motorhomediaries

OK, my goal here is to do this right.... the newest first.  Ya want to see yesterday?  Scroll down.  Because this is today. 

Last night, I was standing at the bar in the The Irma Hotel waiting to order.  A man moved over and made room for me so the bartender could see me; he struck up a conversation, introducing himself and his wife to me.  He said they were fulltime RVers for a couple of years and stopped in Cody two years ago on their way somewhere ... and stayed.  I can see that happening.  If the weather was like this all year long, yeah, this could be a place to put down roots.  Since we left the Pacific Northwest, the weather has been perfect.  Its 81, with a breeze that has a hint of fall in it.  Great for hiking, which is what we did today.  We were pretty much on our feet from 10 until 5.  The we went back to the Beast, bathed and walked back  into town for supper. 

There is a letterbox that lead us up to the New Cody Reservoir; its a 2 mile hike around the lake according to the map, and about a mile walk from the campground, and a mile from downtown.  Then we walked down to the Cody Historical center, at the other end of town (for 2 more letterboxes) and back.  All told, about 6 miles today.  And saw some great stuff along the way.  I would like to be able to spend more time in Cody.  Mark says between Cody and the Black Hills, we will definately be back in this general area.  Cody is nestled between the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains.  There are a lot of historic trails and places, and we just don't have time to see it all. 

Everything in Cody is Buffalo Bill.  The town, the forest, the reservoir; everything.  And what I learned at the museum about him lets me believe he was a pretty cool guy.  His wife, Louisa,  was a smart cookie.  They owned and ran several hotels/hostels/rooming houses throughout this section of Wyoming.  She put most of them in her name to protect the property from the series of bankruptcies he went through during his ventures into show business.  Pretty smart cookie.  He built several hotels along the way to Yellowstone figuring that, one day, it would be a big attraction. 

From May to September, a bunch of locals do a "Wild West Show" outside the Irma, on Friday and Saturday nights.  We saw the Friday night show, and enough of the Saturday night show, passing by, to know that they may have a very loose idea of how they want the show to go, but it is unscripted and no two nights are the same.  Its hokey, its amateur.  But what they lack in talent, they more than make up for in passion and loud shootin' guns.  Bogart was with us on the first night and a couple of the actors came by to warn us that they was shootin' guns and it would be loud, but she didn't seem to mind.  Nice guys.  Several stopped by, mostly because the bird does attract attention.  Here is one of the Earp brothers with the ensemble, and here's "Wild Bill Hickock" with Mark and Bogart.

 Yup, more bronze statues.  They're everywhere.  Left is one of the two or three dozen of Col. William F. Cody in town and around the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.   Right is Sitting Bull, who was a close friend of Bill's and a war hero.  The Center is actually 4 separate museums.  One is a Nature museum, mostly about Yellowstone, then there is one dedicated to the Plains Indians.  The there is the actual Buffalo Bill Museum and a Gun museum.  All were really interesting and worth the price of admission.   Even the gardens between and outside the museum contained intersting information and artifacts.  I can't even begin to describe it here, so here is the link to it.  http://www.bbhc.org/home/  We honestly did not plan to spend an entire afternoon here.  Admission is for two days and now we understand why.  I think we actually spent 5+ hours wandering around here, and I know we missed something.

 For my birthday we went to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis.  Let's not even try to call Thermopolis a city.  They even call it their center of government, the Town Hall.  Nonetheless, we found THE locals bar, Shorty's.  It was my birthday, so they bought me a drink.  I love free.  Anyway, it was Thursday before we could get to the dinosaur center, one of the largest and most complete collections of dinosaur remains in the country.  At which we planted, I think, the cutest stamp we've done to date.  I do the drawing and Mark carves it into the rubber.  Darn cute.  Anyway.  We were too late in the season to actually go to any of the digs ... that ends on Labor Day.  Especially when most of the diggers are indenured servants, um, students, and they've all gone back to school.  The museum alone was worth the several hours we spent.  Amazing collection and interesting notes to go with the displays.  They admit that, as they dig,  some mysteries are solved and more mysteries introduced.  Like whole species that have never been seen before.  And Wyoming is a very critical center of North American archeology and paleontology.   Future goal will be to follow the dinosaur trail up from Arizona.  We'll be close to the big sites in Utah, but I don't think we have time.  Can you imagine me saying "we don't have time"? 

