Top of the Rockies Scenic By-way and Leadville, Colorado

Wednesday, August 16

What a beautiful day for driving. We woke up to the sunniest morning we'd had in several days (of course, now that all the photos have been take under clouds!)

We departed Rifle Gap State Park and wandered through the back scenic country. Beautiful ranches and smaller holdings all scattered across green pastures lined the roads. What a contrast to the sagebrush and rock formations we had driven through for the last two days.

Red Cliff Bridge

We continued on, eventually ending up on the Top of the Rockies Scenic By-way. We climbed in elevation until we hit the 9,000 foot zone, enjoying many glimpses of the road we'd just been on as it looped back and forth up the mountain.

Railroad tracks, remnants of mining activity in days past, including a mine and home for the employees. and few cabins scattered across the valley floor and on the slopes give scale to show how steep the mountains are in this area.

The gorgeous snow capped mountains in the distance provide a visual contrast and reminded us that it's going to be chilly up here on top of the Rockies!


It proved so when we stopped onTennessee Pass to take a stretch. The wind was biting, and this is August! We could only imagine what it must be like in winter. We soon discovered there were several military memorials to explore, and it seems they are here because the climate in this area was essential to their training.

One is the memorial to the 10th Mountain Division. After seeing Finnish troops overcome Russian forces in 1939 the head of the National Ski Patrol began pressuring the War Department to form a similar unit. There's an excellent summary of the history of the little known 10th Mountain Division, on the National WWII Museum website.

Another, the Norwegian Monument, provides the history of the formation of the battalion known as the "Viking Battalion" and a summary of their accomplishments and importance during WWII. The 99th infantry Battalion (Separate) was activated at Camp Ripley, Minnesota on August 15, 1942 as per written instructions by the War Department.

This unique elite unit was to consist only of Norwegians and Americans with direct Norwegian descent. Soldiers picked out for this elite unit had to have a working knowledge of the Norwegian language and preferably already knowing how to ski. The link at the beginning of this paragraph takes you to the official website and has the full history.

For the next two days well be staying in Molly Brown campground, near Leadville. Named for the famous "Unsinkable Molly Brown", it's a nod to the mining history in the area.

The other campgrounds in the area are also named for local historic characters. Baby Doe and Silver Dollar are right next to us. The Wikipedia article on Leadville does an excellent job of covering the history of the area, as well as many of the famous personalities, so I won't try to repeat all that here.

Our campsite is spacious, and surrounded by pine trees. It's only a short hike to Turquoise lake, so after getting set up the pups had an outing, but no swim as the air and the water this time of day are chilly.

Thursday

I was 29 degrees this morning. . . wow, are we ever going to have a hard time adjusting to Texas temperatures!

Today is tour Leadville day. No particular destination or shopping list in mind, except of course, a quilt shop. There's only one in town, Mountain Top Quilts, and it is a hybrid antique and quilt shop - quite fun to rummage around in!

There are books, handcraft related as well as western history and a few kids books, yardage (short cuts and folds) kits, yarn, completed quilts - some new and some vintage, vintage clothing, glassware, and.... well, you get the idea. Lots of fun to browse.

Leadville has done a fine job of retaining and promoting their mining history while also accommodating more modern tourist interests such as the winter sports, craft brewing, and antique collecting. Main street sports several original buildings with the old fashioned plaster and brick facades and some very interesting murals, and  many of the side streets are a wealth of beautifully restored little Victorian frame houses.

The setting is beautiful, with the snow capped mountains behind the church spires and ornate building roofs, and we actually had a bit of sun to show of the beautiful clouds. Those clouds seem to come and go quickly here, and with a "high" in the 50's it cools off quickly when the sun disappears.

After the quilt shop we stopped at the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. Oh my goodness, what an amazing collection of fantastic mineral samples, mining equipment, dioramas explaining gold mining history, life size scenes depicting coal and hard rock mining, famous people in the industry - wow! This is a stop worth making for those at all interested in the history of mining and children will get a lot out of it too, as there are hands on activities, videos, and the dioramas and scenes clearly explain the processes and history. The facility houses four stories of exhibits and photographs, as well as a research library. We only made it through two floors before our brains were full, and our tummies empty.

