Touring "Paha Sapa" - The Black Hills

After weeks of endless rain, we finally have some decent motorcycle riding weather!  We hit the road, touring Custer State Park, Needles Highway, and the Black Hills National Forest.  Words don’t properly express the magnitude of beauty, serenity, majestic vistas, and natural wonders!  Riding here is truly a spiritual experience.  You can visualize how the area looked 100, 200, even 1000 years ago.  And after learning about the cultural belief of many of the Plains Indians, I understand why I feel a oneness with nature here.

The Lakota Indians called this area Paha Sapa, “Black Hills”.  These lands are the “heart of everything that is”, a part of their very being, their soul.  They and the land are one.  To them, no one can buy or sell these lands, for they do not belong to mankind—they belong to the animals and plants who inhabit these lands.  These lands are sacred, holy ground.  So putting up towns, tourist attractions, even carving Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial, are interpreted by some American Indians as sacrilegious, like desecrating a church or synagogue.  Whether you agree or disagree with this belief, we all can concur that these lands are unique, offer wondrous panoramas, and are deserving of our preservation and conservation.

 

We traversed on Iron Mountain Road, 17 miles of twists, turns, switchbacks, pigtails, one-vehicle tunnels, splits and nerve-wracking, finger-clenching riding!  This is the equivalent of Dragon’s Tail in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina!  And for the life of me, I don’t know why I was riding with Mommy, who doesn’t like these types of roads.  All I can say is that PoPo practically pooped his pants from anxiety!  I was whooping and screaming as if on a roller coaster!  I no sooner calmed myself down, then we were on Needles Highway, riding along the mountain cliff with no guardrails!   But despite the scariness, it was some awesome ride!

 

 

 

 

Saw lots of animals on Custer State Park’s Wildlife Loop Road.  Everything from buffalo, prong-horn deer, some elf calves, and even some burros and donkeys with their young babies!  RV Rambling Rat must rant a bit about the stupidity of the human race!  Signs all over say, “do not feed wildlife”, “view from a distance”.  Yet it amazed me how many people disregarded the notice, feeding the animals (Cheez-Its no less!) and petting them.    I finally felt the need to speak up and tell people that these are wild animals, living off the land—this is not a petting zoo!  Most of the folks didn’t appreciate being told this, especially from an oversized stuffed biker rat!  But I had to call them out on it.  If one of the animals kicked or bit them, they would blame the poor animal.  If you ever visit Custer State Park, PLEASE RESPECT NATURE AND FOLLOW THE RULES.  I’m now counting to 10, breathing easier, and having a Seinfeld “serenity now” moment.

 

As Cute As They Are--This IS NOT A Petting Zoo!
 

Where The Buffalo Roam

 

And The Deer And The Antelope Play

One of the coolest points in Custer State Park is Mt. Coolidge Lookout.  On a beautiful, clear day, you can see Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, Needles, Harney’s Peak, Ellsworth Air Force Base, and the Badlands.  What a view! 



View of Crazy Horse Memorial from Mt. Coolidge Lookout

On a sad note, there are a boatload of dead Ponderosa Pine trees in the area.  I learned that almost 1/3 of these pine trees in the Black Hills National Forest and surrounding lands have succumbed to damages caused by the pine beetle.  Unfortunately, the infestation is not under control yet.  Hopefully, these wood boring insects will take a hike soon.

Speaking of wood, we stopped in at the National Wood Carving Museum.  What visionaries—taking a boring block of wood and carving intricate animals, western scenes, caricatures, even furniture!  Impressive stuff.



Hand-Carved Wood Carousel

"Justice" Caricatures--Notice the Details on the Jury Faces

Life-like Wood-Carved Avians

Notice the Details on the Face of the Desk. The Desk Feet are Shaped Like a Horse's Hoof

Gotta run!  Time to take a warm, bubbly bath and put some aloe on my sunburn!  Talk to you soon!

 

Campground Critters

First and foremost, I want to express my respect and gratitude to all those who lost their lives in service to our Nation.  In loving memory of 1st Sgt. (Ret.) Richard Pinter (1941-2015), known as "The Lone Bugler" who dedicated his retirement years to honoring these heroes by playing taps at 21 ceremonies each Memorial Day Weekend.  We were proud to serve as this patriot's motorcycle escorts for 9 years. 


