Thursday - 5/24/2018 - We got up early to meet Johnny, Justin, and Joel in Terrell at Bucee's. The plan was to meet them around 9. Then it began again. I reached for my closet door and the handle fell off in my hand! Rick gave a quick look and said he would have to fix it when we got back. We had packed the motorhome the day before except for the last minute things. Just as we were ready to pull out I remembered all the cold things I left in the refrigerator at the house! After gathering all of those things, we were ready to go again. Then the tire alarm went off. One of the motorhome tires was leaking air. He had to disconnect the truck so he could back up and put air in the tire. He discovered it was the tire valve extension that was leaking. He just changed the extension and hooked the truck back up. You would think we were ready to leave, but no. Winnie, our new Yorkie, was about to take her first trip in the motorhome and was a little spastic. I went to get some medication to calm her. When I reached for her pills, I picked up my pill case that was not closed. My pills went everywhere! I had to search for the teeny tiny pills that I did not want the dogs to get. I found most. The others fell in behind the stove and will remain there forever! Finally at 10:45 we were ready to pull out. So with our cold coffee we started on this (hopefully fun) trip! We met up at Bucees, loaded up the boys, and away we went. We ate lunch going down the road because there was not one place to stop! That just went with the day. After driving 305 miles, we stopped at Roadrunner RV Park in Moore, Oklahoma. The site was a really nice concrete pull0thru. The only problem (of course there would be at least one!) was the sewer connection was all the way in the back of the site. We had to use 3 sewer hoses to reach it. We cooked hamburgers for dinner and had Bluebell for dessert. The boys thought this was the best part of the day.
Friday - 5/25/2018 - We left at 9:15 which was pretty good considering we weren't used to getting 3 boys ready. A really bad storm woke us up at 6 am. It was a pretty uneventful drive into Kansas. We stopped in Tonkawa at a truck stop to fuel up and eat lunch. We drove a total of 252 miles and stopped in Salina, Kansas at a KOA. We got there about 2:45 which was early but we were tired and it was fine with us. I did some laundry and fixed chicken & rice for dinner while the boys went swimming. They didn't last long because it was too crowded. After dinner and showers, we played Farkle and ate ice cream.
Saturday = 5/26/2018 - We got another early start at 9. Again, we couldn't find a place to stop for lunch. The rest stops were all full. Rick just happened to see a closed ramp that made a great place to stop for lunch. After driving 366 miles we stopped at a Passport America Part, Sleepy Sunflower RV Park in Ogallala, Nebraska about 4:30. It was only $17.50 a night which was great. However the electricity was pretty low. I'm not sure we would stay there again. The boys asked for goulash for dinner. Then showers and bed!
Sunday - 5/27/2018 - Left a little later today - 9:45. First thing to do was to fuel up. We ate lunch at the Courthouse Rock lookout. This was a major landmark for the Oregon Trail. We arrived at Beaver Lake Campground in Custer, South Dakota about 4:30. This was a wonderful park. We will absolutely stay here again. They have a big slide that was free 2 days a year. This just happened to be one of those 2 days. The boys couldn't wait to go down it. So they quickly suited up and went sliding while I fixed chicken tacos for dinner. They didn't last long. They said it was freezing! After dinner and showers, we went to bed because tomorrow is our first fun day!
Monday – 5/28/2018
We got up
early to get an early start. The boys
were pretty excited to finally get to do something fun. We started out going to the visitor center in
Custer. There was a really sweet lady
who helped with brochures. We have been
to Custer 2 times before, but we wanted to see if there were things to do that
the boys might like. We drove over to Wind Cave.
Justin and Joel did the Junior Ranger activities to earn their
badge. Then we went on the ranger led
tour. Our ranger was fantastic! His name was Anthony Rivera and he was from Cuba.
He was very knowledgeable and entertaining, probably the best ranger
tour we’ve ever been on. After the tour
and the boys taking the ranger pledge, we stopped at the grocery store. On the way home we saw a coyote, some
buffalo, wild turkeys, and prairie dogs.
We got back to the camper and had pulled pork for dinner. It was a great first day!
Wind Cave
Ranger
Badge
Wildlife Loop
Working on their journals and souvenirs!
Tuesday
– 5/29/2018
Today was a
yucky cold and rainy day! But we were
not going to sit in the camper all day, so off to Jewel Cave!
We figured rain wouldn’t matter if we were inside a cave. When we got there, we learned that the tours
were all sold out. If we wanted to go we
had to get our tickets really early in the day. We had no idea it was that
popular! Bummer! So Justin and Joel began their Ranger badge
activities and we toured the visitor center, which included a short film. Part of getting their badge was touring the
cave. We hoped we could get tickets the
next day! This was the hardest Ranger Badge they had worked on! After they answered all the questions they could in the visitor center, they still had work when we got back to the camper. When they had done everything
they could we ran back to the camper to eat lunch. Next we went to Custer State Park.
