South Dakota Week 1

We left Caspar on Friday, May 9, 2014.  The drive to Rapid City was beautiful and uneventful.  We made a reservation at an RV park near Mt. Rushmore.  We pulled in early in the day and the office was closed.  Our reservation was taped to the door along with one other family.  This park is huge (they also rent out tiny little cabins).  I guess the "season" has not started yet.  There are only about 8 other RVs in the park.  It's pretty cold here right now, so we have not pulled out the barbecue or the awning.  On Saturday, our first full day here, we bundled up and headed up to Mount Rushmore.  The scenery is beautiful, and we saw buffalo, cows, horses and marmots on the way up to the monument.  The $11.00 parking pass allows you to return as many times as you wish.  I was surprised that it was not very crowded.  We had plenty of time to tour the museum and watched the movie in a theater with probably only 8 other people.  I'm glad we came, and it was really neat to learn about why the presidents that were selected were chosen.

 When we got back to the RV park,  I made a nice pot of chili, and it really hit the spot.  Being in this part of the country I am ever mindful of the early pioneers and the sacrifices and hardships they went through to settle this land.  It makes me want to have a fraction of their spirit, and I find myself wanting to do things by hand instead of pulling out the mixer or blender.  Crazy, huh??

Sunday was Mother's Day.  I haven't had my boys home for the last 14 years or so, and my mom passed six years ago, so I was extremely grateful to be able to talk to my boys and "daughters", my sweet mother-in-law, two of my brothers and had a  message from my dad.  Thanks to technology and the wonderful world of texting, I was able to connect with many of my dear friends.  Ken took care of everything at "home" and made a beautiful breakfast and yummy dinner, and did the dishes.  We attended church in the Mt. Rushmore Ward, and it was quite a feat to get there. The church building is 40 miles away from our campsite.  When we left it was about 38 degrees, raining with winds about 50 m.p.h.  There was really no reason to do my hair!!  We literally had trouble getting the RV door open to leave.  It was worth all it took to get there.  The service was wonderful, the people warm and friendly and the music beautiful.

On Monday we took a ride into Rapid City.  We were able to pick up our mail and talk to somebody about getting an estimate on getting the RV fixed.  We had taken tons of pictures hoping an estimate could be made from them, but no such luck.  It was still really windy and cold, and we were hoping not to have to tear down, hook up and drive into the city and then have to drive back, re-level and hook up again.  We made an appointment for the following day.  Since we were in town, we walked the streets of downtown and enjoyed the statues on every corner.  Here I am with James Monroe.

On Tuesday, we disconnected our rig and drove it into Rapid City.  The mechanic was very thorough and his findings were worse than expected.  There is some under carriage damage involving the rear axle.  YIKES!!  We are parking it until parts can be ordered and it is completely fixed.

We have officially made South Dakota our state of residence.  We got our truck licensed in this state (took a total of 7 minutes) and got our official SD drivers license, too.  Now Ken wants to buy property!!

One of the highlights of the week was discovering that our beautiful niece, Alyssa, who just graduated from college last Friday, was making a cross country drive with her mom and was going to be in Rapid City on Wednesday.  We hooked up with them on Wednesday morning at Mount Rushmore. There are no words to describe how touching it was to see Alyssa walk up those steps.  There is nothing like family.  We had a great visit and enjoyed a nice lunch in Keystone.

Check out the crazy mountain goat we saw on the way out of Mt. Rushmore:l

Thursday was a chill day (with a capital "C". )  Ken had an online webinar at 10 in the morning, so I worked on my blog while he was in class.  I cannnot figure out why it is so hard for me to upload pictures on my blog.  It never seems to be the same steps from day to day.  I did get pictures from my phone downloaded onto my tablet, and that was a real feat for me.  Meal planning for the next week was on thr agenda for the day along with grocery shopping and laundry.  After lunch we drove into Rapid City to shop.  Came home and made sloppy joes for dinner and pasta salad for a picnic lunch on Friday.  It was nice enough to sit outside in the afternoon; and Richard Paul Evans new book, "Walk on Water" was delivered to my Kindle, so I sat outside and read until it got too cold to stay out any longer.  It was easy to read through the wash and dry cycles of the laundry, and I finished the book before David Letterman came on at 9:30.  It was literally one of those books that I could not put down.  It is the 5th book in the Walk Series, and I am so glad my friend Carolyn put me on to this author.  

It rained all night Thursday and was cold and windy when we woke up, but we decided to make the drive to Custer State Park anyway.  It was awesome.  The tall pines, rolling hills and puffy white (but sometimes grey) clouds were beautiful.  We saw buffalo with just born calves, burros, pronghorns (antelope), white-tailed deer, mule deer,  turkey vulchers, birds and hawks.   We had lunch along a babbling brook.  Sitting amid the trees, enjoying the company of my incredible husband, I felt pure joy!  Today was exactly what I envisioned our retirement would be (well, maybe a little bit warmer!!).  Check out a few of our shots from today:

Stay tuned for more living!