Tag Archives: Badlands

Changing Domicile (America’s Mailbox, Box Elder SD)

2015/07/18 davidhobden@mac.com

I told you in my last post from Wednesday that we were just going to relax at the Badlands Interior Campground and that’s exactly what we did. It was also our 32nd wedding anniversary so we just spent time together.

DAVID_STILLA_3_ — David & Stilla (15 July 1983)

But first, we said goodbye to my Dad and stepmom Elaine…

They’re heading back to Hermosa for a night and then on back home to Colorado Springs.

Dad pulling the coach over to the dump station under Elaine’s watchful eye.

Bye Dad and Elaine… safe travels! We’ll see you in a little less than a month when we go back to drop the grandson off with our oldest daughter before school starts.

Dad & Elaine leaving Badlands Interior Campground.

After we said goodbye to my Dad & Elaine, we hung out at our campsite…

and at the pool…

It was a great day of just hanging out. Happy Anniversary to my dear wife Stilla – thanks for putting up with me for 32 years! Hopefully there will be another 32 🙂

On Thursday, we packed up and went to the dump station to take care of business…

then we departed the Badlands Interior Campground…

and looked back one last time on the Badlands because we headed southwest on Hwy 44 instead of going through the park again…

Our destination for the day was Americas Mailbox located just east of Rapid City in Box Elder, SD. Travel distance for the day was about 75 miles.

Click HERE for information on Americas Mailbox.

Main Office for Americas Mailbox in Box Elder, SD.

We pulled in and went to the office to get one of their nineteen full hook-up RV sites behind the building. And guess what? Another Alpine is here! Larry and Lorna Kenney from Phoenix! It turns out we were in Quartzsite together in January for the Alpine Coach “Desert Rat Rally”. The sites here are a little over $30 per night. We paid for two nights and were able to park next to Larry & Lorna.

Parked next to Larry & Lorna Kenney at Americas Mailbox in Box Elder SD.

Inside the office, we were greeted by a very kind receptionist, who linked us up with a representative named Carla. She sat down with us and explained the different mail forwarding service “Home Base” plans and talked us through the procedures of getting drivers licenses and changing license plates.

Inside the Main Office for Americas Mailbox in Box Elder, SD.

She was very helpful and with her input we decided to take the Bronze Plan for our mail forwarding service. This is their least expensive plan (click HERE for more info) and should meet our needs since all of our bills and statements are online. We can always upgrade later if needed. The little bit of mail that we still get is currently going to our youngest daughter’s address and consists primarily of junk mail.

We made plans to visit the DMV for new licenses tomorrow (Friday), but I’ll write more about that in my next post. And with Carla’s input, we decided to wait on registering the vehicles since the Coach and the Harley were just renewed in May. Carla said it’s very common for people to wait until their vehicles are due for renewal… which makes sense – since we already paid Colorado… why should we throw that money away to renew in South Dakota right away, right? If questioned by law enforcement about why we have SD licenses but CO plates, we simply tell them the truth and say we’re in the process of moving. Carla made copies of our vehicle(s) initial purchase information, titles, taxes paid, etc., so all we have to do is make a call to Americas Mailbox and they will register our vehicles and send our plates to us. (for a $30 fee). I might still go ahead and register the Silverado though, since it’s due in November. But I’ll wait until Monday to decide.

Cool picture hanging in the ‘Americas Mailbox’ lobby.

After taking care of the paperwork in the office, it was already late, so we drove over to a nearby TGI Fridays for dinner. When we got back from dinner, I spent some time sitting outside with an adult beverage talking to Larry about Alpines… and of course we compared this-and-that on our Coaches, talked mods and issues, etc., which is just what us Alpine Coach drivers do 🙂 It’s a small RV world after all.

And that’s all for now… I know I’m behind but I have lots of pictures for my next post because on Friday we took our grandson to Storybook Island in Rapid City after getting our drivers licenses and then we drove back up I-90 to tour around Sturgis.

