And there's more ....

During our first 10 days in South Dakota, the Black Hills area was taken over by motor bikes - mainly Harleys - here for the Sturgis rally.  This year was the 72nd annual rally. The rally proper started on 6 August with the Mayor's Ride the proceeds benefiting the Sturgis Volunteer Fire Dept.
The first rally was held on 14 August 1938 by the Jackpine Gypsies motor cycle club - it was then called the Black Hills Classic and consisted of a single race with 9 participants and a small audience. The focus was originally on racing and stunts.
In recent years the revitalization of motorcycles has led to increased attendance to the point that Sturgis, population 6442, swells to in excess of 550,000 in the week of the rally.
In fact Sturgis lasts much longer than a week for many bikers come to Black Hills days (even weeks) before the rally to enjoy the Black Hills before they are taken over completely by the huge numbers that eventually gather in Sturgis.




They say that the Black Hills is one of the most beautiful places to ride a motorcycle - scenery, great roads, wide open spaces and incredible views.

On Thursday 9 August we went to Sturgis with Ron and Margaret.  It was quite something.  I have not seen as many motorcycles in one place before!  We parked the car about 11 blocks from the centre of town and walked in.  Our route was lined on both sides by motorcycles and then 2 rows in the centre of the road for about 8 blocks!  Have a look ...

Yes - we wore the t shirts - thanks to Ron.

There were visitors and bikes from Australia. We saw several bikes with an Australian flag on the back ... even a couple of boxing kangaroos!!!



Just a great day - my ears are still throbbing!

Continuing the Black Hills ...

As soon as we arrived in South Dakota we made inquiries into the registration and formal transfer of the motor home. From our research  before the trip it had not appeared to be an issue.
In Alabama we were advised to do the registration etc in South Dakota as that is where we have our postal address.
Imagine our concern when we discovered that to register the motor home we needed to have either a US social security number or a South Dakota drivers licence - each of which requires one to be a US resident!!
Ron made inquiries - thank you Doyle!! - who advised us to contact the Driver Licensing Program in Pierre (capital of South Dakota).  The outcome was that we needed to first be cleared by the Federal Govt. to apply for a South Dakota drivers licence - so copies of our passports and visas were faxed off to the powers that be.
Trevor was 'cleared' to make the drivers licence application ... I am still awaiting clearance!! Thank God!
Once we had notice of Trevor's clearance we immediately went to the licencing office. We thought that Trevor would be 'given' a drivers licence!!!! No!!   He was required to sit a written test and do a driving test!  Much nervousness as it happened right on the spot.  And - he passed!!
So off to the court house in Rapid City with all the papers and Trevor the proud owner of a South Dakota drivers licence - we could not have been happier to pay the 3% sales tax and registration. Our new South Dakota number plates are on the RV!   What a guy!!!!

That all took about 10 days.
Then Jim the RV guy came out to the lake to look at the levelers only to find that we were out of hydraulic transmission fluid.  But when that was corrected the problem still persisted so we had to have a part sent out from the Tiffin headquarters in Alabama.  That was fixed last Friday (17 August).  Jim also noticed a couple of issues with the sway bar and a spring on one of the front levelers  was catching.  He recommended we have those things  seen to so we  booked the RV in to Eddies Truck Centre and had those problems attended to.

Have a look inside our new home.  It is very comfortable and has everything that we can possibly need and more.  We are still finding new buttons and gadgets that we didn't know we had.

In the mean time we were enjoying all that the Black Hills has to offer.

Bob, Ron's cousin, took us south one day to Hot Springs and beyond.  We went through Buffalo Gap - as you would remember from wild west movies. Bob and Margaret (Ron's mum who also came with us that day) shared many memories of their days in those parts of the Black Hills.  On our way back we went through  Custer State Park and got close and personal with some of the wildlife.

21 August 2012

Well I was up to day 5 and now it is day 25 in the RV and  one month since we arrived in the US!!
We had intended to stay in South Dakota for about 2 weeks... an opportunity to see our friends who live in the Black Hills and get ourselves a bit more organised in the RV after our fairly long drive from Alabama. We needed to register the motorhome and transfer it into our names; outfit and stock up with essentials and attend the Sturgis rally while we were here. We have done so much more than that.  Here is a bit of what we have been doing for the last  3 weeks.