Soaking up all that history and information made us hungry, so we asked for recommendations and decided on the Golden Burro. Good food and reasonable for where we are. Steve had the best tamale he's had in a long time, and my burger was good too. The place has been in business for 75 years, so they must have something going for them.

Back at camp the dogs were anxious for a romp, so into the woods we went. We had a nice leisurely walk down to Turquoise Lake for a short but enthusiastic swim session - it's never long enough to suit the dogs, though.

And we take one last look at the lake before we head back to camp to begin the packing up.
We depart in the morning for Trinidad State Park.

Park City, UT - Jordanelle State Park

We've stayed at Jordanelle State Park three times in the past (the 2013 post includes links to the other two visits), as it's a convenient base to visit family in Park City. The lake looks quite different this year than it did during our last visit in 2013 - there's water in it now! Well, it wasn't totally dry before, but really low, and it's really up to reasonable levels now.

You can tell by all the sailboats and paddle boards (out there in the distance) that everyone is really enjoying it too. They tie up in the evenings close to shore, but during the day they are all way out on the water.

It's a busy park and reservations are definately recommended. . . but don't choose site 98 (Hailstone Campground, Wasatch Loop), as we did, unless you are up for imitating a mountain goat.

The park is basically situated on sloping ground and we decided this is probably the most un-level site in the park!

The good thing about the site location is that it's right across the road from the "day use" area, where dogs are allowed off-leash, and in the water. Most of the shoreline is off limits for the canine set.

We've had beautiful weather here. It was a bit smokey when we arrived, but after a brief shower the first evening the air cleared.

The lake is surrounded by hills and the view is very pretty. The huge thunderheads that build in the afternoon really add to the view. They sometimes evolve into thunderstorms but there's not been enough rain to cause a problem.

One of our first chores upon arrival was to get the truck checked out for an error message that cropped up pulling the grade into park city (Karl Malone Dodge dealership in Heber City was great!)

We had a really nice 3-day visit with sister Diana. Here we're getting ready to tuck into plates full of Steve's world famous BBQ'd meat loaf.

And.... surprise! I even found time to visit a quilt shop! The woman who owns Davidene's Quilt Shop is very fond of moose as an overall theme, and she's designed several quilt patterns featuring the lovable but lumpy creatures.

The canine portion of our group got to swim in the lake twice, so I'm sure they count it as a successful stay too.

Now, we're heading to Flaming Gorge!

LaGrande and Wallowa State Park

June 29-30  La Grande, Oregon

A prosperous looking little town, La Grande has a long history. The first permanent settler was in 1861. There's been a lot of history here since then. The influence of cattle ranching is seen in the really wide streets - nice if you're towing or driving a big RV!

Grande Hot Springs RV park is home base - a new name for the park we stayed in last time. They've added a few new features since we were here last, including an additional laundry facility.
Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area is right across the road, and there's a canal running across the back side of the RV park, so it's a good location for bird watchers.

This is another of those quick stops, laundry, shopping, any needed repairs, and then on to four days at Wallowa State Park.

I could only identify one quilt shop in town, so paid them a brief visit when we ran a couple of errands. The shop in is the older downtown part of LaGrand, and while we weren't really in the market for shopping or browsing at the moment, there are a lot of attractive little specialty shops in the area. The La Grande Quilt Shop has a nice range of fabrics, but my space is limited so I only picked up a few interesting fat quarters.


We visited LaGrande in 2011 for trailer a trailer repair, as the Arctic Fox factory is here. We had no major repairs needed this time, but did develop a problem.

One afternoon we noticed we had no water on the hot water side of all the faucets. A bit of research and a lot of crawling around in tight spaces revealed the problem. It was Sunday, of course, so no parts were available, but as it turns out, we don't really need to replaced the valve. It's unnecessary unless you are planning to use antifreeze in winterizing the water system, which we never do. Problem solved!

Not much has changed in the area since our last visit except the name changes. Our comments on the interesting features of the hotel (now called Hot Springs Lake B&B) and the RV park (now called Grande Hot Springs RV Park) at that came are in this post.