We went to their brand new amazing visitor center. There was a really good movie and lots of
activities for the boys. It was still
raining when we finished so we made a short run through the park to see if we
could spot any wildlife. We saw 22 deer,
a herd of buffalo, and 1 wild turkey! We
drove back to the camper and had chicken soup for dinner. Justin and Joel finished their activity
booklet and then we played Farkle again.
This time I won! Then early bed
because we had to get up early to get tickets for the cave!
Jewel Cave
Ranger
Badge
Custer State Park
Wednesday
- 5/30/2018
The alarm
went off way too early for a vacation!
Rick jumped up, got dressed, and by 7:30am was on his way to Jewel Cave to hopefully get tickets. We weren’t sure what time our tour would be
so the boys and I got dressed as fast as we could. Rick called and said the good news was that he
had tickets. The bad news was that the
tour was in 45 minutes! He had to drive
back to get us and get back in the line before the elevators closed! As hard as that sounds, we did it with no
time to spare! This was another ranger
led tour. We went down in the
elevator. Our tour guide was another
really good one. She reminded us of
Barbara Billingsley, only she didn’t wear pearls. The cave was beautiful. There were tons of stairs! Justin and Joel got to lead the tour group at
times because they were junior rangers.
They loved it. After the tour
they said their ranger pledge and got their badges. We went back to the camper to eat lunch since
it was still raining. No picnics for us
today. After lunch, we drove the
beautiful Iron Mountain drive to Mount Rushmore.
There are several tunnels. One of
them has a perfect view of the monument as you are coming out of it. We toured the visitor center and the boys
worked on their third ranger badge of the trip.
This is our third trip to Mount Rushmore and the first time we went to the visitor
center. The boys were very impressed
with the monument. It is amazing. Then back to the camper for dinner!
A turtle came to visit the campground!
Jewel Cave
Ranger
Badge
Drive to Mt
Rushmore
Mt Rushmore
Ranger Badge
Thursday
-5/31/2018
Today
turned out to be one of the boys favorite day.
We drove to Needles Highway.
We parked and the boys were able to climb the rocks. They had so much fun. They loved watching the cars drive through
the very narrow passage. After a while,
we drove to Custer State Park again and had a picnic lunch. We drove the wildlife loop and saw a small
buffalo herd, some donkeys, pronghorns, elk, deer, coyotes, and prairie
dogs. It was a really fun day.
Needles Hwy
Custer State Park
Friday
- 6/1/2018
Time to
move on. We drove to Garryowen, Wyoming.
This is the home of Little Big Horn, better known as Custer’s Last
Stand. We stayed at 7th Ranch
which sits on part of the battle ground.
We’ve stayed here several times.
It’s one of our favorite rv parks!
The boys loved it. I think it’s because they give you ice cream
sandwiches for staying. We drove through a bad storm on the way there. Then it cleared up just long enough for us to set up. After the rain, the rainbows appeared.
Saturday
– 6/2/2018
Today was
Little Big Horn day. It’s just down the
road from the RV park. We checked on the Ranger Badge, viewed a short film, then went to the
ranger talk. It was the same ranger we
had seen before. He is a retired high
school teacher who really knows his stuff.
He’s very interesting and makes you feel like you were there. He’s amazing!
After the talk Justin and Joel completed their ranger
activity. We had to tour the small museum to answer the questions. Then they said their pledge and got
their 4th badge of the trip.
Next, we walked to the Indian memorial that is really moving. Then we walked to the mass grave of the
soldiers who were killed in the battle.
Next we took a short hike to the ravine.
Along the way are markers to show where the bodies of soldiers and
Indians were found. Then we drove the
auto tour to Bentine’s and Reno’s battle ground. This drive is a few miles. I think the boys were battle grounded out by
this time. When we finished I told Rick
I really needed to run to the store to get some bread and a few other
things. (These boys eat!!!) There was only one store around. It didn’t look too great on the outside and when
Johnny and I went in, we decided it was not that great inside either. We left and I told Rick we would make do!
Ranger Badge
Mass Grave
Indian Memorial
Markers
Ravine
Auto tour
National Cemetery
Sunday
– 6/3/2018
This was a
really really long day! We drove 357
miles to Wall, South Dakota.
We stayed at Arrow Campground.
This is not a beautiful campground.
We have stayed here before and knew it was better than it looked. The owners are no nonsense people. A lot of the RVs there are semi-permanent,
meaning the people in them are summer workers from Wall Drug. I think the boys were a little concerned.