Our friend Ron Rossknecht had a lake side site at Sheridan Lake waiting for us. Unfortunately our power lead was too short and no matter how we tried, the sewer pipe also fell short!! So began a 3 hour exercise in trying to make it all fit together. We had a number of enthusiastic helpers including Ron's son Trevor (yep!) who was working at a KOA camp in his summer holidays. The RV was moved to a fairly unlevel spot and then the lower side was propped up on wooden blocks. I thought it was a bit too unstable and said I wasn't happy to sleep in it like that!!! So the blocks were removed and the wheels on the higher side were dug in to the ground.
 The next day however we moved the RV back to level ground, filled in the holes dug out the night before for the wheels, bought an extension of sewer pipe and borrowed a length of 50amp power lead.  We then found that the hydraulic levellers were not working! We booked Jim the RV man who could not come out until the following Wednesday.  But we were comfortable; everything else was working well and we were settled. Ron gave us the use of a motor vehicle and also offered his office in Hill City whenever we wanted. There is no service at all at Sheridan Lake which is really part of the beauty of the place - and it is beautiful!

There followed a pattern to our days of walking (for me) in the morning before breakfast, Trevor would join Ron and Mason our neighbour for coffee, then chores - very few - before we were off on another round of
hunting and gathering things together for the rest of the year.  We have bought a bike each; a wonderful coffee percolator (a Bialetti ); 2 outdoor chairs; not to mention floor rugs, doona and more kitchen utensils.  Trevor is a terrible shopper! He starts yawning the minute we enter a store and races up and down the aisles so fast that I end up saying - lets go!  I am not sure how we have done as well as we have.
A few mistakes - we have already replaced the can opener and the corkscrew - it doesn't pay to buy the cheapest.

We also dined very well - a dinner at Steve's; fun evenings at the lake when Margaret, Ron's mum came to stay and great times with Rod and Marion

Day 5

On the road by 8.15am.  It's going to be a hot one. 20 miles down the road we cross a time line and turn the clock back an hour.  Now in Mountain Time Zone I believe. Not much traffic ... rolling plains .. some cattle.
Road signs of what is to come.  Lots of signs for a place called Wall so we have to stop.
The place to be is the Wall Drug, a fascinating, sprawling wild west shopping and entertainment centre.
Wall has done a thriving tourist trade since the mid 1930's when a local pharmacist Ted Hustead put up signs along the highway offering free ice water. Today Wall Drug attracts up to 20,000 people on a hot summer day.

We had a donut each!!


Wall is so named because it was built on the edge of the northern extension of the "Badlands wall". The Badlands National Park covers 244,300 acres of the White River Badlands in southwest South Dakota, a study in the effects of erosion, where the geology and life of the past connects with the present.
The steeply eroded land supports very little plant life.  No deep rooted trees or shrubs could take hold to preserve the land from the elements. The water and wind chafed away at the layers of deposits until the landscape took on the appearance of great castles and a great wall. French trappers who explored the west in the early 1800's called the area a 'bad land to cross'.
We have been to the Badlands on a previous trip and it is quite beautiful with vibrant colours and extraordinary sandstone formations.

At 11.00am we arrived in Rapid City!!!  It's great to be back! The drive up Highway 16 to Sheridan Lake where we will stay for a couple of weeks brings back many good memories.  The Black Hills look beautiful!

It is said that the Black hills were a sacred place to the Lakota Sioux and where they would retreat to seek guidance from the Great Spirit.  In 1874 Custer's expedition discovered evidence of gold deposits in the thickly forested hills. Miners, speculators and settlers rushed into these once sacred hills to stake their claims.

Our home will be at Sheridan Lake ... and what a home it is!

Day 3

We slept well!! Left the Kan-Do campground about 8.00am.  Easy access to I70 travelling west to Kansas City.  Yesterday we travelled through 4 states: Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri.  Today we will continue across Missouri, then Iowa and touch Nebraska.

We went through Kansas City which overlooks the Missouri river and turned right on I29.  We followed the Missouri river now going north. At lunchtime we stopped at a place called St Joseph about 50 miles north of Kansas City. We went looking for a Starbucks!!  Coffee has become a bit of a problem and Starbucks is about the only place so far to get a strong cup. It has an added benefit of providing free wifi. This Starbucks also provided a fairly large carpark for the RV.   I am still looking for the best description for the right coffee for me and I think I have found it - a short, double americano with room - the US version of a long black 2/3rds topped up!!   At last!  Trevor - "thank god!"









So now we are over the border in to Iowa - flat land, lots of cropping of what appears to be corn, maize and soya beans, small and large silos and long arms of reticulation sprays. Long lines of train  regularly pass us. We are headed for Nebraska City, 4 miles across the border in Nebraska.  We had called ahead from St Joseph to the Victorian Acres RV park and know where we are headed.  Did some shopping in town before hand and added to our store of necessities - door mat, can opener, some cooking utensils  We are settled in the RV park by 5.30pm. It is very hot.  It was 105 degrees there that day and it was still uncomfortable outside so we settled for the airconditioning which is working wonderfully.