Saturday (today) we moved over to Ellsworth AFB to take advantage of their cheaper rates at the FamCamp. So check back in for more on all that…

South Dakota

Touring the Badlands (Badlands Interior Campground, SD)

2015/07/15 davidhobden@mac.com

The temperature Tuesday was in the high 80’s and low 90’s, but it felt like the 100’s. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun was merciless. Our mission for the day was to tour the entire Badlands Loop.

Our campground; “Badlands Interior Campground” is located just outside the south entrance to the park and just north of the small town of Interior. We took advantage of the small breakfast menu they served here at the campground office; pancakes, french toast, biscuits & gravy, and really good sausage links.

While we were near the office, Stilla, Kaan, and I paid to stay here for one more day. My Dad & Elaine plan on leaving us Wednesday to start heading back towards Colorado Springs. They will go back to the last campground we were at in Hermosa for one more night to meet up with Biff & Linda who are still there, and then move on from there. We’re still not sure where we’ll head to next, but that’s the fun of full-timing.

Our view Tuesday morning at the Badlands Interior Campground.

After breakfast, we all piled into my Dad’s Jeep one last time for a tour of the Badlands Loop. We entered the park’s south gate, aka ‘Interior Entrance’ on Hwy 377 where I showed my disabled veteran access pass which got us in for free. The pass is good at all national parks but doesn’t do any good at most state parks. Just inside the south entrance is the parks’ Cedar Pass Campground. We decided to check it out for future reference and did a quick drive-thru.

This sign shows the rates: (click picture to view full size)

With only a handful of electric sites available, I don’t think we’ll stay here anytime soon. A lot of the sites are close together and are really just pull-offs to the side of the road, if anyone is running their generator it could get quite annoying. No trees or cover to speak of either.

We turned left on 240 at the T-intersection here to start our Badlands Loop tour…

So follow along now on our Badlands Loop tour…

Stilla and Kaan walked up the trail a little ways…

And then they had to come back down without slipping…

We continued west, stopping at almost every one of the many scenic overlooks…

At the Fossil Exhibit Trail, we arrived just in time for a ranger talk…

Ranger talk and fossil exhibit at the Fossil Exhibit Trail.

Stilla, Kaan, and Coach on Fossil Exhibit Trail.

Kaan climbing yet another hill at Fossil Exhibit Trail.

More scenic overlooks…

Dad & Elaine at one of the many overlooks along the Badlands Loop Rd.

Dad & Elaine along the Badlands Loop Road.

Kaan checking out the trail to one of the overlooks.

We left 240 and turned onto Sage Creek Rim Road (dirt) thereby extended our tour by about 15 or 20 miles…

Views along Sage Creek Rim Road; Hay Butte Overlook & Sage Creek Basin Overlook…

Herd of buffalo along Sage Creek Rim Road.

Can you spot the Bighorn sheep in the picture below…

Bighorn sheep along Sage Creek Rim Road.

We stopped to check out the prairie dog town…

Kaan, Elaine, and Dad at Roberts Prairie Dog Town.

Sage Creek Road dumped us back onto 240 just south of the town of Wall and the intersection to I-90. We took I-90 east to exit 131 which leads to the Badlands National Park northeast entrance where we first entered the park with the rigs a couple days ago.

We heard about the Minuteman Missile Visitors Center that is on the north side of our exit and decided to check it out.

Minuteman Missile Visitor Center at exit 131 along I-90.

The Minuteman Missile Visitors Center has ample parking for big rigs if you ever want to stop by.

Stilla, Dad, Elaine in front of the Minuteman Missile Visitor Center.

