Larkspur, CO to Cheyenne, WY
August 9, 2024
We traveled 135 miles from Larkspur, CO to Cheyenne, WY. Our destination was the AB Camping & RV Park. We arrived in the early afternoon just in time for more wet weather. The campground had everything we needed for our overnight stay, including a BBQ restaurant. We couldn’t pass up what was advertised as “Best BBQ”. The restaurant was a small space attached to the campground office. It was actually a very popular place on a Friday night! Ken and I both had the Beef Brisket and it was delicious!
Cheyenne, WY to Box Elder, SD
August 10, 2010
Our next stop was Box Elder, SD, a 300 mile drive. That was a long day for us! We planned on a shorter distance, but, the campground we selected was a first-come-first-serve so we decided to drive on by and not try our luck there. We already had reservations in Box Elder, SD for the next night, but, the office at that location was closed on the weekends. Ken located a Love’s RV Travel Stop in Box Elder that had availability. We arrived in the early afernoon and were really happy with the Love’s RV Park. The facility was brand new with level and wide concrete pads. We had a pull-through site for easy in/out. We even had good wi-fi reception!
(Click arrows to move through slideshow)
August 11. 202
The next day we drove 7 miles to our next destination in Box Elder, SD, Americas Campground. It was not nearly as nice as the Love’s, but, everything worked great. The intesting thing about Americas CG is that it is affiliated with Americas Mailbox, a premier mail forwarding service. Many RVers use this service because it gives them a legal resident in South Dakota. It’s an RV thing!
August 12, 2024
Our next stop, Spearfish, SD. This is our third time staying at the Elkhorn Ridge RV Park. The RV park is conveniently located in the Black Hills a few minutes from Spearfish, Deadwood, and Sturgis. The RV park is on our short list of great places to stay. The amenities incude: Heated outdoor pool, 2 hot tubs, lighted tennis court, lighted basketball court, walking path, playground horse shoe pits, volleyball, fire pits, restaurant, and golf course. It is a beautiful place!
Sturgis – After The Roar
This year was the 84th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally! Sturgis, South Dakota is best known as the scene of the annual Black Hills Motorcycle Rally, when thousands of bikers descend on the small town in August to party, show off their riding skills, and shop the vendors who set up shop on every corner and parking lot. Today, we drove through downtown Sturgis, but, it was very quiet…It was the day after the rally ended!
We drove through Sturgis and saw that the clean-up was underway. Vendors were tearing down booths and packing up left-over merchandise. I read that the rally attendance was up this year…470,000 attendees! As we drove down the streets of Sturgis today, it was hard to picture so
(Click arrows to move through slideshow)
Wall Drug
As we drove towards Wall Drug we we passed many billboards reminding us to stop for 5 cent coffee, Homemade Donuts, Pie, and free water at Wall Drug.
What started out as a pharmacy in 1931 has turned into a sprawling tourist mall(76,000 sq feet) that occupy’s most of downtown Wall. On a good summer day, 20,000 people stop at Wall Drug. Travelers stop to enjoy the gift shops, frontier town, western art, photo collections, restaurant, and … 5 cent coffee and free ice water.
The story of Wall Drug is one of hard work, determination, and creativity. When Wall Drug was 5 yrs. old, the owners realized that the their business had not grown. That is when the owners came up with the idea of placing signs along the highway advertising free ice water. Their idea worked…tourists were lining up for free water and have been stopping ever since. They became billboard crazy and during the 1960’s they had placed over 3,000 painted wood highway signs! The family has turned Wall Drug into the #1 Roadside attraction in America!
This was our second time at Wall Drug, so, we did a quick walk through looking at everything; drug store, chapel, art galleries, gift shops and life-sized old west characters. We took a few souvenir photos and were on our way. We didn’t even get free ice water!
(Click arrows to move through slideshow)
Badlands National Park
After Wall Drug, we decided to drive through the Badlands National Park. When we were in the area a few years ago, we didn’t do the Badlands…so we thought! As we drove through we were taken in by the beauty of the landscape. How did we not see this before? It turns out, we did see the park before and I have photos to prove it! Neither one of us can understand how we forgot such an amazing place!
We followed the Badlands Loop Scenic Byway which is a 32 mile drive through Badlands National Park. The roadway took us past sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires, created by volcanic ash, flooding, wind and rain erosion. In addition to the eroded rocky terrain, we found areas of mixed grass prairie. Unfortuantely, on this trip, we did not see Bison or Prairie Dogs, but we did spot one Antelope.
In conclusion, Badlands National Park is a stunning landscape that is barren and beautiful!
(Click arrows to move through slideshow)
Mount Rushmore
As always, the highlight of our stay in the Black Hills, was the Mount Rushmore evening memorial ceremony. The ceremony included a ranger talk and historical film about the four Presidents on the mountain. . At the conclusion of the film, the audience joined in singing “ America the Beautiful” and “ The Star Spangled Banner”. As the song ended, the lights began to fade up and the mountain was illuminated with a steady beam shining on the four faces. As the mountain remained illuminated, all veterans were invited to the stage for the lowering of our flag. It was a very patriotic evening!
It has been forty-six years since we first visited Mt. Rushmore with our 3 month old Lindsay. We have visited 3 times since……just the two of us! Things are a little different since our first visit, but Mount Rushmore is still pretty special!
(Click arrows to move through slideshow)
Tomorrow – More Black Hills Adventure
You must be logged in to post a comment.