July 31- August 3    Wallowa Lake State Park

They call the Wallowa Mountains the Little Alps, and you can see why.

First views of the mountain range from the highway are breathtaking, and in spite of the hot weather there are still little patches of snow here and there on the mountain peaks.

Steve has had Wallowa Lake State Park on his bucket list for a long time, and we finally made it! . . and it was a close call! When making reservations months ago he found it was already booked up, but put his name on the wait list. A short time before we left Texas he received an email message saying they'd had a cancellation, so he snapped it up.

Considering we had no choice in the matter, we got lucky and really have a great site. It's on an end, so our sitting area is much more spacious than most, and we are only a few steps from the entrance to the nature trail, which is handy for the dogs.

This park is huge ( 209 sites) , and very densely populated ..... the complete opposite of Clyde Holiday.

They've done a great job of working in around huge fir trees though, so there's a lot of shade.

We've never seen such a busy campground! All day and into the evening people there are wandering around, adults talking in groups, kids riding bikes (we've seen some pretty amazing bike helmets), young parents chasing their toddlers, people walking dogs (it seems everyone has at least one dog) and two enterprising young men made several firewood deliveries, pushing the little firewood carts while riding their skateboards. Now THAT was entertaining!

The park has a small but adequate off-leash dog area down by the marina, and it works well for the evening ball games. We also went swimming at one of the day use boat ramp areas. Otherwise, life is fairly restricted for the canine set.

Views of this beautiful lake can be had from the highway and the shore, but the campground isn't really situated in a way to afford that kind of scenery. This is where a boat would be handy, but we've given up hauling our canoes. We enjoyed several short excursions around the park to explore the little trails and views of the lake, and to play ball with the pups of course!


The little town of Joseph is just north of the state park, and the closest place for groceries and other services. Joseph is a beautiful town with a long history. It was established as far back as 1883. Originally a ranching and logging community, the town has now evolved into an art colony and tourism center. Summer visitors come for the beautiful views, fall visitors for the hunting, and winter for the snow sports. If you want to shop the galleries gift shops and eateries, you can do that year round too. And of course, there's a quilt shop!

Cattle Country Quilts didn't disappoint. They have some wonderful fabrics that really fit with the themes of the area. I couldn't resist a winter themed piece, and a license plate of course!

We stopped in to the local museum and chatted with their docents who are well versed in the history and family names. They can fill you in on all the artifacts displayed there, as well as Nez Perce tribe history, and anything else you want to know about the area.

Main street is an art walk every day, featuring several bronzes from local artists, cast in the city's foundry. We had lunch in an outdoor restaurant and really enjoyed the views.

The photo album includes larger versions of each sculpture

We also stopped at Old Chief Joseph's cemetery on the way back to camp. There's so much to do and explore here it's hard to fit it all in.

Wednesday we took the Wallowa Mountain Loop to the Hells Canyon Overlook

Photos of these huge mountains and steep valleys covered with trees just wouldn't convey the real message, so I didn't even try. What we did notice as unusual was the extremely tall snags standing far above the obviously younger, and very dense, fir trees.

Checking later I found this is the result of the Canal Fire, where a lightning-caused fire burned 23,000 acres in 1989. The younger trees (28 years since the fire) are so dense that they really need to be thinned, and there are discussions about how to go about that now.

We really enjoyed the drive to Hells Canyon Overlook. It's another one of those amazing, overwhelming scenic views. It's so large it's difficult to convey, a little like the Grand Canyon, and the smoke from forest fires was beginning to creep in.

We really enjoyed the drive, stopping along the way to admire several of the creeks that crisscross the road, visiting the fish weir, and stopping for lunch at a small fishing pond. The dogs seem to enjoy the scenery from the truck as well as getting out to explore each time we stop.

On our last day we drove north to the town of Wallowa to visit the Nez Perce Homeland Interpretive Center. The project office is in an unpretentious little building directly across from the post office, and we almost missed it. The displays aren't extensive, but there are some beautiful artifacts, excellent maps and explanatory displays, and the office is staffed by an enthusiastic and very knowledgeable young woman. The office will provide you with a brochure that includes a map to the nearby Homelands project, where you can walk a trail with interpretive markers along the Wallowa River, visit the dance arbor and longhouse, and enjoy some very special views of the Nez Perce homelands.

