Dickinson, Rapid city and The Slim Buttes

Aug 13, Saturday

A one night stop in Dickinson, North Dakota, at North Park Campground (it's really an RV park with a few tent sites on the side). Groceries, laundry, and of course, a quilt shop! The only shop in town, Dakota Sew and So, didn't have their license plates yet, so I ordered one. It will probably be waiting for me when I get home. Here's what it looks like.  Fabric collecting addicts will understand!

Aug 14 Sunday
Yeah! After traveling through miles rolling grassland and huge fields of sunflowers we passed over the South Dakota state line about 10 AM.

We're heading for Rapid City, to pick up a new Select Comfort bed, at the UPS Store, but can't pick it up until Monday.

So, where to stay for the night? Steve found us a fantastic, out of the way, really picturesque site. The Castles, in the Slim Buttes  up in the NW corner, near Reva Gap, and the camping is free!



We saw the "castles" first from the highway. No wonder they call these formations "castles"! They look mideval to be sure.

We took the road into the campground off the highway slowly, as it's gravel and a bit steep, and there were several horseback riders getting organized to set out for the day.

The road heads south and then loops around through the camping area. Some sites are carved back into dense trees, we choose an open space, and it worked out well. It was easy to navigate and we had great views in all directions.

We walked to the ridge just behind our site and discovered an amazing view. Quite a contrast to the grass and forest we stood in.

The castles themselves are sandstone, layered over multiple and varied color mud accumulations. Erosion has created the fantastic shapes - it's a photography wonderland!

We had the place to ourselves, so the dogs could go off leash, and we had great places to hike. I took the dogs down into the canyon and examined the formations a little more closely.

The seemingly smooth, rolling shapes at the bottom of the canyon are dissolved mud layers and while they look like piles of powder the texture is actually rather crispy, like the surface of a rice crispy cookie. Shiner didn't like it on her feet and would take alternate routes whenever she could.

There were plenty of clouds passing over to cool things off occasionally, but as evening approached the really dark ones moved in, along with the thunder and lightening. A bit of a sprinkle to settle the dust and then everything quieted down.

As we left The Castles the next morning we passed this monument. A sign described the event it marked, The Battle of Slim Buttes.

The short version of the history is this: The Battle of Slim Buttes was the first U.S. Army victory of the Great Sioux War of 1876 after George Armstrong Custer's defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25 and 26, 1876. There's more here.

Next stop: Rapid City to pick up the Select Comfort mattress we ordered in Great Falls, but couldn't do that until late afternoon. We got set up at the local Elk's Club, then ran errands and checked out a bit of the city.

Downtown Rapic City has a very urban feel to it. There are outdoor cafes, sculptures on the street corners, refurbished historic buildings, and a huge variety of eateries. Working on a theme established at nearby Mt. Rushmore, the statues are all of presidents. There are some really interesting poses, and as they are life-size it makes for a very impressive display.

Steve tried out Paddy O'Neills Pub for a local brew while I went around the corner to check out The Quilt Connection, where I picked up a license plate for South Dakota,

their Row-by-row pattern and some fabric. Perfect to commemorate our trip to this state don't you think?

We picked up the mattress at the UPS Customer Service office (which is only open from 4-6 PM) Rushed back to the trailer, opened up all the boxes inside the shipping container only to discover the salesman had ordered the wrong item. SO, Steve spent the afternoon on the phone making arrangements for replacement.

We felt it was time for a bit of relaxation after all the hassle, so went into the Elk's for a drink and a light dinner. Nice folks. Spent the evening chatting with members, another traveling couple (who were having such trouble with their coach repairs it made our mattress issue seem really minor) and the bartender. This particular club has a golf course, which pretty much surrounds the facility, and it makes for some very nice scenery, for a city RV situation.

When the email receipt for the replacements arrived, the parts ordered were the wrong size. Do you ever get the feeling something is just not supposed to happen?  The next day we made arrangements to ship the whole thing back, cancel the order, and start over when we get home. Done with that!

The Castles photo album is here for more great angles of the formations.

Across Arizona

As we expected we bucked a headwind all across Arizona. The saguaro and teddy bear cholla cactus sprout here and there between the blooming palo verde - what a beautiful landscape. I love the mountains in the distance too. In this part of Arizona they form interesting peaks and crags, and with the changing shadows there's real variety in the landscape. We're a little short on real mountains in our part of Texas, so it's a nice contrast to our rolling "hills".

All too soon we were thrown into the race of the big city.... plowing through traffic and dodging cars. We finally reached our destination, the Elk's Lodge in Garden Grove in early afternoon on Sunday.

We've stayed here before, and though the actual parking spots aren't exactly luxurious - they're just blacktop - our space is larger than the one we had at the state park on the beach a few years ago.

A real benefit of stay here is their nice little park where we can take Shiner for walks.

Off to one side of the park the lodge members are constructing a memorial to members of the military. It's still under construction, but so far nicely done.

memorial in the Elks Lodge park

We're close to Steve's parents here, another bonus, and there are always a few Elk members around to chat with. This is an active club, with events scheduled almost every night.


As much as we prefer the rural life, we don't have too much trouble shifting gears, and we looked as this trip as an opportunity to introduce Shiner to a wide variety of experiences. She's met more new people, new dogs, and new sounds in the last couple of days, and who knows  how many new aromas her sensitive little nose has picked up. We needed to find a place where she could run off leash, so we checked out Arbor dog park, just a short drive from Leisure World (where the folks live). The park is pretty nice! It was a bit of a challenge to find, just off Lampson behind the Department of Fish and Wildlife offices. On the first visit Shiner was the classic new kid on the playground, head down, tail between her legs, when two young huskies ran over and greeted her politely, then helped her chase her ball. Though she didn't do a lot of mingling with the other dogs, she did relax and had a great time playing fetch.

