Sharp's Travels

The guys here at the Customer Service Center went right to work on our 5th wheel at 6:30 am. By 8:00 am they had the panel under the bedroom removed and the front cap pulled out. We couldn’t find any thing that may have caused what I thought was a problem. They did do some more reinforcing of the frame around the pin box. Then they installed the new awning. They had us ready to leave at 3:30 pm. We decided to spend the night here to give the caulking a chance to cure before we hit the road. Once again the Service Center did an excellent job. It makes a person feel good that we are a part of the Excel family.

Gay talked to Jack at the Excel factory regarding our 5th wheel. We can get it in to have them look at the hitch again on Thursday. We feel we have more problems with that.

We packed up and headed out of the campground around 10am. Our first stop was in Chadron, Nebraska for lunch around noon.

We traveled on the interstate in order to put as many miles behind us as possible. It was going to be a long day. My wild animal card had lots of entries today. We saw 54 deer grazing in the fields along the interstate. We also saw 6 or 7 turkeys. I didn’t think we would see any wildlife today.

We had a beautiful sunset tonight. Those are the only pictures we took today.

We arrived in Smith Center, KS at 9pm. We got set up and it will be an early morning. We will have to be out of the 5th wheel by 6:30am so they can begin working on it.

For pictures of the day see album: Black Hills to Smith Center 9-3-08

We met Greg & Jeanene at the camp office and were able to get some papers notarized at their cooperate office there. We needed to get that done before we left South Dakota. It all worked out well.
We headed north to Deadwood. We drove down through the main streets and headed just outside of town to the Kevin Costner Educational Center Tatanka. It depicts the relationship between the bison and Native Americans through interactive exhibits.

30 million bison once roamed the Great Plains of North America. By the close of the 19th century it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 of these animals survived.

The centerpiece of Tatanka is the larger-than-life bronze sculpture of 14 bison being pursued by three Lakota riders on horseback. It is a beautifully done exhibit. Well worth the visit.

We took the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway after leaving Deadwood. It was a pretty, winding road with high rock walls. We stopped at Roughlock Falls in Savory. We walked their pathways down to the overlook on the falls.

On down the road we went on up the dirt road that took us to the overlook tower at Terry Peack. It was a great day, we could see for miles up there.

My wild card today consisted of turkeys, deer and a coyote. That makes for a pretty good card!

We went back to Rockerville for supper tonight. Their Tuesday night special was hog wings. We got a variety plate so we could taste all the different kinds—honey barbeque, teriyaki, hot and medium. Everyone tried them all except for me. I just had honey barbeque. They were the BEST.

For pictures of the day see album: Black Hills 9-2-08

Greg & Jeanene picked us up at 8:15am. We headed for Sylvan Lake and hiked the trail all around the lake. It is so quiet and peaceful there. Not too hot, not too cold, just a perfect day for hiking.

We drove through Custer State Park. It is the second-largest state park in the United States. We visited the rock formation called the Needles. The rock has an eye in it like a needle. There are also 2 one way tunnels through the rocks. You have to blow your horn to announce you’re going through.

We took the wildlife loop road that winds through the buffalo range. Nearly 1,600 buffalo, one of the largest herds anywhere, roam free in the foothills of this 71,000 acre park. The buffalo herd is an impressive sight. The bulls can weigh up to 1,000 lbs. We came across 3 different herds. One buffalo was lying right in the road. We just drove on around him. There were plenty of babies in the herd. They all grazed right along the road.

We also saw some whitetail deer and lots and lots of pronghorn antelope.

The fields were full of prairie dog homes. They were racing around like crazy from one hole to another.

We exited the park at the south end and entered into Wind Cave National Park. There at Rankin Ridge we hiked up to the fire lookout at the top of the ridge. After all that we were starting to get hungry so we found a picnic area and set about making our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was nice just to sit and relax.

We wandered back into Custer State Park and once again took the wildlife loop road. There were more buffalo, antelope, deer and this time we found the wild burros. They were right there on the road begging for food. While one of them blocked traffic, his buddies would go car to car looking for a handout. There were lots of little ones in this herd. Their coloring sure was different.

We would our way back to the 5th wheel and I fixed hamburgers and grilling beans for us all. Everyone was real tired from all our travels today.

For pictures of the day see album: Black Hills 9-1-08

We moved sort of slow this morning. We are both tired. We were ready by 10am to go to the Picnic pavilion here in the park to hear Gospel singer Keenie Word. She put on a nice show.

Greg & Jeanene Peterson called about 11am and they had stopped for groceries and would be arriving soon. They are staying at a cabin here in the park. We visited with them all afternoon and then decided to go out to eat at Rockerville. It was a neat place, with displays of old cars. The food was great.

We had decided to go over to Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski , began blasting the mountain to create the Crazy Horse Monument in 1948. He worked on it until he died and then his children took over the project. It has a long way to go before completion. It is the world’s largest carving in progress. They have a beautiful museum there with thousands of rare artifacts and beautiful works of art. We stayed the laser-light show on the mountain surrounding the Crazy Horse carving. It was really neat.

We drove back around by Mt. Rushmore and we got to see the faces all lit up. We have been there 3 or 4 different times throughout the years.

Greg and Jeanene dropped us off at the 5th wheel. Time to call it a night.

For pictures of the day see album: Crazy Horse 8-31-08