Some Black Hills Favorites

Favorite happy image: These pigmy mountain goats at "Old McDonald's Farm", just outside the gates of our RV home at Rushmore Shadows. They climb up to eat some tempting grass atop this swinging bridge. They make us smile each time we pass. Favorite restaurant and food: Desperado's Cowboy Cuisine in Hill City. The building is from the 1880's and of hand-scribed logs, beautifully renovated by a former GM car salesman from WI and his new bride. The grand opening was just in time for our arrival in "the Hills". The owner and staff are warm and friendly. The food is perfectly prepared, seasoned and presented. We can vouch specifically for the ribeye, the porterhouse pork chop, the Cornish game hen, the caramel-whisky sauce garnished bread pudding and the strawberry-rhubarb pie; all prepared from scratch in their own kitchen. In case you're wondering, we have eaten there more than once in order to sample so many different foods.


 

The Many Faces of Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore can be viewed from many vantage points: Through one of three tunnels or several overlooks on Iron Mountain Road; Through the "avenue of flags" at the Rushmore Monument site; and after the dark, at the end of an incredibly patriotic "illumination ceremony". Incidentally, the person who designed Iron Mountain Road with its incredible views and unique pigtail bridges was a native of Long Lake, MN; C.C. Gideon.


 

SD Custer State Park Wildlife

A sampling of the charming creatures that were easily viewed via a casual drive through beautiful Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Sorry, we've got no taffy today, Mr. Burro.


 

On the Road Again

We escaped RV repairland at 1pm on June 20th and headed through Wyoming toward the Black Hills of South Dakota. We spent the night at "Prairie View", a pleasant little campground near Lusk, WY. There we met a fellow traveler, a pleasant gentleman named "Luther", who honored us with copies of some of his poetry.

We arrived at our destination, Rushmore Shadows RV resort, the following afternoon. At last, a place to set up like home, as opposed to the "on alert" stance we took while awaiting opportunities to pull into the RV repair shop when time and replacement parts allowed.
Steve tricked me into the WY wildlife pose in the first pic. The second pic is a WY rock structure between Newcastle and the SD border that looks like a mini-Devil's Tower. Pic 3 was a welcome sight, the entrance to Rushmore Shadows and #4 is sunset over Rushmore Shadows.
The resort has a hot tub, pool, laundry, fragrant pines and campfires and...NO MOSQUITOS! We're 11 miles South of Rapid City and about the same distance from Mt. Rushmore.
 

A Month in RV Repair Limbo aka Colorado

When last you heard from us, we had just been towed to Cummins, Rocky Mountain, with an overheated engine. The engine turned out to be just fine. A coolant hose had burst, soaking the storage bays under the coach and causing the engine to overheat. Fortunately, we pulled over quickly enough to prevent engine damage. After 4 days at Cummins, we had a hose splice which allowed us to travel to our original Newmar authorized repair destination, Allstars RV repair, South of Denver in Louviers, CO. We arrived there on May 26th, the Friday before Memorial Day, and enjoyed their hospitality and "free camping" until yesterday, June 17th. We pulled out of All Stars with what we hope is an "as good as new" rig. Under warranty we have a new front roof air conditioner, a new color back-up camera, a new controller for our electrical inverter/converter system, new coolant hoses, new hose for fridge icemaker, new keyless entry pad, refurbished storage bay carpeting, and paint and body touch-ups.
The upstart facility at All Stars was not as impressive as the Cummins facility, but their staff was positive and efficient, getting repairs done as quickly as the necessary parts arrived from Newmar. In addition, they allowed us to live in our rig and were always attentive to the safety and comfort needs of our three cats as they completed their work.
Picture 1 is Steve "patiently" waiting during our 3+ weeks on the All Stars lot. Picture 2 is "Dakota", our sole companion on the lot for many nights and weekends. Picture 3 is our shiny, good as new rig; Mark the body man and Steve, on the evening before we left.
"Where are we now?", you ask. Well, we're back in Denver at Cummins Rocky Mountain, the local Spartan Chassis Rep. Just one more Spartan recall electrical fix is needed and we'll be on our way to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We hope to be out of here in just one or two more days.

More Guanella Pass Pics

Bighorn Sheep along road from Guanella Pass.


Steve awaiting construction (25 min.) on Guanella Pass.

Georgetown, CO and Guanella Pass

Georgetown claims to be the most beautiful city in Colorado. It's a quaint little city filled with well maintained historic buildings. They are filled with interesting shops and restaurants. The town is set in a valley about 20 miles West of Denver off of I-70 beneath Loveland Pass. (Pictures 1 & 2)


Guanella Pass, on the road from Georgetown to the junction of Hwy 285 and C-470, provides views of several 14,000+ foot mountain peaks (pic 3) and, on this trip, a parade of model-T's (pic 4). In addition, we encountered a herd of Bighorn Sheep, picturesque horse rances, and mountain lakes, and the beautiful Platte river.

Central City, CO and "Oh My God" highway

We did take a couple of tourist breaks while awaiting RV repairs in the Denver area. The historic gold mining town, Central City, boasts many beautiful, historic buildings; mining lore; ghost stories, and most recently; all of the casino action you could ever desire. The Temple building is home to "The Face on the Bar Room Floor" (picture 1) inspired by a poem of the same name. It was painted by a local artist in the 1930s.
Picture 2, Lynette on Central City's main street.
Picture 3 is an active gold mine viewed from "Oh My God" highway, between Central City and Idaho Springs, CO. We were told that many of the gold mines have been reactivated when the price of gold reached $600/ounce.
Picture 4 is the view downward from "Oh My God" highway. The road is narrow gravel with fear inspiring drop offs and awe inspiring views.

Garden of the Gods from Manitou Springs to Colorado Springs

Interesting views from Garden of the Gods. Pic 1, balancing rocks; Pic 3, a view of Pike's Peak.

Chatfield State Park and Reservoir, CO

While awaiting parts for our RV fixes, we took a night's break at nearby Chatfield State Park. The campground boasts some of the most spacious and well maintained campsites that we've found. In addition, there is a restaurant/marina, horseback riding stables, views of mountains, hot air balloons, a model airplane runway with airplanes in "dogfights", boating and fishing, lots of black and white magpies, prairie dogs...oh yes, and in picture 3, behind the magpie, note the stategically placed decorative rocks (our only complaint about the park). They are just the right height for scratching the heck out of the storage bin doors on one's motorhome...enough said about that!