 'I know its there somewhere'!!!









We had a full hook up which included wifi.  Spoke on Viber to Mace (free phone calls like skype).  Mace was at work - he called us on his new i phone - neither of us knew how to end the call (literally).  I could here him asking his work mates how to turn it off.  We kept saying are you still there?
Had our first home (RV) cooked meal and a glass of wine.
I heard a train hooting in the still air of early morning.  It reminded me of growing up in Hastings - the train line there went through the centre of town. Now where did that come from? More than 60 years ago!


Nebraska City was a way station on the Missouri River where families and adventurers bound for Oregon mixed with trappers, traders and riverboat people. It is the birth place of Arbor Day established by a Nebraskan politician (1830-1902) who proposed a resolution to make 10 April a state holiday to encourage farmers in Nebraska to plant trees as a protection from high plains winds and soil erosion! Arbor Day is still commemorated through the US though the date changes from state to state.

There are so many trucks on the roads; at times it seems that there are more trucks than cars  And they look magnificent. The tractor (we know as the prime mover) gleams with paints of all colours.  The signage sparkles and there is usually lots of chrome on the front. They look as if they have just driven from a truck wash. Unlike our road trains they generally have one long trailer. They come from all parts of the US presumably going to all parts too.
The highways we have traveled are great driving - well kept despite the enormous amount of traffic. Upcoming maintenance is well sign posted. One such sign was 89 miles before we came upon the maintenance crews and road work! There followed regular reminders as we got closer; the traffic then moved into one lane for about 100 yards then everything was back to normal!

Nebraska holds memories for us as we spent a night in a small town in the northeast of the state on 26 December 2009. We had had a white (very) Christmas in the Black Hills and were booked on a flight from Rapid City, South Dakota on Boxing Day 2009, to spend several days in San Francisco and on to Hawaii for a week.
We arrived at the airport early and our friends left. It was snowing hard, a white out, our flight was cancelled as were all flights - for a week! So we thought we would drive to Denver, Colorado, as only West Aussies would!  Of course the roads were even more hazardous. We were in a small car to save costs. As we neared the border of SD with Wyoming the road was closed.  We turned back and found a small country road which was still open.  By now it was dark.  We were driving through snow drifts which completely engulfed the car.  Trev said he could still see the middle line ...  then we were on a gravel road.  It was cold and fairly scary!  After about 2 hours of anxious slow driving we came to a bigger road.  We had driven into Crawford, Nebraska. At the end of our road there was a 'Road Closed'  sign.  They just hadn't put up the sign at the other end!
We walked into a service station and were greeted with - where have you come from?? Nobody was on the roads that night.

Day 4

Up early and on the road by 8.00am. We refuelled about 10 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska - 57 gallons at $3.57 a gal = $204.00.  Headed for Sioux City and on to South Dakota.
After Omaha the highway changed to less well tended and the surface less smooth to ride on.  The milage posts now appear every  mile and not every 1/10 of a mile as before.
When driving out the other side of Sioux City - a feed lot - much to Trevor's relief. First obvious sign of livestock in several days! Now the sunflower planted road verges are replaced with round hay bales on both sides where the sides of the highway has been mowed and baled.

And now we are in South Dakota! Some of the crops are replaced with pasture. There are cattle in the pasture. Speed limit has increased to 75mph. South of Sioux Falls the traffic becomes heavier with more motor homes and motor bikes. Sturgis, the motor bike rally starts on 2 August.










At 1.30pm we stop at an Information centre/ rest area on I90. We are looking for somewhere to stay that night as we still have many miles to go to Rapid City.

Rest areas dot the highways. They are amazing - like an oasis in a desert of flat open land.  They have free wireless/internet, clean rest rooms, vending machines, newspaper stands, lots of travel information, covered picnic areas. Many of them are also Information centres staffed with friendly people keen to help with any and every inquiry.
We ask about RV parks on I90 and book in to one at Murdo about 160 miles west.  We then run into about 15 miles of road works - down to one lane!  Its very hot!

By 3pm it seems like we have been driving forever. How far today? 330 miles so far and we still have 108 miles to Murdo. So far we have covered 1245 miles!

4.15pm Now under 30 miles to go.  Should reach Murdo by 4.45. A long day.
My legs and feet keep swelling up - I guess sitting for 4 days, lack of coffee and water  But do I complain???

We cross the Missouri River again at Chamberlain.
It surely is an impressive body of water and has been a constant companion for the last 3 days.