 Shorty's Liquor store and lounge.  Now, calling it a lounge is a stretch, but I guess Shorty's Liquor Store and Dive doesn't sound as good.  Its one of those drive-through liquor stores and several people did come to the drive up window while we were in there.  I'm sorry, I think its funny.  Anyway, Mark met the locals.  A very nice woman named Cindy actually owns Shorty's.  Not the dive type at all, but the patrons are.  They were doing well on a Wednesday night.  And, hell, they bought me a glass of (really crappy) wine. 

 This, for instance, is a new species recently identified.  It was named after the rancher on who's land it was found, and the location.  There are only a couple of remains of this species unearthed at this time, but they know its not related to any other known creature of its time. 

 So, 4 hours in a museum on a beautiful day just screams "let's go hiking".  We didn't Its only a half mil;e each way, but its a half mile frikkin' straight up and straight the hell down.  Here's a shot from the bottom where we parked the bike, and from the top looking down on the bike.

 We were promise vistas and we got them.  On the left, the Big Horn River snaking back into the plains.  On the right, the Copper Mountians, through which we had driven the day before.  WHAT.  An.  Amazing.  Drive.  Really.  We took the scenic route between Casper and Therm, staying off major thoroughfares, and driving through the Copper Mountains was a treat.  Woulda been more fun on the motorcycle though.

Casper, Wyoming.  We're staying at Fort Caspar, just outside the city of Casper.  I don't know which direction.  I could ask Mark.   Maybe northeast?  Really, who cares.  Like Bozeman and Cheyenne, Casper has urban trails ... 10 miles along the Platt River.  We rode our bikes into town; according to the trail signs, we rode about 5.5 miles into town.  Then we saw an exchange bookstore.  Woohoo.  Bring in your used books that you don't want and exchange for books you do.  I have just read two of the worst books ever, so I'm all for getting them out of my tiny little library space.  So, we rode back to Fort Caspar (5.5 miles), loaded up the to go books and rode back to town (5.5 miles).  We exchanged our books and, yes, we rode back to Fort Caspar (5.5 miles)  Add that up.  A record.  22 miles.  Not so bad, really, except for the estimated 30 mph winds we rode INTO on the way back Fort Caspar.  The last quarter mile, honestly, I could barely move forward.  But, hey, it was better exercise that way, right? 

Casper is forgetable.  I mean, its a nice little downstown, with a couple of nice parks, and the wonderful trail along the river, but, it's nothing remarkable.

 Fort Caspar.  All original log buildings from the mid 1800's.  Fort Caspar was an integral outpost on the Oregon Trail.  It was also the gateway, across the Platt River, for over 70,000 Mormons fleeing religious persecution on their way to Utah.  A lot more history in Wyoming that I'd thought.   Above, the Fort, and one of the rooms outfitted in the unmarried officers quarters. 

I've been to a lot of forts, and a lot of historic places, restored or not.  Fort Laramie is awesome.  Simply awsome.  They have done an unbelievable job maintaining/restoring this site.   Some of the oldest buildings in Wyoming are on this site.   

Old Bedlam was the unmarried officers quarters at Fort Laramie.  It is also the oldest remaining building in Wyoming, and in the midst of restoration.  The rooms that are restored a furnished as they would have been during the mid 1800's. 

Above,  The physician's House in Fort Laramie.  The second oldest building in Wyoming.   The front foor is beautiful glass and wood, and the stairs are gorgeous.  This is the dining room, as it would have been during the period. Below, the parlor in the house.  There are also three furnished bedorroms, a kitchen and a washroom, with a washing machine ... of that period.  Also, Mark and Bogart with a Howitzer.

 In the enlisted barracks, the historical society has the dining area laid out as though the soldiers would be trooping in anytime.  Upstairs, there are four rooms, one for each of the 60 men in each company assigned to those barracks. 

Below, we saw these signs while at the Fort and in the town of Fort Laramie and really enjoyed the humor of them.