One of Shiner's new friends at the park was a Brittany Spaniel named Toby. . . Toby Tornado actually. His owner filled us in on Toby's story. Toby was already scheduled to be adopted by the gentleman we were talking with, and was living with a foster family in Oklahoma when a tornado struck, pulling him out of the house through a skylight. He wandered loose for several days and all concerned had given him up for lost when he was found and taken to a rescue shelter in Dallas, TX. Once all the connections were made with his adoptive parent, Toby was scheduled to be crated and shipped to him out here in California, but a stewardess who had worked with the adoption agency heard about the situation and decided to improve on the travel plans. She went back to Dallas, put a service jacket on Toby, and he flew all the way to his new home in the cabin with the passengers. After all he'd been through I think he deserved a relaxing trip! He's about three years old and seems to be adjusting well to his new home, in spite of his adventure in Oklahoma. Dogs are amazingly resilient creatures, and the gentleman who adopted him has had several Brittanies and seems very attuned to his needs, so I think he went to the perfect home.

Tuesday afternoon we picked Kendra and Jaxen up at the airport. Her bag had gotten lost somewhere along the way, but they managed to find it and deliver it in a couple of hours so the crisis was minor. We spent the evening with family, then tucked the sleepy little guy in for what we hoped would be a long night's rest.

A new friend

 The following day we headed for the dog park again. This time with Kendra and Jax. He loves dogs, spent an hour in his stroller watching the show as dogs ran and played chase. One of Jax's new friends was a four month old puppy wo is being trained as a service dog for a lady who uses a wheel chair, and he seemed to take quite a shine to the stroller as it is so similar to the wheelchair he's used to.

The dog park has turned out to be best entertainment for Shiner and Jax too!

Today we're off again, this time for two days in Palm Desert.

So Cal visit

In sharp contrast to the mad dash down the freeway, Leisure World, where Steve's parents live, is an oasis of calm. All the residents are over 55, so it's not surprising that things move at a slower pace. Aside from that, the whole community is secure, with gated entrances, and all the homes are clustered around large park-like spaces. Squirrels and cottontails bounce around in the flowerbeds, which gives Molly something to think about, and each apartment has a small garden area in front that many residents fill with roses, geraniums, succulents, or whatever their fancy dictates - which gives me something to think about.

The weather in Seal Beach is mild, and this time of year is great for outdoor BBQ's, so we did plenty of that while visiting family in the area. When Monday arrived it was time to hit the road. We never know how bad the traffic will be, so we didn't plan for many miles. As it turned out we had a nice, uneventful trip east to Indio, where we stopped at the Elks' lodge. Perfect timing.... Monday is taco night! Can't turn that down! This is the "off season" in Indio, as it's HOT, so we had our pick of the RV lot. We decided on a spot right next to the little grassy lime tree orchard in the middle of the RV area. The grass and trees made for a nice patio.

Next stop, somewhere near Prescott, Arizona.

Boulder City, Nevada

Boulder City, Nevada. This town, about 20 miles from Las Vegas, came into being as Hoover dam was being built, to support the workers and provide the support services that were needed. My dad helped build this dam, so I feel a sort of connection to it.

We pulled in to the Boulder City Elks Club right around lunch time today. We got the rig set up, then went in to have a cold one and pay our rent.  And, the beer was REALLY cold. The compressor went out on their beer cooler so they had to ice down the keg. Word got out to the members that the beer was even colder than usual.... they all mentioned it as they drifted in. 'Friendly folks. We got to chatting with the RV park host and hostess.... she's pulling bartender duty today too. Deb and Colin are from Oregon too, right up the valley from where we lived, just south of Lebanon. They moved away from Oregon several years ago and have been out here in the desert ever since. Small world!

As we talked with our hosts we learned some of the history of the place. The club is housed in a building that was once the Boulder City airport. One site on Boulder City history states "the terminal was dedicated May 20, 1938. It was a beautiful building: the waiting room had open beams in the ceiling and a large wood-burning fireplace; there was a radio room, ticket office, and office for airport manager..." Here's an historic photo of the airport building  The Elks bought the building in 1958 when it was retired from airport duty. The parking lot and RV lot are where the airplanes are in the photo.   Photos of the club room and bar show the original interior architecture. Heavy ceiling beams seen in the photo of the interior of the "lounge in the clubroom" at the above link are also seen in a photo they have on the back wall of the lounge showing the airport when it was in use. The back side of the bar was originally the ticket window, and those small windows are still in place. They really have done a nice job of maintainingthe facility and they also have quite a few activities scheduled. We won't be around long enough this time to participate, but this is definitely a lodge we'll visit again.

Last night we stayed at "Blake Ranch RV Park and Horse Motel". The Ranch is a really nice park. Very clean and well maintained overall. The staff are friendly and helpful, and the little convenience store offers pretty much anything you'd need. Landscaping includes some nice cactus beds, many were blooming and the effect was very pretty. Molly had a bit of a problem with this stop, however. Doggies here are expected to visit the very tidy little fenced areas to do what dogs do.... and she just doesn't quite know how to behave in a 20 x 30 fenced in spot with nothing to sniff. We each took her to the "dog park" and sat on the available bench to wait for her to perform..... she looked around and then came over and sat down next to the bench. Give that dog a bush to sniff and she's happy, but this just didn't make any sense to her.