Rapid City, South Dakota

They improved this Rushmore Shadows RV Park since we were last here in 2008 -- paved lots of the roads. Sure makes it more pleasant to be here.

On Thursday, we decided to check out the South Dakota Badlands, a 60-mile drive from where we are staying. Must say, they are nothing like the North Dakota Badlands. But, we enjoyed the day and the scenery. Even took along sandwiches which we ate out in a park area near the Visitor's Center. Should have taken a picture of it as we drove right by it before we realized that the small building with no signs was the Visitor's Center. Had to back up.

Taken at the start of the drive.

About the highest peaks we saw.

And more.

Taken on our way out.

Just had to include this one. (Hey Pat and Bill -- we have the 

husband of a niece who moves houses for a living. Should we contact him?)

Weather has been quite windy, raining off and on for two days, and between 68 and 84 degrees (45-55 at night). Sure beats the heat we left in Texas and Oklahoma.

Have a great week, everyone!

Hot Springs, South Dakota

So we made it to South Dakota after driving 360 miles in one day. Actually, it wasn't that bad. Saw lots and lots of long train cars filled with coal while driving through Nebraska.

Train cars filled with coal in Nebraska.

And lots of open space.

We spend the weekend at the KOA in Hot Springs, South Dakota. Felt really good to be back with the trees.

Parked at the KOA in Hot Springs, South Dakota

On Mother's Day, we drove with the Tahoe onto a gravel road (used the 4-wheel drive) to try to see the buffalo that roam wild around here.

And, there they were!

Hey, Shan, here is where I was when I took your phone call.

Today we drove 60 miles to the Rushmore Shadows RV Resort. We've been here before (2008) and really like it. We will be here for two weeks before we move on to another RV park in the area. The weather is suppose to be in the low 80s during the day and 45-55 at night for the next 10 days. 

Have a great week, everyone.

Elm Creek, Nebraska

Actually, the 300-mile drive on Monday from Kansas to Nebraska was uneventful. Of course, we always enjoy moving-on to a new place and look forward to what we will see when we get there. When Jerry booked this place called the Sunny Meadows Campground on the internet, he thought that the place looked fine with lots of trees. We should have known. Any RV park with the name "Campground" in the title is not your typical motorhome RV park.

Sunny Meadows Campground in Elm Creek, Nebraska

We drove into Kearney, about 16 miles away on Wednesday. It is a city of 30,000 with all the usual eating and shopping places (but only one Starbucks).

Tomorrow, we leave early for Rapid City, South Dakota -- another 300-plus mile drive. The weather looks promising. Speaking of weather, it is 84 degrees out now. 

Yes, we are parked right next to what looks 

like a corn field and next to a "classic" RV.

Once we get to Rapid City, we will not be updating this blog on a weekly basis. That is because we will be there for eight weeks and will only update the blog as we visit the various sites.

Take care everyone.

Halstead, Kansas

Left Oklahoma on Monday and spent the week in Kansas outside a small town called Halstead (in the central part of the state). Until we get further north, we are constantly focused on the weather. Unlike California (when you get a fair amount of warning), the weather in these central states can change on a dime. Yes, they try to forecast it, but there is no way they are able to predict actual tornadoes. That's why we keep our NOAA radio on at all times these days. Even though I posted this on FB, here is an example of what I'm talking about.

I captured this on my cell phone on Monday. That was the night our NOAA radio alarm went off every 15 minutes warning us of tornadoes in the area. Luckily, this park also has a couple of storm shelters.

Other than experiencing high winds for a good part of the week, the stay here as been nice. This park, called The Spring Lake RV Resort, is billed as the largest RV park in Kansas. 

The Spring Lake RV Resort in Halstead, Kansas

When we are in a new area, we always ask: "So, what's to see here?" Sometimes our neighbors in the park give us information on what we should see while we are here, and at other times, we just check it out on the internet. In this case, our neighbor told us that we must visit the "health clinic" and the "100 year old hardware store" in Halstead. And that is just what we did on Wednesday. 

First, we visited the Kansas Learning Center for Health

Here, we found a great learning experience about the body -- especially for school-age children. We watched a short movie that discussed the various organs of the body while at the same time observing lights go on in the model designating the organ being described.

With the muscles gone, one is able to see each organ, 

the blood vessels and nerves in the body.

Early orthopedic saws. Ouch!

There were large replicas of various individual 

body parts in the center, also.

Gross! One pound of fat that you will gain if 

you add 500 calories each day for a week.

From there, we found the 

100 year old hardware store. 

Turns out, it is now an 

"antique hardware store." 

Did I mention that Halstead is a very old small town (pop. 1,800)?

When have you last seen a coblestone street?

Wheat Pasta Prima Vera made by Jerry

This Park is loaded with families of geese. 

Some have only two little ones, 

others have five, six or seven.

The basement of that building contains 

one of two storm shelters in this Park.

Just part of this large Park.

A look of our weather earlier this week.

Tomorrow we plan on driving 300 miles into Nebraska -- though still not out of this unpredictable weather pattern. In fact, the prediction is for 25-30 mile an hour winds. We don't like wind!!!!

Have a great week, everyone.