 Laramie is about an hour southwest of Cheyenne, and an awesome motorcycle ride.  We rode through Medicine Bow National Forest, which rocks.  Literally.  Lots of rocks.  Big, beautiful rocks.  And fabulous colors.  Beat the hell out of Laramie, itself, actually.  Other than a handful of letterboxes, Mark was really disappointed.  I liked it better than that, but not enough to ever return.  We did find the oldest bar in Laramie, a national historic site, and had a coke. Come on, it was only 4:00 and we had an hour drive back over the mountains. 

Medicine Bow State Forest.  Lots of trees turning color becauae of the weather changes.  Daily.  I mean , its 80 degrees one day, 50 the next, and 80 the next.  And, like 35 at night.  Weird.  Today is in the 70's.   Medicine Bow boasts some of the best rock climbing in the US. 

 The Buck Horn Bar is on the National Historic Registry as the oldest bar in Laramie and one of the oldest standing bar in all of Wyoming.  Jake was a cool bartender, even if we only went in for cokes.

Cheyenne Wyoming.  I.  Love.  Westerns.  I.  Love.  Anything to do with the wild wild west.  We are in Cheyenne.  Home of the Rifleman.  I know it was just a TV show, but this rocks.  And its a nice town,  Nice old town.  A nice historic district and, once again, WHO KNEW, this is the capitol of wyoming.  Honestly, my geography has flown out the window.,  Its not as nice a capitol as, say, Pierre (yes, really, Pierre), or Austin, but it was OK.  The best thing about Cheyenne is, like Boseman, it has an urban trail system.  We hiked a little over 10 miles (and bagged several letterboxes).  Nice parks, nice downtown. 

The Capital building in Cheyenne and Military marching in front of the Capital building.   

As a motorcyclist ...OK, a passenger, the Black Hills are some of the most incredible roads I've been on.  Mark concurs, and he's been on a whole lot more roads than I have.  Not only the right amount of windy and picturesque, these roads are in beautiful shape.  ANd mostly they are under snow all winter.  Go figure.  We spent several days riding the Black Hills.  Custer is a name I can't say without rancor, honestly the American anti-hero.  So to think I'd actually stop in Custer SD, or pay to enter Custer State Park, boggles the mind.  And we're glad we did.  There are some awesome roads, scenery and wildlife in the Custer Park area of the Black Hills.  As follows. 

This was a scream.  There are herds of wild burros in Custer State Park.  They are all over and they are anything but wild.  Traffic has to come to a stop because these little guys are wandering all over the roadways.  These are a couple of my favorites.  This little guy was standing right next to the motorcycle just looking at us.

 Mt. Rushmore.  You can't come here without seeing it, but you don't have to pay the 10 bucks to do so.  Its visible from everywhere.  Yeah, I'm sure actually going to the monument will make a huge impression on us ... not.  We stopped close to the gates of the actual monument and snapped this.  But then, as we were heading on to someplace else, we were around the side, and I actually like that picture better.  Just George but I love it.

 We are in Sturgis, the site of the largest motorcycle rally in the world.  The rally is in August, we are here in September.  There is no way in hell I'd be at any event that boasts close to 600,000 people.  Heck, there are only just over 700,000 people in all of South Dakota, except for that week a year when 600,000 motorcycle enthusiasts descend on the block-long Sturgis.  The rest of the year?  According to people we talked to, they don't need a rest of the year; they make so much money in that one week.  Residents leave town and rent out their homes for ridiculous amounts of money for that week and maybe a week on either side of the "event"  The 12th of September and Sturgis is pretty empty, storefronts closed until next year. 

I guess this is the year of the bronze statues.  Sturgis had them too.  Some very nice ones.  This was my favorite.   And that's the BMW in front of the City auditorium. 

But the Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame was a delightful respite.  We enjoyed a couple of hours there among a nice collection of vintage bikes, and a really interesting historical video about the origins of the rally and what its become.   A cute quote from the mayor of Sturgis saying that the average age of attendees is now in the 50's and they don't party quite so much any more.  HAH!

The Black Hills from the back of a motorcycle.   