 

Now for my regular ramblings...


I’ve made friends with several critters here at Heritage Village Campground!  We have lots of rabbits:  domesticated, wild, and even jack rabbits!  The stables nearby opened recently, so all the horses have been out in the fields.

Peter Cottontail

My Little Ponies

We have loads of Bambi deer out in the surrounding fields.  They always stop to watch me when I walk by—must be my irresistible good looks! 

There’s a llama across the road who is charged with herding the sheep—the Border Collies around here are worried about losing their jobs to this lad.  I love the picturesque pastoral scenes, with the new calves nursing at the mamma cows.

 

With all the cold, inclement weather, my friend Robin bird decided she needed a warm place to build her nest.  So she selected some prime real estate:   Our solar panel stand!  Can’t wait to see the eggs hatch!

 

Prime Real Estate for this Robin!

 

My absolute favorite pal here at the Campground is Bella the Labrador Dog!  She lives with the Campground Host, and is such a friendly, polite lass!  She seems to like me lots—probably because I never fail to bring her a doggie treat!

 

Bella

 

The snow has finally melted, but thankfully, I snapped a pic of our temporary campground mascot, created by Work-camper Tim!

 

"Snartwork" (That's snow artwork) by Work-camper Tim

Now we have had what seems to be never-ending rain.  But here was the “silver lining” yesterday:  a beautiful rainbow, complete with a happy little bluebird in the foreground!

Happy Little Bluebirds and Rainbows--They Do Exist Together!

 

Nice chatting with you, but gotta run!  Mom and Dad actually have a day off together, so we want to go visit some of the sights and have some family fun.  Talk to you soon!

 

 

 

Stormy Weather

I hope everyone reading this blog has been safe and sound from the crazy weather occurring in parts of the U.S.!  It seems like everywhere we go, the bad weather follows us!

 

It rained 6 of the 8 weeks we stayed in Livingston, TX.  Less than 48 hours after we left to head north to South Dakota, Livingston incurred a tornado.  We stopped in Oklahoma City to have warranty work completed on the RV—a week later a tornado touched down within a mile of the RV Center, causing severe damage, and, sadly, injuries to many folks.

 

On Mother’s Day, we had a blizzard here at Crazy Horse!  Visibility was very bad due to the heavy winds, and the snow drifts created 10 foot peaks!  Most of the work-campers could not even get their vehicles out of our campground—Mommy and Daddy included.  They thought they had all their bases covered for transportation to and from work.  After all, we have Big Boomer, they each have a motorcycle, and they each bought the Mickelson Trail pass to walk the 1.5 miles to Crazy Horse.  Unfortunately, they just didn’t factor a blizzard into their calculations!  There was no way they could use the motorcycles.  And Big Boomer would just get stuck in the drifts (as happened to one of the work-campers with his pick-up truck—he had to call a service truck to tow him out!).  Their only option was to walk—after all they do have snowshoes!  Fortunately, a co-worker who lives in Custer said he’d take them in if they met him on the highway.  So they only had to walk about ¼ mile!  Yes, they have “postman” mentality:  neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow stops them from going to work!

 

Mommy was one of only 2 people who worked the Welcome Center, but it sure was busy!  You wouldn’t believe all the folks who braved the inclement weather to visit Crazy Horse that day!  Daddy’s job was to shovel snow all day (ironic, isn’t it—we sold the sticks and bricks back East ‘cause we didn’t want to do all the household chores and maintenance anymore!)

 

Last week we had a hail storm!  The day started out with sunshine, then went to rain, then sunshine.  Next thing I know, I hear pounding on the roof of the RV!  It was a hail storm!  Now, today, we awoke to about 4 inches of snow!  Daddy's probably shoveling at work again!  Will someone please ask Mother Nature to check her calendar!  It’s nearly June and supposed to be Spring!

 

The only “silver lining” is that the Black Hills area was suffering from a drought.  They had a very mild winter, with severely below average snowfall.  There were many concerns about Spring forest fires.  So hopefully this alleviates the problem!

 

Gotta go--Mommy is off from work today and she just made me a cup of hot cocoa to warm my button nose!  Talk to you soon!

