Now we're headed west

June 11 – Another long day!  We moved along when we got up today and dined only on cereal for breakfast so we could leave by 8:30.  We had forgotten that today we would cross another time zone and gain another hour!

 

Some of the scenery was beautiful today, rolling hills and eventually areas of The Badlands, with jagged rock rising about the green fields.  We stopped at one scenic point and you could see for miles as we were just up on a rise and you could see 360 degrees around.  It was a brisk day so I didn’t dilly dally!

We spent all but the last 40 minutes of the drive today on I-80.  Traffic was on the light side until we approached Wall City where the famous, Wall Drug is.  At least the streets are wide to the parking area for the

We traded in!

RVs.  The slots are narrow but we didn’t hit anyone and no one hit us!  Our timing was good and we opted to have lunch there.  We both ended up having a salad with grilled chicken.  We checked out the shops and there were tons of tourists.  Bill said he wanted to try on cowboy boots so we went to the boot shop and it took several tries to find a pair he could get into.  I think he needed shorter wider ones.  He had no

What every man needs...

intention of buying any but it never hurts to try them on. 

 

We checked out the smaller shops across the street then went 2 blocks down to the National Grasslands Visitor Center.  They had an excellent movie about how BLM, US Forestry and all Federal lands were enacted and how they and are working to maintain the grasslands and the wildlife that exists there.  The animal most close to extinction is the Black footed ferret.  They survive on the habitats of the prairie dogs.  The prairies are covered in prairie dogs.  They are cute little guys!  We enjoyed the exhibits and chatting with the ranger on duty. 

Just as we left the wind started kicking up and some rain was dripping.  We were in shorts and t-shirts so we boogied down 2 blocks under awnings and to the end of the block to cross over to the parking area.  Of course then it got worse the closer we got.  We managed to not get too wet!

We were back on the road as it stopped.  Good thing as we needed a fuel refill.  There was

Yes, these are roads

a Flying J not too far and it was still windy out but not wet so we got our DEF and diesel and 2 ice cream sandwiches for dessert/snack!  Yum!

That's the skinny muddy spot!

The weather continued to get worse with super hard rains and big wind gusts!  I was not liking it at all.  We drove through Rapid City, then past Sturgis and a bit further and it was time to exit I-80.   We had 17 miles to the campground.  Well, it’s not really a camp ground, it’s a small motel and has excellent reviews and 12-13 camp spaces.  The worst place we’ve stayed this summer!  There are 8-9 spaces that are all pretty level but appear to have long term people in them and then there are 4 spaces on an incline in the middle.  They had rain here so the bottom of the incline was VERY muddy and didn’t look too stable.  The spaces are so narrow we didn’t even put the slides out, just the closet slide.  I couldn’t just pull in due to the deep mud, so I circled and came at it from the other side which was better.  $40 plus tax, nothing like I expected so I’ve already written a nasty review.  I rarely do that but $20 and I would have sucked it up, but that is KOA pricing!

Bill and I both had some phone calls we needed to deal with and he made an appointment for when we get to Coeur D’Alene to have the chip in the front window repaired.  We wrote some post cards to post tomorrow and Bill read while I worked on photos for the blog.

I cooked a bag meal tonight of beef lo mien.  It was pretty tasty.  Later we had mug brownies with whipped cream for our dessert.

I’ve been trying to upload photos and hot spotting Bill’s phone but not making a lot of headway as I gather this is not an ATT area!  Bill turned on the satellite and we watched an old western.  Then he went back to his book and I have continued to struggle with the internet.

I hear the pitter patter of rain drops on the roof, hope it’s not an all nighter….