We found out that the Visitors Center is not where the missile silos are located. There are two sites; Delta-01 and Delta-09 (see map below). The Visitors Center takes reservations-only for tours of Delta-01, and the limited number of reservations are all gone in the early morning. Delta-09 has a self-guided tour and we could go there, but if you look at the map (below), you’ll see that we passed it at exit 116 about 15 miles back. We didn’t want to backtrack to see it at this time. Wish we would have known about that beforehand.

We watched the documentary after a short orientation talk from a retired missileer / volunteer ranger in this theater.

And then we toured the center which only recently opened as you can see from the makeshift exhibits taped to the walls…

Elaine and Dad in the Minuteman Missile Visitors Center.

Their final exhibits will be installed in September…

Some of you may recall that Stilla and I had the opportunity to tour the Titan II Missile Museum site near Tucson, AZ earlier this year (link HERE) if you’d like to see more. Too bad we didn’t get to see more than just the visitors center for the Minuteman. Maybe next time 🙂

We continued on back into the Badlands National Park through the northeast entrance and worked our way back to our campground on the southeast side – this time we passed by all the overlooks without stopping since we toured this route the previous day. We dropped off our little dog “Coach” at the Coach after we ran up the AC and then we went back into the park to enjoy dinner at the Cedar Pass Lodge restaurant located next to the Ben Reifel Visitors Center. Then it was relaxation time back at the campground…

It’s now early afternoon (Wednesday) as I finish up this post. My Dad & Elaine hooked up, dumped, and left the campground this morning. We’ll stay put today to relax and do whatever… it’s our 32nd Wedding Anniversary today… Happy Anniversary to my dear wife Stilla!

We might head back towards Rapid City tomorrow… stay tuned…

South Dakota

Black Hills; Crazy Horse; Wall Drug; Badlands (Badlands Interior Campground, SD)

2015/07/14 davidhobden@mac.com

On Sunday we took the looong way to Crazy Horse Memorial through Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We had to pay an $11 fee at the entrance station.

We’re still touring around with my Dad and stepmom Elaine. So we left the Silverado at the Heartland RV Park and I chauffeured my Dad’s Jeep as we toured the south end of the park in search of buffalo. Grandson Kaan had never seen a real buffalo. Our first stop was at this Wildlife Center / Ranger Station…

where we asked the friendly ranger for the best place to see some buffalo…

He told us about a 8 mile dirt road loop just outside the ranger station parking lot. He said we’d be sure to catch sight of about 400 head of buffalo there. And he was spot on – after a couple miles we saw…

After driving ever-so-slowly past the buffalo and taking what seemed like hundreds of pictures, we got back on the main road (WIldlife Loop Rd) and soon found ourselves blocked by a herd of wild burros…

Then we drove up Mt. Coolidge to view the fire tower. At 6,023 feet Mount Coolidge is the highest point in the central part of Custer State Park.

Elaine and Stilla on the Mt. Coolidge Fire Tower, Custer State Park, SD.

Then we drove the scenic Needles Highway…

And now – I couldn’t resist the opportunity to put in a couple of old pictures from 2006 – which is the last time Stilla and I were here in the Black Hills. We attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally:

2006 08 10 Sturgis Trip (14) — David – Sturgis trip 2006

2006 08 10 Sturgis Trip (15) — Stilla – Sturgis trip 2006

2006 08 10 Sturgis Trip (7) — David & Stilla – Sturgis trip 2006

And here’s an even older picture that I dug up from 1996, same bike, same Stilla – parked with a view of Mount Rushmore in the background.

1996 mount_rushmore_heritage_stilla — Stilla on the Heritage in the Black HIlls, SD circa 1996-97

We tried to get the same picture in 2006, but now the road has guard-rails and the tall trees now hide Mount Rushmore from view – same bike, same Stilla, same spot…

1996 mount_rushmore_heritage_stilla 2006 08 10 Sturgis Trip (11) — Stilla on the Heritage in the Black Hills, SD. 2006

After our scenic tour through ‘memory lane’ and Custer State Park – we finally ended up at the Crazy Horse Memorial and paid a $28 parking fee for our carload. The visitors center is free and consists of a museum, gift shop, restaurant, theater, sculptors workshop, gallery, etc., We watched the documentary film in the theater, toured the welcome center, and visited the restaurant. Great place to visit if you haven’t been. Click HERE for more info from my friend wikipedia, or HERE for the official website.