The roads in this part of South Dakota are awesome.  We're trying to stay off the major highways. It doean't hurt that this is a no helmet law state.  Of course, yes, we ARE wearing helmets, and jeans, when we're on the highway ... its just more comfortable... but in town?  No frikkin' way.  I LOVE not wearing a helmet.   Anyway, the roads.  The scenery.  Very different from Eastern Dakota.  The Black Hills are just plain beautiful.  Rough, majestic.  We were on a road today that just rolled through the hills and Mark said "If this was California, they woulda straightened it out".  Oh yeah, we are so over California.  The best thing?  There are virtually no cars on the road.  I mean, we went to Rushmore et al on a SATURDAY.  I thought that was a really bad idea, and frankly, Deadwood probably was more crowded than I would have liked, but its a tourist "attraction" so .... no, that's not fair.  Deadwood is a pretty damn clever town.  They were dying.  Although they had done everything the could to maintain their historical downtown, there were two devastating fires inthe 80's that basically came close to destroying everything.  Enter gambling.  Yes sirree bob.  They turned the entire town into a "historic" Las Vegas.  It was estimated that it would cost $20 mil to restore the historic buildings after the last fire ... the casinos brought in over $30mil their first year.  The whole damn town is one giant casino.  Honestly, pretty much one building leads to the one next door. BUT, the restoration of the outsides is fabulous.  Very nicely done.  Although, if you don't gamble, there is honestly nothing to do.  Well, in fairness, we found something and we don't gamble.  We walked.  Boothill, which isn't actually called boothill, is outside town about a mile and straight frikking up.  It was a nice hike.  Most people take the tour bus.  Excuse me?  It was a nice hike through a nice neighborhood.   And we saw the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jame.  Now if you're an Old Westerns fan like me.... that rocks.  Wait 'til we hit Cheyenne and Casper.  Nirvana for wild west geeks like me.  Ahem, I digress. 

Downtown Deadwood above.  The memorials to Wild Bill and Calamity Jane, below. 

 Ellsworth Airforce Base is minutes east of Rapid City in Box Elder.  Box Elder used to be within Rapid City, actually, and this was originally an Army Air Base.  The squadron at Ellsworth (before it was called Ellsworth) were the original Berlin Candy Bombers (Berlin Airlift) .  A nice story of American generosity and these guys, literally, prevented WW3.  Anyway, Ellsworth has an Air Museum, with a B-52 (no, not the band).  So we went.  My favorite air museum is still Palm Springs, but this had its own videos and unique exhibits, and was very local-centric, celebrating things like the Candy bombers, for instance.  I guess its the first air museum I've been to that's all military.  But I got some neato nose art, as that's what I like.  The planes and missiles are mostly outside, and historic displays and videos are mostly inside. 

In addition to the corner presidents, Rapid has Dinosaur Hill.  In all fairness, we would not have gone there if not for a letterbox, and that woulda been a darn shame.  OK, it screams tourist trap.  But its free.  We all know what my favorite word is.  But actually going there was kinda cool.  The "attractions" could use some sprucing up, and certainly some paint, but by golly, it was cool.  The park was started in 1936 as a government program to put people back to work.  The original crew built 3 dinosaurs under the program, and I don't know, maybe another 3 or 4 have been added since.  You pretty much can't go anywhere in Rapid without looking up and seeing the Brontosaurus on the hill.   Anyway, all the cement beasts represent remains they have actually found in the area, dating back 65+ million years.  That's the cool part.  They put these particular dinasaurs here for a reason. 

Its been really nice to see, on our travels, the beautiful parks in the towns and cities.  Rapid is no exception.  There seems to be a bike path that goes from park to park, but we were on the motorcycle.  Maybe before we leave we'll do the bike thing.  We know they have planned hiking trails on "Cowboy Hill".  Looking to do that as the weather cools down.  It was close to 90 today, fairly humid, and the sun is brutal.  We visited Canyon Lake Park, which is simply breathtaking (and contains a letterbox) and Founders Park downtown which has a lot of historical information about the whys, hows and whens of the city.  Cowboy Hill is attached to Founders Park.

Above, Canyon Lake Park.  The have dozens of little mini ponds, bricked in, with little aquaduct things running water between them.  The main lake is quite large, with an island in the middle.  Apparently, on weekends, non-motorized boats are permitted.  People were also fishing.  A half mile south of the lake is a hatchery, so that's probably where the fish come from.

Below is  Founders Park.  The first picture is the historical area.  It reminded me a lot of Guadalupe Park in San Jose...long and narrow, with the story of the city's origins, even right down to the creek running its length.  In this case, Rapid Creek. 

