually moved ahead of the herd and pulled off on a gravel pullout between two boulders and watched them graze. The herd eventually reached us (they move along as they graze) and a small calf stopped by our car to scratch its head on one of the boulders. Soon after, a large adult (which we think was a parent) stopped to scratch as well. This took place about 5 feet from our car door (see video). We have named them “Itchy” and “Itchy Jr”).

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Shortly after encountering the herd of buffalo, we spotted what looked like deer on the side of a hill and stopped to watch them. We think they were Pronghorns and we watched the group of them for a bit.

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Next we encountered a group of what the park refers to as “feral” burros. They seemed anything but feral. They weren’t the least bit afraid of cars or humans. We got out of the car to take pictures and a white one came right up to me. I wanted to pet it, but elected to follow park rules and keep my hands to myself. By this time, Beth had moved forward about 20 yards to take pictures of the other burros. Since I didn’t pet this white burro, it locked its radar in on Beth and slowly worked its way up behind her. She had her arms up taking pictures and it passed with it’s head right under her left arm and then nudged her with its side as it passed by. Beth’s reaction was priceless. She got strafed by a “feral” burro that just needed some love. Like me, she wanted to pet it, but chose to stick to the rules and keep her hands to herself.

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On the backside of Wildlife Loop Road, we spotted another group of Pronghorns on a hillside and stopped to take some pictures. We encountered two more herds of buffalo grazing before we completed the loop.

The next day we headed off to Mount Rushmore via the 17 mile Iron Mountain Road. This was another great drive with incredible scenery along with major elevation changes. The best parts were passing through two one lane tunnels (barely big enough for a car) that each framed Mount Rushmore in front of you as you passed through.

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On the way back from Mount Rushmore we drove the 14 mile Needles Highway. This was a very narrow road with even smaller tunnels to pass through (one of them is just 8′ 4″ wide). Having met our two new buffalo pals (Itchy and Itchy Jr) the previous day, Beth decided it was time we tasted some buffalo meat (who’d a thunk???), so she determined that the Sylvan Lake Lodge’s restaurant along Needles Highway would be the best place to give it a try. Now you all know that I love to try new foods (NOT!), but I’ll have to say that the Buffalo Meatball appetizer at the lodge was to die for. As for the meat, it tastes just like chicken. Well, not really, tasted a lot like beef, just not quite as moist. But the sauce that covered the meatballs was unbelievable. Once again, if I had read what was in it (sour cream, etc) I probably wouldn’t have eaten it, but it had just the right amount of spice (almost at my heat limit) to be just perfect. Beth loved it enough to order a buffalo burger for her main entree and was very pleased.

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That’s all we had time for in our day and a half in Custer State Park. We definitely hope to return and next time we will stay longer. It is now one of our favorite places.

We arrived on Saturday and after getting the camper parked and setup, we elected to head back out the East entrance of the National Park so that we could jump on I-90 West and stop off at the town of Wall, SD to visit the famous Wall Drug Store. After seeing non-stop signs advertising the Wall Drug store along I-90 for well over 300 miles, we felt we owed them a visit. It’s definitely a tourist trap, but worth seeing at least once. We purchased a couple of trinkets (which we didn’t think were badly priced) and I enjoyed a delicious vanilla soft ice cream cone before we departed.

From there we re-entered the National Park from the West side and drove the South Dakota 240 scenic loop through the park and back to the campground. Just prior to re-entering, we pulled off of the road and watched three bison (buffalo) graze and the lay down. Shortly after pulling back onto the road, we encountered a fairly sizeable Prairie Dog town. There were hundreds of prairie dogs and they were all on alert although cars didn’t seem to bother them. Once we got inside the park we stopped at several scenic overlooks (which were all incredible). We also pulled off the road and watched a group of bighorn sheep graze in a field adjacent to the highway.

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On Sunday we started the morning early (because we’re still on Eastern time) and we were glad we did because the temperature eventually reached 91. We went directly to the trailhead for the Notch Trail. Although it’s only a 1.3 mile (round trip) trail, it’s considered “moderate” due to the amount of climbing (including a a log ladder climb up a cliff wall). The ladder and several portions of the trail along cliff edges aren’t for those afraid of heights. Based on this, I wasn’t sure Beth would be willing to hike the trail. We even encountered one down hill drop (and switchback) that was very unnerving from a visual perspective (it looked like you’d go over the cliff if your footing wasn’t perfect), and she was quite concerned but handled it perfectly. The effort was worth it for the view once we reached “the notch” which overlooked the valley below. The view was incredible and we could actually see our campground from it. The return trip was much easier (I guess we were used to it) until we reached the ladder again. We had to climb back down the ladder backwards which was not a comfortable exercise. Once we got about one third of the way down it got easier, but our quadriceps were burning.

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That was it for our Badlands hiking adventures. On the way to the Visitor’s Center we pulled off the road and devoured the delicious sandwiches that Beth was kind enough to make and haul in her backpack all the way in and back out of the hiking trail.

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From there we checked out the Visitor Center and gathered as much Badlands knowledge as we could handle. All National Parks were celebrating the 103rd anniversary of the National Park Service on Sunday by allowing free entry into the park and providing free cake and Ice cream. I partook in the cake and ice cream and it was delicious.

Today we continued our migration West to the Badlands. We clocked our 3,000th mile on this road trip and entered the Mountain time zone. We stopped at the Rest Area on the East side of the Missouri River to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center (located at the Rest Area). Although it was a cloudy day, the views of the Missouri River were excellent and we were glad we took the time to stop and visit.

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From there we headed on to our campground just South of the Badlands National Park. I guess my research on this portion of the trip was a bit “lacking”, as it turned out that we had to enter Badlands National Park in order to get to our campground. Since this was the first National Park we were entering on this road trip, we splurged for an Annual Pass knowing that we have several more National Parks ahead of us. From there the fun started. When you enter the park at the Eastern entrance, you quickly hit the steep downhill switchbacks with minimal shoulder. This seemed to make my co-pilot quite nervous and any attempt on my part to enjoy the incredible scenery was met with a stern lecture about keeping one’s eyes on the road.

We arrived at Badlands Motel and Campground without incident. This campground is all about location. We had beautiful scenery of the Badlands from our camper and we could actually see the National Park entrance out our front window. The sites were large with plenty of space between campers, but for some strange reason the 50 Amp sites didn’t have sewer hookups. We didn’t know what to expect the temperatures to be so we chose a 50 Amp site (so we could run both air conditioners without concern) just in case it got hot and we’re glad we did as it got up to 91 degrees on Sunday. We used the campground showers on Saturday (which could have used a good scrubbing) and our own on Sunday. The best part is that we were in dark sky country. I took my shower after dark on Saturday and needed my cell phone flashlight to find my way.

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We continued heading West again today on I-90 and landed about an hour into South Dakota. We are staying at Dakota Sunsets RV Park and Campground. This is a nice campground with friendly owners. The roads and site pads are dirt/gravel so it might be a bit muddy here if it rains, but that’s not a problem today. They have nice manicured grass between sites so we setup the cat habitat again today so the crew could enjoy some outdoor time. They did fine until they saw the cats that live in the tool shed across the drive from our campsite. We had to put them back in the camper and before I knew it a plate of cat food had appeared at the end of our site (I wonder where that came from?). We will be heading for our campsite near the Badlands first thing in the morning.

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