Lots of great help breaking down to move!
Lots of great help breaking down to move!
Monday
– 6/4/2018
The last
time Rick and I were here, the Minuteman Missile Silo visitor center was being
dedicated but we didn’t have time to stop.
Today we definitely put it on the agenda! The center was a really good one. We spent a lot of time there. There was a very good film. You can actually go down into the silos but
you have to have reservations and they were a year out. So we didn’t get to do that. BUT they told us we could drive out to one
and see it from above the ground. Justin
and Joel did their ranger activities and got their 5th badge of the
trip. After the visitor center, we drove
back to Wall Drug to have lunch. Wall
Drug is a major tourist trap! But it’s a
lot of fun if you have never been. This
is our 4th time. It started
as a working pharmacy. Then the highway
was built and people went around the town rather than through it. The wife suggested putting up signs along the
highway offering free ice water. This
was before all the fast food places. It
worked. The pharmacy was saved. It began offering food and gifts. It has grown into a shopping mall of sorts. Today you still see lots of signs along the
highway advertising the store. They
still offer free ice water, nickel serve yourself coffee, and really good cake
donuts. If you are a veteran you get a
free coffee and donut, as well as a sincere thank you for your service. The boys said it was the best meal ever! They didn’t really like the donuts
though.
Minuteman Missile Silo National Historic Site
Ranger
Badge
Wall Drug
At the campground
Tuesday
– 6/5/2018
We got an
early start because most of today was outside and it was hot! For breakfast, the boys ate the donuts we
bought at Wall Drug. They weren’t really
crazy about cake donuts.
We stopped
at the Missile Silo first. We lucked out
because there was a ranger there. They
aren’t always there. She was very
knowledgeable and answered all of Rick and Johnny’s questions. It was really interesting to see that it was just out in an area that you would drive by and not really notice! I think the boys really enjoyed this.
After all one-million questions were answered by the sweet and patient ranger, we
drove to Badlands National Park.
On the way in, Rick stopped at one of the turnouts. The boys got out and just started to run and
climb things. It looked like a lot of
fun until the heat got to them. It was
already so hot! It didn’t take long
until they were done. We drove to the
visitor center and had a picnic on the covered tables outside. There are no trees so there is no shade! Thankfully, the picnic tables were covered! Then we went into the air conditioned visitor
center. Justin and Joel got their 6th
ranger badge of the trip! I’m so proud
of them. We got to see the rangers
working on fossils that were found in the park.
Next we drove through the park.
There isn’t a lot of wildlife.
You just have to keep looking to find it. We saw prairie dogs, pronghorns, big horn
sheep, and buffalo.
Lunch
Ranger
After a
really hot day, the boys wanted to go back to Wall Drug to eat
again. So, of course, we did. Then they did some souvenir and gift
shopping.
Wednesday
– 6/6/2018
We left
Wall about 10:30am. We stopped for fuel
and then started home. We took US Hwy
83. It’s a horribly rough road but a
beautiful drive! We stopped at Holiday
RV Park North Platte, Nebraska. The boys
slept most of the way! I think we wore them out!
Thursday
– 6/7/2018
We left at 10:30am again. That must be our time! We drove to McPherson, Kansas to stay at McPherson RV Ranch and
Horse Motel. We had stayed here before
and thought it was a really nice place. I
needed to make a Walmart run, so we ate at Freddies and went
shopping. I bought bread loaves number
17 & 18. Who knew boys could eat so
much? Next, was laundry and bed!
Friday
– 6/8/2018
Another 10:30am departure! After driving a while I noticed the AC wasn’t
on. I thought I just didn’t turn it on
when we left. After talking to Rick, we
remembered that we did. When we stopped
for lunch Rick checked and started it again.
Then it kicked off again! The
generator kept turning off. I am so glad
we were almost home. It was getting
really hot. We have dash air but that
doesn’t cool the back of this 36 foot rig!
The boys were real troopers. They
never complained once. When we got to Oklahoma City, we had stand still traffic due to
construction. Then stand still again in
Paul’s Valley. We stopped in Ardmore, Oklahoma at a brand new park called By the
Lake. This was a super nice park. I was glad the boys could go swimming.
Saturday
– 6/9/2018
Today we
left at 8:30. We were trying to
make it to Terrell to meet Trisha by noon so the boys wouldn’t get too
hot. Not to mention I think they were
ready to get home! We made it. I didn't even get a picture of them leaving! They jumped out of the camper and ran to their mom! Grandparents are great, but can never replace parents. I think they missed their parents just a bit. We drove home,
unpacked, and cleaned and washed the camper. It
goes into the shop pronto! Other than
the generator, it was a great trip! We are so fortunate to be able to travel with them. We never take that for granted!
