2,240 miles

We left the Newmar Rally on Saturday morning and drove to St. Charles to visit my mom and step-dad, my brother and sister-in-law, my sister and niece and our grandson and his parents all at my mom's home.  We had a really nice mini-family reunion and visit!

Monday morning found us on the road headed west.  It took us most of the day to get to Lincoln NE where we got onto I-80 which we will travel all the way to CA - 2240 miles total.  We spent Monday night at the Walmart in North Platte NE. 

Today we finished crossing NE and most of WY staying at a KOA in Lyman WY. Only about 920 miles to go. 

We were only getting 6.3 mpg driving 65 so John drove 70 on one tank of gas and we got  6.0 mpg so we slowed to 55 mph and we improved to  6.4 mpg. Can you guess how fast we are driving now?

The Black Hills of SD

As we left our campsite and started to drive to Chandon to do some grocery shopping I hear John go "Uh Oh!" That is never a good sign! The driver side rear view mirror on the RV was rotating away from him! Luckily it was an easy fix once he purchased the right size allen wrench.

We then headed for the Black Hills of South Dakota hoping to camp in a state park. Along the way we stopped at Wind Cave National Park where we walked through Wind Cave. The cave itself is located within a one square mile of earth but goes deep enough that it has over 138 miles of tunnels and caverns. It is considered the most complex cave in the US. The prairies of the mid west were once covered by a vast, shallow sea. Limestone, sediment, sea creatures, and calcium collected on the bottom. Then 60 million years ago the earth heaved, allowing the water to drain away dissolving the limestone and leaving behind a boxwork formation on the ceilings and a complex maze of passages. It got its name from the air that moved into and out of the cave's only small entrance based on atmospheric pressure changes between the cave and outside, creating a 'wind'.

After warming up from the chill of the cave, we drove to Custer State Park where there were NO campsites available. A few phone calls later and we were parked in a secluded, pine covered, hill side, commercial campground. Actually its almost like camping in a state park.

We had dinner in the town of Custer trying some new beers, and a wine tasting at the Naked Winery followed by John's version of shopping (only walking along the sidewalks of the shopping district).

Soldier Creek Wilderness

The weather has turned really HOT! We tried to get away early this morning but didn't manage to leave before 10:30 AM.

We hiked the hillside and canyons of the Soldier Creek Wilderness. The US Forest Service manages this area as part of Nebraska National Forest. But the forest in this part of the park was destroyed in 1989 by the Fort Robinson Fire which took out 48,000 acres of forest and grassland. The Ponderosa Pine were burned at such an intensity that the seeds were also destroyed and the area has not seen any renewed growth of trees. Most of the hill sides are covered with dead and rotting trees.

Our hike took us to the top of a ridge, then we went for awhile along the ridge before going down and then up another hill. The path was a single rut used more by horses than by man and was almost overgrown by tall grasses and weeds. The wind was blowing about 20-30 mph all day and the heat got up to near 100°! We lost our trail after about 4 miles but found an old road bed and followed it back to the Jeep. We estimate that we walked about 6 miles in 2 1/2 hours. We were glad we had our hydration packs and wore our sturdy hiking boots.

After naps were went thru a couple of the Fort Robinson museums, took a short drive and then came back to the RV to try and cool off! The A/C is struggling in this heat!

Cowboys and Indians

In 1868 the Red Cloud Agency is established near the WY and NE border by treaty to supply the Sioux Indians on the reservation with food and supplies so they can work the land. The Agency is moved to the White River near Crawford NE in 1873. The area eventually become Fort Robinson, named after an Army lieutenant who was killed by the Indians. Many raids, ambushes, and Indian wars were fought around here from 1874 to 1890, then in 1906 the 10th Calvary intercepted escaping Ute Indians and turned them over to Fort Meade. The Fort became the headquarters for the calvary post and since then it has housed, trained and bred horses, mules, and war dogs. The 9th and 10th Calvary (black soldiers) were housed here, an Olympian Polo team trained here and it was a German POW camp in 1943.

Today, Fort Robinson is a state park with museums, lodging units, stables, and camping. Former officers' quarters and army barracks have been turned into places to rent for overnight or extended stays. Many of the cabin units or houses will hold up to 20 people with full housekeeping amenities. The horse barns can be rented for your horse or you can trail ride on theirs. They also offer stage coach rides, hay wagon rides, and jeep rides, tubing or kayaking on the While River. They have tennis courts, an enclosed pool and a Post Playhouse with five plays running thru the season.

Today we rode our bikes around the Fort grounds and logged in 5 miles. The place is that big! Later we rode the rails to trail route into Crawford and explored the town. All told, we rode 16 miles on our bikes. After supper I attended "Godspell" at the Post Playhouse. A great production!!

Skirting the Fires

We left Conifer this morning and headed north toward Crawford, NE where we will spend a few days. The drive took us east of areas that are burning in CO and WY. We saw some smoke and it was very hazy but we were not close enough to see fire.

As we passed through Torrington, WY we encountered some pretty nasty looking storm clouds and no, we could not outrun them. When we headed eastward to Crawford, NE we ran right into the storm, then out of it and then it caught up with us as we were trying to unhitch the Jeep and set up camp. Of course, the area is really needing the rain so we didn't complain too much.