We've followed the Nez Perce trail in bits and pieces, starting at the end and now, we've worked our way to the beginning, so we've completed the route. If you are interested in Native American history this is a worthwhile side trip.

On the way back to camp we stopped in to take a look at Wallowa Lake Lodge, which is located right before the entrance to the campground. The lodge was built in 1923, and was really thriving when our daughter's choir performed there (many years ago!) but apparently was about to go under when a small group of investors gathered together to rescue it in 2015. It would have been so sad to see the lodge close. It's a wonderful example of the classic lodge style, beautifully maintained, and exemplifies the gracious feel of the older park lodges throughout the west.

Reception area and main lounge

I said at the beginning the views of the mountains here are amazing, and they really are. Unfortunately, fires in the area began pushing smoke in, and by our third day the mountains were barely visible. I'm glad I didn't wait to take photos. This was taken the morning of the third day, and the smoke got progressively worse. 

Smoke over Wallowa Lake

We really enjoyed our time here, but now we're packing up and heading for a few days in Utah!

Photo Album here 

For the quilters among us

Here's a post for the quilters out there. I haven't been including the shopping stops along the way so thought it was time to put that all together and share the fun I've had!

I usually browse shops and pick up a piece or two of fabric that I just can't resist, and of course, one of the fun fabric license plates. I've collected several of the row-by-row patterns in the past, but so far this year I haven't run into any I felt drawn to.

I decided on a different approach to the fabric buying for this year. I purchased a yard of a fabric called Rancho Toile several years ago. I pull it out often, look at it, can't decide what to do with it, then put it away again. I decided it was time to move ahead with something, even it it's wrong!

First, I narrowed the project down to two patterns that would allow me to use large sections of the print, so as not to destroy the scenes.

Then, I packed up my little chunk of fabric and hauled it from one store to another, comparing colors, visual textures, and chatting with the shopkeepers about my project and getting their suggestions. Gradually a vision emerged. . . we'll see if I like it when I'm done. Ideally, this will be the learning project when I take a long-arm quilting class this winter.

On to the quilt shops!  First stop . . . . . . .



Rapid City, SD
I stopped at the Quilt Connection last year too, so I didn't pick up another license plate this year.

I remembered that they have a great range of fabrics and thought this might be a good place to start my search.

Success! I was able to pick up the first of several fabrics I need for this year's on-the-road project.  I'm calling it the Texas Rancho quilt.  I especially love that blue, which is from Moda's River Journey collection. It looks like birch bark.



Sturgis, SD
We're not so much into motorcycles, but one has to visit the world famous Sturgis if you're in the area. We took a drive around town and then looked up the quilt shop. Fabric Junction is a fairly small shop, square footage wise, but it's filled to the brim with fabric.

There are of course motorcycle theme fabrics, but they have everything else too, including flannels. I picked up another blue (a small star, Civil War style print) and a plaid to work into the project, as well as a western novelty print.    



Sheridan, WY
Quilter's Fix

I had high hopes for this shop, as Wyoming is true cowboy country, but the shop didn't meet my expectations by a long shot. I was able to pick up a gold check that works with the project, so the trip was successful, and I got their license plate too.

They have a minimal range of fabrics, and mostly not up my alley, but the frustrating thing was they don't have much online presence, making it difficult to know ahead of time what they have to offer. Their web site is out of date and not much going on with FB but the shop is definately open and worth a look. "Fabric Touching" hours are noted on their Facebook page


Livingston, MT
Back Porch Quilts

Now here is a quilt shop with personality!
It's located in a small strip mall that's designed to look like the old time western buildings. They carry a huge range of fabrics as well as yarn with a few embroidery supplies as a bonus. I picked up a fat quarter, some thread and a placemat pattern that I can't wait to show to my friend Chris, as it's similar to her "magic potholder" pattern.

The shop has a great selection of western and wildlife/outdoor fabrics, as well as juveniles, etc. and they have all of it online. It's a good thing we are limited on space and weight or I might have been tempted to "over collect" in this shop!