 

 

Heritage Village Campground

Heritage Village Campground

That's a lotta snow!

Does Look Pretty, Though!

Some Nasty Clouds!

Hail on our homestead!

Snow on the Mountain!

 

Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho - Off to Work We Go!

We arrived in Custer, SD on Saturday, May 2, and spent a few days getting reacquainted with the beautiful Black Hills.

 

 

 

The George S. Mickelson Trail is a 100-mile biking and hiking rails-to-trails project that follows the historic Deadwood to Edgemont Burlington Northern Rail Line.  And it runs right by the campground and the entrance to Crazy Horse Memorial, so we can walk to work if we want to.

 

 

 

We went into the center of Custer, stopping at the Chamber of Commerce for our Mickelson Trail passes (well worth the $15/person annually) and taking some photos of the bison statues.  We checked out the local food markets, the ACE Hardware, and of course, the local eateries!

PoPo with Bronze Bison Outside Custer Chamber of Commerce

 Rapid City is about 30 miles away, so we went to do a major supply run at Wal-Mart, Petsmart, and every other "mart" in existence before starting work—don’t want to waste too many of our days off doing food shopping when we can hop on the motorcycles and tour these great lands!

 

We reported for Job Orientation today at Crazy Horse Memorial, and it was terrific!  We watched the film “Dynamite and Dreams”, an inspiring documentary about the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and his dream, the devotion of his wife and children to continuing the project, and the magnitude of the work involved to create this entire complex.  It truly captured my heart and touched my soul.



Crazy Horse Memorial - Notice the Paint Outline for the Stallion!

Best of all, work campers got a tour to the TOP of the mountain, something usually reserved for major donors ($125 per person) and special occasions (the Volksmarch, held in June, allows folks to hike to the top).   

 

To give you an idea of size of this project:  ALL of Mt. Rushmore would fit inside just the head of the Crazy Horse Memorial!

 

Traveling to the top, this road runs up the back of the mountain.  Notice that this is a 3-dimensional, in-the-round carving.

 
 

Looking over the complex from the top of the mountain.

The Memorial has progressed considerably since my parents visited in 1999.  They had just completed the face at that time.  Now work is focused on the horse’s head and finishing Crazy Horse’s outstretched arm.  Still a tremendous amount of work to do—we won’t see it in our lifetimes.  But a great masterpiece is in the making, and you can’t rush perfection!  After all, it took about 120 years to complete St Peter’s Basilica and 182 years for Notre Dame to be completed!

 

We are looking forward to seeing the laser light show that projects on the mountain carving, illustrating cultural diversity and promoting harmony among all races.  This is something they did not have in 1999.

 

Most folks don’t realize that the mountain carving is just one piece of this humanitarian project.   Devoted to paying homage and respect to all North American Indian tribes with a focus on education, they have a huge collection of Native American artifacts in their Museum.  In 1979, they established the Crazy Horse Memorial Indian Scholarship Program, and in 2010 they opened the Indian University of North America!

 

One of the things we admire most about the Crazy Horse Memorial and its Foundation is that it does not accept government assistance.  It is a nonprofit organization that relies on entrance fees and individual donations to sustain its operation.  Rambling RV Rat thinks this is a wise business decision.  After all, Mt. Rushmore's Presidents were to have bodies carved, too.  Unfortunately, the Feds cut off funding, so all we have are their heads!

 

I think Korczak is smiling down on the Crazy Horse Memorial from heaven, pleased with the dedication to the continuance of his dream and his life’s work.  And I am so thrilled that as 2015 seasonal staff, we are a part of the dream, too!

Badlands National Park/Buffalo Gap National Grassland

Mom and Dad visited the Badlands previously in 1999, before their RVing days.  They flew to Rapid City and rented a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.  They wouldn't spring for an airline ticket for me nor could we ride 3-up on the motorcycle (Mom didn't have her license yet), so I was left home for my Grandma to rodent sit.  That’s why I am especially excited to be here this time around!

View from the Campground

This place is surreal! It is very early in the tourist season.  I hear not a whisper, see little sign of humans, just me and acres and miles of rock formations dating back millions of years!  Some of the rock tables and plateaus look like how I envision the surface of the moon!  Then I see high peaks, with the rock formations so fragile, crumbly, and dry like paint peeling.   I am in awe they are still standing!  The sun, casting shadows, gives the illusion that the rocks change colors right before my eyes!

