Pullin' Chocks

We are one with South Dakota!

We completed a major milestone for this year; we made it to Rapid City, South Dakota and changed our residence by returning our Maryland vehicle license plates and driver's license and replacing those with South Dakota models.  That action affected all of our accounts from health insurance to cellular services, so we have been busy updating our address with every account we can think of.  

Our first night in Rapid City was spent at the back of the Flying J Truck Stop parking lot.  It is a large truck stop so we were able to get away from the hustle and bustle and actually get a good nights rest.  The rest of the week we spent at Americas Mailbox, our mail forwarding service, and we successfully conducted our change of residence business starting with driver's license and finishing with vehicle registration and plates.  Things went so well we toured the Rapid City and Sturgis areas by mid week.  We finally selected a small campground just southwest of Rapid City by four miles.  It is still convenient to shopping in town, being nestled in the east foothills it has a great view of the Black Hills, and is close to all the sights up in the Black Hills.  On the downside, it is much colder up here, they had 2" of snow the day before we moved over and the nearby hills got 15" !

Below is our new backyard!  The Black Hills appear black from the dense pine trees.

Another angle of beauty...

Penelope in Rapid City for May and part of June

The Rapid City and Black Hills area of South Dakota is a treasure trove of things to see and do.  We stopped by the Black Hills Visitors Center in Rapid City and realized that it would take many months if not years to see everything this area has to offer; Everyone we have met along the way sings the praises of this area and I guess I just didn't really believe it or at least thought that it wouldn't be as spectacular to me. However, I was wrong and do find this area to be truly amazing and we haven't hardly started our looking around.  We plan to be here for 45 days, but already know we will be coming back to see more.  And it is not just one thing here, it is the diversity and sheer number of things here that make this such a special area.

Black Hills Information Center in Rapid City

The interactive scale sculpture map of the Black Hills area inside the center

We visited the Geology and Paleontology Museum maintained by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.  From small beginnings they have built up a world class collection and exhibits.

One of the amazing facts of this Black Hills area is the dinosaur remains that are found here.  When the skull of the T-Rex below was found in the 1980's, it was one of only 7 known specimens in the worlds at that time.

The last tour for this week was that of the bronze presidents statues situated on the street corners of downtown Rapid City.  Each has a dedication plaque with brief information of the president and the generous donors.  It was a great history lesson for us.  We recognized several of the presidents, but there were many that we completely forgotten.

William McKinley 25th President.  I tried to offer him a cell phone in place of his historic set.

Gari with Calvin Coolidge 30th President; she likes his western wear!

 
Harry S. Truman 33rd President shows the famous headline "Dewey Defeats Truman".  I show my guide book locating President Truman on the corner of Mt. Rushmore Rd. & St. Joseph St.

Mt. Rushmore Rd. & St. Joseph St.

OK you probably already knew that it doesn't take much to entertain us... all day long!
One last president for my friend Mary M. who I know loves Airedale dogs.  I met Warren G. Harding 29th President on the corner of St. Joseph and 9th St with his dog Laddie.  I thought of you Mary when I saw Laddie!

When the weather improves later this week we plan to strike out for Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Mountain, Crystal Caves, and trout fishing in the lakes and streams in the Black Hills. We also have two projects lined up for Penelope; moving the tool chest out of the truck and onto the new cargo  tray we have on the back of Penelope and hook up the water pressure tank we have all set to go.  Lots to do...