Day 45 : August 10 SOUTH DAKOTA
An absolutely perfect day to go sightseeing around the Black Hills of Dakota again. Six members of the crew (Dick and Barbara, Ron & Kerry, Neville and Peter) took off in the RV for areas north of Rapid City and realized that one would need more than a day to do this area justice, but we did our best!
First stop was for morning tea at the picturesque Lake Pactola where several families of Canada Geese were very anxious to help Dick and Barbara dispose of any stale bread. The Ranger tried to spoil the fun by asking for an admittance fee, but this was happily paid and gave us the option of stopping at all the various attractions within the Forest Recreation Management’s care, if only we had the time!
A very minor road led us to a fantastic little town named Rockford where we were asked two questions – ‘How on earth did you come to be in Rockford?’ and ‘Why didn’t you bring the tractors?’ The small shop cum tavern was adorned with caps, business cards, bras, t/shirts, memorabilia etc etc. We could not help ourselves – had to order lunch there and soak up the atmosphere. We rest of the town was comprised of a dear little Church, another store, a hall and an assortment of very old, but fascinating buildings left over from the gold rush. This was like a time capsule of American History from another era and we just loved it.
For a real change of scenery, we visited Savoy, just near the Spearfish Canyon, to see the Roughlock Falls and once again, we were in for a treat. The falls were very pretty, if not large, and the scenery was breathtaking – tall cliffs and lovely walking trails down to the falls. This is the kind of place one needs to spend a couple of days, but our hour was certainly enjoyed.
By this time we were running a bit behind schedule and very nearly gave Deadwood the miss – lucky for us we did not! A walk down the main street was like stepping back in time and a visit to No 10 Tavern to see the 5.00 pm rendition of the ‘Re-enactment of the Shooting of Wild Bill Hickok’ was very opportune. Not one, but three of our number – Dick, Peter and Ron – were chosen to take part in the play – Dick was the Barman, and Peter and Ron were card-players at the table with ‘Wild Bill’. It was hilarious – two members of the public were roped in as bargirls and managed to look the part as they ingratiated themselves to the card players! All in all, a lot of fun.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, Carolyn and Allan visited the Bear Park and the Underground Waterfall and are reported to have thoroughly enjoyed their visits.
‘Cumber’ and Jeff’s stop with us proved to be short, as they have arrangements to meet friends at Salt Lake City and our route would have been too slow to get them there on time, so they have headed west. We will catch up again when we reach Salt Lake City around the 25th August. Before they took off, Cumber gave a ride in his tractor to a visiting lady, Laverne Leible. Mrs Leible was so thrilled that she sent us a photo of the event.
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| Dick feeds Canada Geese at Pactola Lake |
Dick, Neville & Peter at Rochford Store |
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| Roughlock Falls State Park, Sth Dakota |
Kerry at Roughlock Falls |
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| Tavern in Deadwood Township |
Wild Bill Hickok re-enactment in progress |
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| The Cast, Wild Bill Hickok Re-enactment |
Mrs Laverne Leible enjoys her ride |
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| Porkupine enjoys a drink at the Bear Park |
Ain't Love Grand at the Rapid City Bear Park |
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| Jeff Smith is enjoying the ride |
The two Jeffs and Cumber ready to go again |
Day 46 : August 11 SOUTH DAKOTA TO NEBRASKA
Another of those ‘lets get some miles behind us’ kind of days. The forecast was for hot weather after our spell of really lovely mild days and the weather man had it right this time.
Take off from Rapid City was at 8.00am and the route was south down Route 79. A short detour into Hot Springs was an opportunity to visit an incredible attraction – the Mammoth Site. This is the site of a paleontology research activity where skeletons of the extinct Mammoth, as well as many other animals which co-existed with these giants, are gradually being uncovered under what was once a cornfield. An excavator unearthed the first bones when clearing a site for a housing development. Once the significance of the find was accepted, the land was purchased for what has become America’s greatest ice-age treasure. The site is now home to the skeletons of some 58 mammoths, plus 40 other species of Ice Age animals that apparently died in this ancient spring-fed sinkhole 26,000 years ago. A tour of the centre gives one a glimpse back into time and tells how these massive animals came to be locked into what has become a time capsule. Students give their time to continue the ‘dig’ and more and more pieces of the puzzle are being unearthed.
Then it was on across the border into Nebraska on Route 71 and to Scott’s Bluff where the three tractors and two RV’s parked for the night at the local Wal Mart Store – an opportunity to restock the larders.
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| Different hill shapes on Route 79 |
Changing scenery in Nebraska |
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| Neville's tractor among the sunflowers |
The Mammoth in it's prime |
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| The excavation at the Mammoth Site |
House made of Mammoth bones |
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