Rexburg, ID
Porters Craft and Frame
   
Wow, I've never seen such a huge craft store! It literally takes up an entire block! The building in historic downtown Rexburg was home to several businesses at one time, now each of the spaces is occupied by the various craft departments, including a really nice fabric/quilting section. Definitely worth a stop if you're a crafter of any type.

I browsed the the downstairs sale room and picked up a half-price template, then went upstairs to the main fabric department for the licence plate and bit of blue fabric that may or may not make it into the Rancho quilt. It's called Horsehoe Trail, so too bad I didn't have it earlier as the name really fits! I also purchased a yard of this year's row-by-row print. It's just too cute to pass up and may work out with all the license plates I've been collecting.


So what's been happening on the quilt  project so far?


The pattern I finally settled on has large blocks, alternating with pieced blocks (Baker Street, by Daphne Greig).

The quilt pattern has 9 inch blocks. I redrafted it to 10 inch blocks, which fits well with the repeat of the print and left almost no waste. I also replaced the checkerboard with pinwheels.

The finished quilt will be for our bed here in the RV, and I can adjust the finished size with the boarders to make it fit the area properly.

Here's how I set up in the RV- the padded area around the slide-out becomes my mini-design wall. Here are the first two rows, up for review.

Ooops! I did fix that upside down block.

Once four rows were sewn together I had to take it down as it was becoming somewhat invasive.

Working in such tight quarters can be challenging, and as the project grows the pressing and aligning become more difficult, so the boarders may have to wait until we get home. This project will truly be a souvenir of this summer's trip, and some of the scraps will probably find their way into the Civil War quilt I've started with fabrics I picked up last summer.

Here's what I have so far. There are another three rows to be added, those will repeat the first three already assembled. and then I have to calculate wide borders, as the original pattern isn't big enough for the bed. That will be another creative adventure!

the first four rows, assembled

I'll be sampling shops on the way home too, so no telling what fabrics and inspiration I'll find along the way!!

Heading for Home

The trees are turning toward fall colors, the days are cooling a bit, and the shadows are definately getting longer. We've been on the road since early June and are ready to get "back to the ranch", so to speak. Our next few days will be pretty much driving a direct line home, with few stops. We generally only do about 200 miles a day, even under these circumstances, but we won't be doing much sightseeing. The biggest challenge under these conditions is getting enough exercise for the dogs. Fortunately they like looking out the window too, and just getting in and out of the truck takes a good long jump, so they won't be too rusty by the time we get home.

Tuesday, September 6
We left Beatrice, Nebraska, a few minutes after 9 this morning, Kansas bound, bucking gusty head-winds all the way. The scenery is pretty much what we'd experienced the day before. . . farm fields of corn, soy beans, and occasionally sunflowers, and acre sand acres of perfectly mown grass. In one tidy little town after another, everyone has a HUGE front yard, and it's always freshly mowed. We've decided the farmers must be frustrated mid-season that they aren't riding their tractors, so they mow the grass . . . every other day by the look of it.

It only took about an hour to make the Kansas border, and then we made a brief stop in the little town of Winfield so I could visit Field of Fabric, a quilt shop (surprise!). I'm trying to get one of the little fabric license plates from each state we visit, and this shop fit nicely in our route.

Winfield is typical of so many of the towns we've gone through, with beautiful ornate brick buildings and other historic structures in their downtown area. I'd love to do a walking tour in some of these older downtowns.

I got the license plate and a few pieces of fabric for a quilt I've been planning for several years (and not a stitch sewn yet!),and we were off. Sort of a fly-by shopping experience.

Our stop for the evening is El Dorado State Park, just outside El Dorado Kansas. The Corp of Engineers developed the dam and reservoir, but the camping etc. is now managed by the Kansas State Park system. We selected a site in Big Oak loop, as this area of the park has the most trees, and with the heat climbing we wanted shade, and power for the air conditioning. Campsites in many sections of the park have no services.