Arrived in Murdo. 105 degrees!  Booked in to the American RV Park & Kamp. $31.00 for full hook up.  After we set up we went looking for a grocery store but got waylaid at a bar where the beer on tap was 50 cents between 4 and 6pm.  It was lovely and cool and we had a beer. (Several) So the groceries can wait till tomorrow – I have cooked some sweetcorn cobs and will do scrambled eggs, tomatoes and ham.

Murdo - population  650!!!

Tomorrow we go through a one hour time zone so can sleep in!!!!  

Day 1

Huntsville Alabama to Nashville, Tennessee   -   128 miles.

First fill up with petrol cost $203.00. Petrol (gas here) cost $3.13 a gallon. It was to be the cheapest fuel for a while. We left Huntsville about 10.30am headed for Nashville.  Very exciting! We knew our way out of town as we had done some running around in Huntsville over the last few days. But it was still stressful and concentration plus. The motor home did not come equipped with a GPS and we were going with the faithful Rand McNally road atlas. Although the main roads are well shown there is no assistance with lane directions approaching exits. Until we became  familiar with the road system we would find ourselves driving in a lane that must exit!  Shit ...shit ...shit....!
We traveled on I65 driving at about 50mph waiting for the confidence to grow.
After 2 hours we exited I65 at Columbia in Tennessee to get some fruit and fresh provisions.  Big mistake.
There wasn't any such store and we couldn't find a place to turn around to get back on the highway.  So we had a drive in the country for several miles.  We have a year ...  what's half an hour?

The traffic became very heavy approaching Nashville.  More lanes of traffic; lanes narrowed; so many direction signs.  Chocolate helped ... and then we were on the other side of Nashville looking for our exit. We had booked in to an RV park in Goodletsville which, on the map, looked easy to find. It still took 2 phone calls to the RV park for directions off I65.  But we made it!!  A full hookup - water, sewer, power and cable - and it was a pull through which meant no backing up. By way of celebration we ordered in pizza!
It seemed impossible that we were in Nashville and not going to explore the Grand Ole Opry or Country Music Hall of Fame but we will be back. We had decided on the drive to Nashville that our priority was to get to South Dakota, some 1400 miles northwest (approx 2250 kms).  We have very good friends in Rapid City SD.  Our plan had always been to head to SD first.  We just didn't know that it would be from Alabama! We had about 5 days of driving ahead of us.

Day 2

Nashville Tennessee to St Louis, Missouri  -  310 miles.

Our first breakfast in the truck then we were off, headed the other side of St Louis.  Our route would take us northwest into Kentucky on I24, then west over the border in to the bottom south east corner of Illinois then north to Mt Vernon and west across Illinois on I64 to St Louis just over the border in Missouri - 4 states in one day!
We did not book an RV park ahead. We were not quite sure where we would end.
When we crossed into Kentucky we came onto a concrete highway a bit like driving on a rail track. It quickly reverted back to a smooth surface.  Around noon we ran into light rain; the temperature was about 90 degrees. Kentucky is very picturesque, lots of rural pastures. It reminded us of our hikes on the Appalachian trail all those years ago. We hiked approximately 600 miles over 3 trips to the states, each time completing 200 miles (2 weeks) then travelling to other parts always ending up in the Black Hills in SD.
Kentucky was the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln ( in Hodgenville). It is known as the whiskey-making centre of the US - Jim Beam and it is also the original home of Kentucky Fried Chicken!
Another state to return to explore.

We were headed for the other side of St Louis, Missouri. In mid afternoon we stopped for some provisions - we are yearning for fresh fruit and vegetables - a regular meal. Not that they are not available just that we are on the road in a large vehicle and getting off a highway takes some planning!! We stopped at new Baden and found a treasure trove - a Krugers store with everything we could possibly want. The cost of food including meat, fruit and vegetables is so much cheaper. we are well stocked!

The approach to St Louis was scary. After many miles of open country and small rural towns we were suddenly back into busy highways with exits going off everywhere.  We don't know where we are going to stop.  RV parks are not available like hotels or motels; they tend to be a bit off the beaten track and we realised we had not seen many/any signs for RV parks on I 64.
We stopped at a shopping mall on the west side of St Louis and asked for directions. The girls in a Starbucks coffee shop were very helpful.  I think they could sense some urgency in my voice when I asked for directions; it was 7.30 and while still very light we definitely had to find a place to stop soon.

So a further 40 miles west now on I70 and we found a place to stop for the night - the Kan-Do Campground on Highway TT. We were exhausted.  It was now 9.00pm.  Cold pizza, cracker biscuits and a beer were the order of the day!