Here are the pictures (below) that I selected of our day at the Crazy Horse Memorial:

Stilla and Coach in front of the Welcome Center at Crazy Horse Monument.

Stilla, Kaan, Dad, Elaine at Crazy Horse Monument.

When we got back to the campground, we met up with our FCRV friends Biff & Linda again who had been entertaining some old friends of their own for the day on a tour through Custer State Park. We all drove over to a local Pizza joint for some evening food and conversation.

And that’s all for our Sunday.

On Monday, we packed up and headed over to the Badlands. We took 79 north out of Hermosa and then I-90 east. I took the lead, while my Dad followed in his rig. We stopped at Wall Drug for lunch. Now if you’ve never been to Wall Drug, you’re missing out on a pretty cool tourist trap. Click HERE for their official website or HERE for more info on the roadsideamerica.com site.

We were able to find a parking spot easily, but as soon as we did, 4 or 5 other rigs rolled in beside us. We left the generator running so we could leave little dog “Coach” in the Coach with the AC on.

Stilla, Elaine, Dad in the Wall Drug parking lot.

Wall Drug main street:

Yup, got a couple T-Shirts here at the Harley shop:

And here are some more pictures (below) in and around Wall Drug:

Our grandson Kaan got to pet a buffalo…

and ride a real Jackalope…

Inside Wall Drug:

Kaan played at the water park for a short while…

he played long enough to get soaking wet… but the hot sun dried him out quickly…

and here he is – trying to dry off his t-shirt…

They even have a T-Rex here. We waited for feeding time (every 15 minutes) but couldn’t get Kaan to get very close…

My Dad and Elaine at Wall Drug, Wall, SD.

After our stop at Wall Drug, we continued east on I-90 past the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands until we got to 240. Then we went south to get to the east entrance of the Badlands National Park. The entrance fee was free with my disabled veteran access pass. I think it’s normally $15.

Kaan didn’t waste any time climbing up the hills at the first pull-off in the Badlands National Park.

My Dad, Elaine, and Stilla stayed in the shade while I tried to keep up with Kaan…

The view after climbing the first set of hills:

And the view back to the parking area:

The park has some ongoing road repairs that reduced the road to one lane. It was a little rough and tight in places with our Coaches on a 10% grade.

We drove back out the south side entrance of the park towards the town of Interior and found our campground – the Badlands Interior Campground. After we paid for two nights ($50), we got set up at our sites and jumped back into Dad’s Jeep to tour a portion of the park again and check out the Visitors Center…

Kaan ran all the way up this hill next to the Visitors Center…

Nice boardwalk leading to a grand overlook…

The evening shadows made the view even more spectacular…

How would you like to walk out on this ridge? It clearly looks like people have been doing it…

Back at our campground (Badlands Interior Campground) we chilled out with the AC on and only walked around the park for a short time. It’s been in the 90’s all day. We had leftover Pizza from our dinner the day before and I worked on this blog post.

Here’s our view this morning (Tuesday) from the campground:

And our spot:

Not bad, eh?

On Tuesday – we plan on driving the entire loop through the Badlands National Park. We have to make the most out of our last day with my Dad and Elaine, they plan on heading back to Colorado Springs on Wednesday.

Check back to see if we fall off any cliffs or into one of these giant cracks in the ground 🙂

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Tag Archives: Badlands

Changing Domicile (America’s Mailbox, Box Elder SD)

Touring the Badlands (Badlands Interior Campground, SD)

Black Hills; Crazy Horse; Wall Drug; Badlands (Badlands Interior Campground, SD)

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