There is also a lovely district of historical houses.  I guess every city has them, but not all celebrate them.   Huge lots, some of the houses are mansions, some are little more than cottages, but beautifully kept up and a wonderful neighborhood to walk through. 

We rolled into Rapid City today, Wednesday the 8th.  The locals call it Rapid.  We're at the Elks just outside the city.  They used to be in the city but they bought this huge piece of land and built a lodge and golf course on it.  Lovely golf course.  Open to the public every day but Wednesday, when its open to members only.  Great source of revenue.  The bar is open to the public also, although they pay more for stuff.  Nice bar.  Nice people.  We like staying at Elks because of that.  Well, the bar, more than the people.  Mr. Friendly does end up meeting the neighbors though.  We plan to be here for about a week.  Rapid is smack dab in the middle of everything we came to this part of the country to see:  The Badlands to the east; the Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Custer National Park, Little Big Horn to the south; Deadwood and Sturgis to the north.   Plus Rapid, which has some history itself.  We expect some pretty nice motorcycle riding.

As always, the first thing we do is either walk around or ride around and see what there is to see.  Rapid has two attractions listed on the Weird America Attractions:  The City of Presidents and the Dinasaur Park.  We went downtown this afternoon .. maybe 3 miles from the Elks.  Nice historic district.  I love when towns restore and maintain their historic downtown areas ... unlike some cities I won't bother to mention.  Rapid is the 2nd largest city in SD, after Siouz Falls.  Not as pretty as Sious Falls, but there seem to be some very nice areas.  Of course, the whole state of SD has a smaller population than San Jose.  Anyway, we drove right to downtown, parked and walked around.   We met the corner Presidents right away. http://www.visitrapidcity.com/whattodo/thecityofpresidents/   Not every pres, and many I didn't care about or wouldn't have recognized, but pretty much through Bush Sr (who I did NOT photograph).  I took pictures of the more interesting ones, but, true to form, I'm only putting my favorites here.  I do have to remark on how incredibly well done they are.  Very detailed and realistic. 

Lincoln and Truman above.   Harding and Jefferson below. 

 A photo of the main drag.  And one of Teddy Rosevelt.  The funny thing about this one is he's standing outside a bar and grill called "Teddy's Bar and Grill". 

Suddenly, we noticed that it was after 5:00 and, low and behold, in front of us is the Firehouse Brewery.  Cool place, that actually was a firehouse in the early days of Rapid.  And they brew their own beer.  You can kinda see the stainless steel vats just past Mark, on the other side of the bar.  Very neat place,with lots of historical stuff inside, with an outside eating area.  We might need to return closer to supper time some night. 

It is September 3 and...  We're in Pierre.  Sink me, I'm a poet, don't you know it (with sincere apologies to Sir Percy Blakney).   Yes, we're in Pierre and Pierre is pronounced "peer" or "pier" but not "peee-air".   I had planned to stay at Farm Island SRA but they're full ... one of the problems with this lifestyle is WHO KNEW this was labor day?   The ranger was a doll and he called the other two SRAs in the area but its a frikkin holiday and this is a frikkin destination.  Now, I didn't see that coming either, but then, why would they have all these recreation areas?  So he sends us to this city park, that's first come, no reservations. Its early in the day and there is hope.  Well, I tell ya, we lucked out.  We have a great spot right on the the Missouri River ...Damn, who knew we were right on a river .. no, THE river.  That's what PEER has going for it, water sports.  So we are right ON the river and we probably wouldn't have been on Farm Island.  I cannot complain.

Mark and Bogart sitting of the grass outside the coach, on the beach.  Looking across the Missouri rover at the landmass which is La Framboise Nature  preserve - an isthmus in the middle of the river between Pierre and Fort Pierre

The first thing we do every time after we park and hook up is go for a walk.  We want to know where we are and what's here.  So we're going out in search of Pierre, South Dakota.  Pierre is the Capitol of South Dakota.  It isn't too hard finding the Capitol building as it towers over everything.  It sits on a lovely lot, but next to it is a fabulous park: Capitol Park (now, isn't that creative?)  But Capitol Park rocks.  A lake in the middle, hiking path all around, and on the lake is a memorial to armed services.  Mark is planning a letter box in this spot, 

We walked about 3 miles around the capitol and the park and finally back to Griffin Park, where we're staying.  And we saw some lovely neighborhoods and parks...but we didn't find Pierre.   

