South Dakota

Come along with us as we drive through the Black Hills! Lots of photos so feel free to skip on by if you’re not interested. There is a "little" crocheting at the end. 

The view as you drive west on I-90 past Chamberlain, SD. The Missouri River.

On the bridge. When our kids were small they used to see if they could hold their breath as we crossed the bridge. They asked us if we held our breath this time. :-)

A deer in our campground about three spots away from us. We have a flock of turkeys that roam through the campground all day, every day. Zoey is scared of them and climbs in our lap if she sees them.

I'm standing in the door to our camper to take this picture. That's Zoey's pen at the bottom. There are very few people here and it's SO quiet.

See any familiar faces?

Here they are! A little closer now.

We drove the Needles Hwy. and made it through the tunnels with the truck in one piece but it's really a tight fit, top and sides. We have an F350 and it's a BIG truck.

I tried and tried to get you a photo of the pigtail bridges, but there was always something in the way and I couldn't get the shot. Here's part of one of the bridges. Imagine the log structure going round and round in a circle upwards. Hence the name "pigtail" bridges.

Uh-oh. Another tunnel! Will we make it? If you enlarge the photo you will see a surprise at the other end.

Here we are at the end of the tunnel. Not only did we make it through, look what is perfectly framed at the end as you drive out!

On Thursday we decided to drive to Deadwood, SD. You know, where the famous shootouts used to happen and the brothel just closed in 1980? What should have been about a 10 minute drive turned into 1 1/2 hours! The highway is gone! They are widening about a five mile stretch of the road. We would be taken a mile or so with a "pilot car" then have to wait for the next one to take us another mile or so. It seemed to take forever, but the scenery was beautiful and we didn't have to be anywhere at a certain time so we tried to relax and not get frustrated. We did feel sorry for the big motorhomes and trucks pulling campers who were also surprised by the road. No one had any warning before you arrived at the spot. There were HUGE holes in the road and bumps and rocks and bigger rocks you had to drive over. We were thankful we were in the truck and NOT pulling our camper.

Another section of the road. We did say how much our boys would have enjoyed this when they were younger. Lots of big trucks and tractors.

We finally made it to Deadwood and then made our way to Wild Bill Hickok's and Calamity Janes graves. The stories of these two were really very interesting. It would have been a big adventure to live in the Wild West back in those days.

Wild Bill in the front and Calamity Jane beside him.

I thought this was interesting. People bring bullets and coins to put at the base of Wild Bill's tombstone.



Yesterday, (Friday), we drove the Iron Mountain Road where we found, you guessed it, more tunnels.

This one was a lot wider. Two cars could go through with room to spare!

There is such gorgeous scenery here. I could stop at every twist and turn and see beauty. Isn't the Lord amazing? The beauty he created and blessed us with is breathtaking to me.



Today we took a drive along the wildlife loop road. Since I bored you with lots of photos from our time here in August, I won't show nearly as many pictures this time. But this guy was all by himself. He was sleeping just before we drove by. He was massive.

We must have seen thousands of bison roaming the hills. They are getting ready for the big yearly round-up where they gather the herd for winter.



And just before we finished the drive we came across some of the famous "begging burros." All together there were about 15 burros with a couple of little babies too.

They are NOT shy at all and will stick their entire heads in the car.

Leaves are starting to turn here and it's supposed to be 33F tonight. Yes, we turned the furnace on in the camper for while we sleep. :-) And did you see that road sign hiding among the trees? That is exactly what many of the roads are like here and I love it!

One last photo I took somewhere around the Cathedral Spires trail. That sky! Is it any wonder that this is my favorite place to camp?

Now to the crocheting. Really bad photos but I just took them and it's dark and there is nowhere to lay them flat since Dennis is already in bed. It's a baby blanket using Bernat Softee Baby yarn and the "Baby Diamonds Blanket" pattern I found on Ravelry.  Super easy and fun to crochet. I can do this while we're in the truck drving around without having to look at it much. That way I can enjoy the scenery!
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I started another one yesterday in blue/white, also Bernat Softee Baby yarn. After we went to Deadwood yesterday I talked Dennis into going back to the camp ground through Rapid City so we could stop at a JoAnn's and get more white yarn. I received a coupon by email yesterday for 50% of one item, so that worked well. I knew I didn't bring enough yarn! There's never enough yarn.

We have just two more full days here and then will begin the trip home. Mom broke a tooth on Thursday and I called the dentist yesterday. I made an appointment for her as soon as we get home. I had thought we might have to cut our trip short and leave yesterday, but the dentist called back and talked to me. He said not to come home early. She says she has no pain and he said there shouldn't be any danger of infection in that short of time so he talked us into staying the planned amount of days. We've talked to her several times a day since we've been gone and it's getting harder and harder to be away for more than a day or two. This was a much needed break, and we'll be going again in a couple of weeks for just a couple of days, but that will probably be all for awhile. It's quickly becoming time to think of winterizing the camper. Never a fun thing to think about.

I do apologize that this post is so long. If you made it this far, thank you for sticking around!

So much is happening in the middle east and my heart is saddened and excited at the same time. Who us us knows what it all means, but I do know that the Lord knows and He will watch over Israel, his people. I pray for the safety of the people each and every day.

Blessings and love,

Betsy