On to North Dakota

Sunday,September 23rd, time to pack up the cavalier again, heading out from the cozy little town of Keystone. During our stay we caught this impressive mountain top home over looking all the goings on in the valley below. It is said to be a private residence presently. Speculation has it that the owners may turn it into a resort in the future.(click for larger image) Heading up to Rapid City to reach I-90 west came before sunrise. The route took us from Sturgis up Highway 79. We found the landscape switching from wide open prairie to farming,to combination. My eyes pealed as we traveled; scanning the territory for wildlife. Caught wild turkey feeding in the backyard of a homestead north of Sturgis. Previously we had seen some groups of turkey down by Rockerville and in the Custer State Park. Saw antelope grazing on the range by themselves, with the sheep,in the cow herds and became one of the horses running in the wind. ;) They seemed to be everywhere!(click for larger image) The prairie dogs haven't moved this far north yet...Thank goodness. (click for larger image) If you decide to travel this route, be prepared for lack of services and facilities close to the highway. Getting closer to the southwestern border of North Dakota we began to see road ornaments that were unfamiliar. Learned that the most frequent one was called Prairie Grouse,either sharptail or prairie chicken. At one point in our travels we almost had the opportunity to bag our own via the "Prairie Chicken crossing the road." ;) A group of 6 thought they needed to fly in front of us. Onward to Jamestown,ND...

What's the "Have to DO"?!?

In the Rapid City, South Dakota area there are so many things that could lead one to sensory over load. What was so pressing in my case? Let us digress for a moment... Head over to the new Rapid City Visitors Center. Had to get some verification of locations for future building plans for Cabela's in 2008 and Scheels new free standing retail outlet come 2009. According to the official Cabela's website, Rapid City will be home to an 80,000 square foot retail store. They also said"construction is expected to begin fall 2007, with stores anticipated opening by summer of 2008." I am here to show you that indeed construction has begun and the clock starts for the upcoming opening next year.(click for larger image) Guess where I will be taking my vacation again next year?!? Looking forward to getting the finished - stocked store on camera to share with the Outdoor/Hunting Communities...

Last Day in "The Hills"

The decision to limit time on the road was made this morning,Saturday, September 22nd. What was necessary a trip to Rushmore Mall.(click for larger image) Specifically to the Scheels store to checkout prices for some comparison shopping to get ready for the seasons I will be hunting here in Iowa. ;)(click for larger image) After gathering a few costs Hubby and I were off to the hair boutique to get his name put on the list. Supposed to have been a 20 minute wait. Well, an 1 3/4 later he got his turn to get his sparsely populated locks evened up. Next on the list - Time to visit a store we stumbled upon called "All Wild and Western". Picked up some postcards , birthday card, and checked out some timber furniture. Really neat furniture! Those events scratched off the "To Do" list we headed out for the last planned "Have To Do" diversion in Rapid City. Come on back to see what the "Have To Do" diversion happened to be...

Day 2 - Trek to the Hills

Friday morning ,it was decided that we would take off up route 16A from Keystone to meet highway 44 East out of Rapid City. Do you know where we were headed? Yeah, off to the Badlands and a trip to Wounded Knee. Took off through the hills down to PineRidge over to Hot Springs up to Custer State Park ,then back to Keystone. We went 249 miles around the hills to see what we could see. I needed to get over to the Wounded Knee Memorial because of a movie I have. It came out in 1992 and is called "Thunderheart". Had to checkout the arch to the entrance of the cemetery to see if it was the same. By the way, it was. Hot Springs was a very nice little town to see from the road. A place I had visited as a teenager and will put it on my list to get back to for a longer stay in the future. Magnificent old architecture. ;) Custer State Park, what a scenic,restful drive...if you aren't behind the steering wheel that is!We paid an entrance fee that would have lasted us for a week if we would have been in the area that long. The roads get kind'a curvey here and there. We found some stately creatures of interest during our brief venture. Had we been there starting Sept. 29th - October 1st we could have witnessed the annual Custer State Park Buffalo Round-Up. After traveling the Needles Highway back to Keystone we headed to a local eating establishment "The Ruby House". Discovered it had been relocated from one side of street to the other when their previous building burnt down. We found the food very good and the coffee had just the right flavor for me...one of the few places that I can say the coffee was "Good". Although, I only bought coffee once a day when we had our large meal of the day. After "The Ruby House" we headed back to Super 8 to lax out for the rest of the day. Checked e-mail and did some internet searches thanks to Hubby's new lap top computer. One more full day in the hills. Check in to see where it took us....