Walking around Griffin park, which is substantial, we came across a sign with a posted trail and pamphlets.  Golly gee, there a over 50 miles of planned hiking and biking trails in the Pierre/Fort Pierre (across the river) area.  So we got the bikes out.  We rode out on LaFramboise Island Preserve, which is in the middle of the river between Pierre and Fort Pierre, connecting to Griffin Park by a land bridge.  We rode point to point, which is about 5 miles round trip.  The we saw that there is a letterbox at Farm Island SRA, which is 4.5 miles from our campsite, according to the map.  THat's in the opposite direction of the preserve, so we came home for lunch and headed off to Farm Island.  We did about 12 miles today all told.  12 miles on a bike is certainly less noticiable than 10 miles on foot.  Bogart didn't go with us, although Mark is training her to ride on the handlebars.   

After the bike ride, we walked up to the library for another letterbox, and saw a couple of other lovely parks.  Mark needed some things at the harware store, so we were also looking for Pierre.  We found it.  Not much to talk about; one street of stores, restaurants and a couple of bars.  Great hardware store, though.  And these people are so darn nice!Considering this is the Capitol of the state, its probably the smallest downtown we've seen so far.  Interesting.  I did confirm that this was, indeed, Pierre, with the bartender at the little local pub we found on our way home. 

This is the American Legion Post, and does their location rock or what.  They are right on the beach, right in the middle of the park, and right on the trail.  And the bar is open to the public.  Its THE locals place.  The inside is classic dive bar, and jam packed.  Which is fine, because its beautiful out and we're right on the water, so why wouldn't we sit outside and have a cocktail? 

Driven by the quest for a letterbox, and some exercise, and curiosity, we mounted our bikes again today and headed out to find Fort Pierre.  There is an SRA out there too.  We rode out to the campground, which was a couple of miles beyond the quaint cemetery that the letterbox was in.  Then we rode into Fort Pierre to Lilly Park on the elbow of the Missouri and Teton Rivers, and the site where the American Government and the Teton Sioux negotiated a peace settlement. Just before we headed over the Missouri River bridge, back to Griffin park, we checked the mileages on the signs.  With the 3 miles we had left to go, we'd biked 18 miles today.  No wonder my butt hurts. 

September 1, we're in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Just for the day.  We drove the Beast here from Madison to take care of a small maintenance item.  Which turned out to be smaller than we'd thought.  We thought we'd be leaving the rig at this place all day and walking around Sioux Falls.  Ended up spending a half hour there.  While were in town, we also sold the dishwasher to a nice lady named Joanie in East SF.  Lovely area, lovely home.  Really nice lady.  So now we're ready to remodel the kitchen in the Beast.  Yeah, yeah, we never stop. 

Jake at the Lakes Golf Course Bar told us that Sioux Falls was a nice city.  The largest city in South Dakoto, don't ya know.  It IS a lovely city.  Great downtown.  Joanie told us about the "art walk" through downtown.  We parked just outside the city, maybe a 3 mile walk each way, all told, and headed out.   Walked through some quaint neighborhoods leading to downtown.  Downtown is just a couple of streets, but every few feet, just as Joanie said, are sculptures.  Some are abstract (and stupidly named) and some are not (although still stupidly named).  

The County Courthouse.  Next to the building is a rock garden.  Literally.  It's a rock pathway, with rock walls and large quartsite rocks that are mined just outseide of Sioux Falls.  Gorgeous rocks.  I'd like a whole garden of them.  These are polished but we saw a ton of the natural form at the falls.  There is a statue of a soaring eagle that Bogart wanted to pose next to, kin as they are.

I wasn't prepared for Falls Park.  It is very cool.  A lot of lava flow of this quartsite.  Much of the park is this pink stone, against the green of the grass and the falls.  Apparently they use it a lot in SD, ground up, for roads ... which explains why a lot of the roads ...freeways, interstates, whatever ... are pink.  And we'd already seen what polished quartsite looked like downtown.  Very cool stone.  And mucho very cool at the falls.  I'm not sure the pix do it justice but here's what I got.