We hate to make disparaging comments about parks, but this one needs help. Considering the price ($27, $5 to get into the park, and then $22 for the site for electric and water, no sewer) the place is woefully neglected and sad looking. Many of the gravel parking pads are very unlevel, and in many cases the gravel has sunk into the mud and is barely visible; the fire rings are rusted out, and the most frustrating thing for us, the registration system is very confusing!! They have a strange system of pricing things which isn't clear, and where/how/who to pay isn't clear as you get a different answer from everyone you ask.

At any rate, we did find an adequately long, level spot, in the shade. The host showed up around 6 PMso we registered with him. 'Turns out, he had been working in Eugene at the time we lived there! He's a radio engineer, and moved here recently - working for I Heart Radio.

One component to the pricing/quality situation here, I'm sure, is that there aren't a lot of other options in the area. We basically had the campground to ourselves for the evening so the crowds definately "thin" after Labor Day.

Tomorrow, it's on to Oklahoma!

Wednesday, Sept. 7
The morning sky was cloudy, though it was hard to tell with such deep shade from the trees. 'Still warm, but definately more comfortable than yesterday.  We departed early and made it into Oklahoma by 9:30, pausing again to visit a little shop in Stillwater.

At the the Sew and Sews shop I picked up their Row-by-row pattern, which has a military theme, and their license plate of course. The theme of the Row-by-row pattern designs this year is "Home Sweet Home" and it's been interesting to see the various interpretations.  The purchases all securely stashed in the rig, we proceeded south, down hwy. 77 and then 177 south to our home for the evening.

Much of this part of Oklahoma reminds me of hill country in Texas. Rolling limestone covered with trees and grass. It seems strange that it's all so green this late in the summer, but late rains have rejuvenated the plant life everywhere. You can see new growth in grassy patches that had been scorched by roadside fires earlier this summer.  There are even wildflowers along the road. It looks like early summer!

Our destination today, the little town of Purcell. Steve had found a little city park in Purcell with RV spaces mentioned in one of his many online database resources.


Upon arrival we found the spaces all occupied with folks that obviously had been fairly permanently settled it.

Steve checked at the golf course, where they manage the sites, and they said we could park on the grassy area just below the other sites. There was electricity available for the air conditioning, so that's all we needed. Bingo!

This really worked out better than one of the other sites would have, as the dogs had lots of grass and there weren't any close neighbors for them to bother. The really enjoyed a dip in the little lake, and then we all relaxed for the evening and enjoyed the grass and the view.

Thursday, Sept. 8
Another quilt shop is on the top of the list. I found this one listed in the Row-by-row participants and it seemed just too interesting to pass up. We planned our departure from Purcell so we reached the shop in Ardmore, Oklahoma, just as it was opening. The shop, Key Grocery and Quilts , is located in what used to be a grocery store, but now has very minimal food items, and is primarily quilting fabric and related items. They have a few garden seeds and some tools, and a few other items. It's a very interesting place, with lots of nooks and corners to investigate.

I picked up the license plate, of course, and some interesting fabric designed to be used like the currently popular adult coloring books.

The shop owner, Alicia Keys, was very generous with her information about how the technique works, and showed me a few examples. I can't wait to try it!

The little shop is housed in a building that used to also be a feed store, and the outside wall still carries the painted sign. A block away is the Ardmore train depot, which is in beautiful shape. The town has many beautiful old brick buildings, and clearly a lot of history. 

From Ardmore it was a straight shot to our destination for the evening, Waco  Lake, a Corp of Engineers Campground. We stayed here a couple of years ago with friends and loved it. The campground we stayed in then has been flooded out, due to the heavy rains last year, so we're on the other side of the lake.  

The dogs went for a swim as soon as we had made camp. It was in the 90's and after being in an air conditioned vehicle all day the heat really hit them once they were outside. I'm sure the water felt good.  Our site is mere steps away from the edge of the lake, so we had a perfect view. 

  

Everyone took a brief afternoon nap, and then after dinner we sat outside and watched a heron fish at the edge of the lake. He had company, there were several fireflies flitting about. I couldn't believe it, but Steve had seen some in Kansas too. The late summer rains have really benefited the little critters. 

In the morning we'll be heading home, so this is the last stop for this summer's adventures. We'll be posting any local travels over the fall and winter here too, so stay tuned!

more pics in the album

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.