gardenofwine.com

Chris’ Campground, Spearfish, South Dakota. Tachometer – 4087 miles

Click here for Pictures

Ron got up excited and finished his morning routine (potty, teeth, clothes) as fast as we could ever remember. He had a hot date with his friend from yesterday and couldn’t wait to get out of the RV. Finally some company his own age with the appropriate stimulation. Not that playing with Shir and Orr is so bad, but we really want Ron to interact with kids his own age when we camp. (more…)

Happy Holidays RV Park, Rapid City, South Dakota. Tachometer – 3996 miles

Click here for Pictures

 

The children had a great day. It started with the campsite playground, continued with a petting farm, and ended in this campgrounds playground. Ron also met a friend that was parked right next to us. (more…)

KOA Badlands, near Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Tachometer – 3906 miles

Click here for Pictures

We lazed around the campground most of the morning, Paola and I taking turns with the kids at the playground. I got the early shift, and we had pancakes prepared for us at the pavilion right next to the playground. For those who are wondering, KOA stands for Kamgrounds of America. It is a franchise chain of campgrounds that are very standardized in the level of service, cleanliness, and other amenities. These amenities usually include a swimming pool, playground, and in most campgrounds a pavilion or common area where food is served (for a fee) usually for breakfast and sometimes at dinnertime as well. (more…)

KOA Badlands, near Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Tachometer – 3880 miles

Click here for Pictures

It was a cold and rainy day, harshly punctuated by a relentless wind that had me bending the steering wheel of the RV almost a quarter of a turn just to keep driving straight. We took I-90 east for about 90 miles to get to Badlands. On the way we had a very interesting stop at what was once a launch site of US Minuteman nuclear warheads.

The entire plains region, including South Dakota, was filled with about 1000 missile silos during the cold war. (more…)

KOA Rapid City, Rapid City, South Dakota. Tachometer – 3722 miles

Click here for Pictures

We saw two manmade, larger than life monuments today: The famous Mount Rushmore and the even more impressive Crazy Horse Memorial. They are both located here in the Black Hills and both draw millions of tourists every year. (more…)

KOA Custer, Custer, South Dakota. Tachometer – 3679 miles

Click here for Pictures

This morning the kids had a treat. We went to the Flintstones theme park. It is based on the famous cartoon series from the 60’s that I remember watching in the 70’s as a kid. Basically it’s a prehistoric sitcom. Fred Flintstone was a national icon for a while.

We started off with a cute train ride. (more…)

Flintstones Bedrock Campground, Custer, South Dakota. Tachometer – 3640 miles

Click here for Pictures

We had a long easy morning at the campground, the kids played with the gravel rocks paving our campsite, trying to fit them into empty plastic bottles. Towards noon we left and drove about 45 minutes to get to Wind Cave National Park. The weather deteriorated rapidly and it began to rain heavily. (more…)

KOA Hot Springs, Hot Springs, South Dakota. Tachometer – 3555 miles

Click here for Pictures

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. (more…)