KOA Hot Springs, Hot Springs, South Dakota. Tachometer – 3555 miles
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The lower altitude of the great plains (about 1000 meters) helped us wake up to a nice and warm morning. Paola took the kids to the playground while I jogged around the Fort Robinson area. This was a large military installation from 1870 till just after world war 2. Today many of the buildings are used for tourist lodges, horse stables and other recreational activities.
We drove north and entered South Dakota after an hour of endless meadows dotted with mostly black cows. The same views continued for another hour or so until finally we reached the Black Hills. This is the area we will be spending time in the next week or so. It is an “island of trees in a sea of grass†as described by a local. A geological anomaly.
There are many attractions here both natural and manmade.
After lunch we headed to a combination attraction, man built on nature. Evan’s Plunge is the world’s largest naturally heated swimming pool. It water is sourced from hot springs and replenishes 16 time a day, diminishing the need for chlorine. The lady at the front desk told us the water was 85 degrees F, but in fact it was only 75F. Still it was warm enough for all of us to get in. They had water slides, 2 pools for kids and various other fun things to do. Shir was happy to sit in her little tube and watch Ron and Orr slide down a 1 meter Frog’s mouth over and over.
After the pool we got back into the RV and the kids were famished. We gave them a yogurt snack, as we do most days. Shir and Orr refused any kind of help though. To our surprise, both of them were able to knock off most of the yogurt without getting too messy.
We then drove to our campsite where in the afternoon we played mini-golf. OK, we got the clubs and balls and went to the course. Each child had a different colored ball. The balls ended up in the holes. So what if we played a bit different? After golfing it was off to the playground, which scored very low because it did not have any slides.
The warm weather lasted into the evening and we happily ate some steaks at the picnic table outside. Tomorrow should be another lovely day.
Good Night,
-Hemi
PS – no cell coverage in this area, so we will be in mute for the next week or so. Skype or email should still work most of the days.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 12:06 am and is filed under Big Trip, North America RV 2007, South Dakota. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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