While waiting for the rig to be repaired and Christa to return from seeing her Aunt in Florida, Mom and I set out to see some of the other sites. The first was Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns. Famous for Sitting Bull having spent some of his latter days here and the very large Dogtooth Spar crystal formations, the cave proved to be a vigorous venture.

Things are looking up again...

5/1/05. Well, things seem to just work out. Day before yesterday, drove the sick rig to Eddie's Truck stop in Rapid City, SD, to have them check out the loss of power problem. Turns out that I had a clogged fuel filter. Still proved to be a costly little setback, but much better than some of the things that were running through my mind as possibilities. Flying J is cleared of passing the bad fuel, a good thing as I do a lot of business with them. Following the repair we relocated to the Lazy J RV park in Rapid City off highway 16 at the top of a great hill. The park itself is an older one that had some tight moments getting into the sight, but the view offered from the park is outstanding. Full amenities are offered and the staff are a friendly bunch of folks.

5/31/05. Of particular interest is the cub exhibit. Man, these guys are cute. They played and rough-housed the whole time we were there. We spent the most time just watching these guys. A top rate stop to make in your touring. Christa is due back tomorrow. I have been holding back on seeing the big sites (Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc) unti she gets back, she really wants to check out Rushmore. I will have to say this, Rapid City is a pretty neat place. I think if I spent a couple of months here I would probably still miss out on some stuff. Truly, a city that offers something for everyone. And just up the road is Sturgis and Spearfish Canyon. I don't think I will get more than a glimpse of these due to time constraints.

5/31/05. Bear Country USA is a fantastic little drive thru park featuring wolves, bison, elk, mountain goats, Dall's sheep, Lynx, Bobcats, badgers, and, of course, bears. over 250 of them. Mostly black bears, there were a couple grizzlies as well. This is about as good a photo op as you can get.

The most interesting of the animal shows was this alligator show. The trainer was enlightening and entertaining. TRhe gators were hungry which made for a lively performance, particularly on the trainer's part.

Inside the Reptile Gardens, one will find a well manicured interior, several animal shows, and a solarium where the main reptiles and exotic plants are displayed

5/31/05. Another local site is the Reptile Gardens. A family run bit of entertainment featuring many rare reptiles, insects, birds, and some prairie dogs, too.

Here the guide is shining his flashlight into the quartz roof demostrasting why thiswas a particularly favorite place for the making of chandeliers in the 19th century.

the Sitting Bull cave is a steep descent 10 stories down, all pretty much vertical. If you have bad knees, you might want to skip this one, however, the word is that this is the least physical of the caves in the immediate area.

5/31/05. Today was a fairly cold, windy and stormy day. I figured it would be a good day to check out one of the local caves. This one is the Sitting Bull Crystal Cave. A living cave with reportedly the largest specimen's of Dogspar quartz crystal in the western hemisphere. Supposedly, Sitting Bull spent quite a bit of time here before being assasinated, hence the name tie-in.

5/30/05. Today we took a drive on the north side of Rapid City. We found this little "Chapel on the Hill" built by an immigrant couple lonely for the church in their native Norway. This is a scale relica and is beautifully carved and constructed. The chapel rests in a very pretty little park as well. This is a must see if your in the area.

5/29/05. On the same drive saw some other wildlife in the pastures. Casn't make out exactly what kind of deer this is, but I hadn't seen one befrore. S. Dakota has some strange animals.

5/29/05. Second day in Rapid City and Mom and I decided to go out and make casual ride through the country side. Pictured is an antelope making a quick get away over the fence. We saw about 10 or so scattered along the pastures adjacent to State 44 heading east.

Rapid City

5/28/05. After getting settled in at Happy Holidays RV Resort last night and calling it an early night, Christa and I arose early to go find the Rapid City Regional Airport and get her on her flight out. Once she had left and I returned to the rig, I pretty much shut down for the day as the trip across South Dakota had really drained me. Happy Holidays RV park is a really nice park with friendly office personnel. Facilities are top rate and the park is clean, well kept, and well lit. The only beef I might put forward is that the sites are pretty tight for big rigs and do not leave much room for the toad (jargon for a towed vehicle). Oh, and forget about cell phone service as we're in a deep valley between two serious hills. Laundry facilities are great and much appreciated by Christa and my mom (hey, I do all the driving).

Bad day on flatrock...

5/27/05. Well, every trip has to have something to make a story from. At least that is the tradition in my family. After leaving Omaha, we proceeded north on I-29 to Sioux Falls, SD. At the junction of I-90 we would turn west and head for Rapid City with an in-between stop in Salem, SD. When we reached the junction of 29 and 90 I elected to fuel up at the Flying J in Sioux Falls. Immediately after fueling we noticed a drop in horsepower. I could hardly maintain 55 mph. At first I thought it was the headwind we had just turned into which was blowing about 30mph and feeling pretty fierce. We made it to Salem just in time to anchor down before a major front blew through. The wind was bad before, but now it cranked up really bad. The wind caught my window awnings and pulled them open and hit the side of the RV so hard I thought there might be a possibility of being blown over. The weather report on the WX channel called for winds of 50mph or greater, I believed that piece of news. But, we did make it into the campground OK and anchored down. The camp ground was Campamerica Camp and was a very nice little park. The next morning, we pulled out heading west once again. I noticed right away that the rig's power was much worse, I could only get up to about 45 mph. I started thinking I picked up some bad fuel at the Flying J. I had never gotten hold of anything bad out of the Flying J, so this presented a quandary for me. I called our emergency road service and asked them to start looking for a service station for the rig. Of course the closest thing that could work on our moho was in Rapid City, still some 200 miles away. Eventually the power dropped down to a point where I was only making an averageof 30mph. What a drag. After a 10 hour drive, we finally made it to Happy Holidays RV Resort. There, I was able to schedule an appointment with Eddie's Truck stop, an authorized Freightliner service station for next Wednesday. Hope all goes easy. To top things off, we received a call that Christa's Aunt was not doing well and she had to fly back to Tallahassee, FL, to see her. She will hopefully be able to get back by next Wednesday as well. In the meantime, Mom and I will do a little sight -seeing.

5/27/05. Just before leaving for the days journey, we stopped in at Mimis Cafe off the suggestion of Scott's dad. Great suggestion the store offered a wonderful breakfast with great service. On leaving, they gave us a box of four of their specialty muffins. These things are huge and deliscious. They were good for two more mornings breakfasts with coffee. Soon after we departed for the Black Hills of South Dakota with a stop for the night in the town of Salem, SD.

5/27/05. Before leaving, Mom and Christa wanted me to see the beautiful mall at the intersection of 16 & 168th street (Southpoint all I think, but not sure). Really nice landscaping in a mall with upscale shops, bistros and some larger corporate stores. Here Mom takes a picture of Christa and I in front of Scheels Sporting Goods.

Scott's family enjoying some entertainment following a greeat BBQ dinner. In the picture are Christine, Scott's brother, Todd, Scott's mom (standing), Todd's wife, Lisa, Jason, and Scott's sister, Julie. Scott's dad is standing behind his mom. Great evening.

Here Christine works on the evening repast while telling us about her beautiful kitchen. Good job, very nice cabinetry. (oh, and you're looking good too Christine).

5/26/05. Here I am standing next to a mig-21. Early during my time in service, this was one of the aircraft we trained the most to intercept. Pretty neat to actually stand next to one, you won't find many around this country.