 

Though the area lacks in human life, the wildlife has been prolific!  We encountered dozens of long-horn sheep and prong-horn deer.  Not to mention all my rodent buddies, the prairie dogs (I couldn’t fraternize with them because they are suffering from plague!)  Most importantly to Daddy, we saw a rattle snake!  Unfortunately, none of us were quick enough to snap a picture of it!

 

 

Long-horn sheep at Norbeck Pass--look like a set of bookends!

 

Prong-horn deer

Prairie Dogs

We rode the motorcycles down Sage Creek Rim Road--a moist, rocky, unpaved/ungraded road that prohibited us traveling any faster than 15 miles an hour.  Virtually no one else was on the road, but we hit the jackpot in our animal expeditions—dozens and dozens of bison, right near the road!  These huge, majestic beasts stopped grazing and cast their dark eyes upon us, watching our every move.  I squealed with fright!  Since they can run at speeds up to 30 miles an hour, they could surely overtake us!  Needless to say, we refrained from getting too close and personal for photo taking.



The Beastly Bison on Sage Creek Rim Road

Long-horn sheep along Castle Trail

We enjoyed seeing the back-country and grasslands by completing a 4 mile hike roundtrip from Fossil Trail to Castle Trail.  And while Daddy and I climbed the ladder up the ridge on Notch Trail, Mommy chickened out, worrying she may fall on her attempt to descend (she freaks out with heights sometimes).

PoPo reaches the top of the ladder on Notch Trail

Mom actually did sustain an injury.  She would have liked to say it happened while doing something adventurous like climbing the ¼ mile strenuous ascent of Saddle Pass Trail (We only went up 1/8 mile before she panicked and retreated).  But instead, Mommy just tripped while walking 20 feet on a pressed pebble path to the trash bin at Cedar Pass Campground minutes before our departure.  She’s banged up badly, with a deep gash, bruising, and swelling of her knee, causing her to walk with a limp. We just call her “Gimpy” now. 

The visit to Badland National Park and Buffalo Gap National Grassland has been extraordinary, with the wonders of nature never ceasing to amaze and delight.  It is a “must see” place, and merits a Rambling RV Rat 5-cheese rating.

Mother Nature is amazing - flowers growing in the crevices of ancient rock formations

Badlands/Buffalo Gap earns PoPo's distinguished 5-cheese award

Northward Ho!

We are heading to Custer, South Dakota for our work-camping gig at Crazy Horse Memorial.  Thankfully, we missed the tornado that landed on the other side of town in Livingston, Texas just a day after our departure from Escapees Rainbow Park, where campers sustained heavy rain, hail, and loss of power.

 

We stayed at Council Road RV Park in Oklahoma City on Sunday night to facilitate having some recall/warranty work completed on our Montana Fifth Wheel on Monday.  Older park, smaller sites very close together, but terrific Wi-Fi and cable!  We arrived bright and early Monday at Oklahoma RV Center in Moore, Oklahoma (where they had those terrible tornadoes in 2013).   Great service and fine folks!  Work was completed much sooner than we expected, so we decided to alter our travel plans, making reservations at Cedar Pass Campground in Badlands National Park in South Dakota before leaving the RC Center and rambling down Interstate 35.  Within a short 5 minutes on the road, we hear someone beeping at us frantically—apparently smoke is coming from our rear tires!  Daddy goes to pull over and learns he has no brakes!  Turns out the emergency brake disconnect came out of the plug!  Since we became aware of the problem quickly (thanks to the unknown Good Samaritan who alerted us), we did not sustain any permanent damage.  Truly scary stuff, though—good thing Mommy wasn’t the one at the wheel!

 

Other than that, our travels have been quiet and serene, stopping at Wally-Worlds and seeing some beautiful pastoral countryside of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, not to mention some breathtaking sunrises/sunsets.

 

Sunrise in Kansas

View of Downtown Oklahoma City from I-35

Cattle Grazing in Nebraska

 Talk to you soon!

Garden Parties

Flowers are abloom everywhere, and the sweet scent of honeysuckle is making my nose tickle!   But that didn’t stop us from visiting the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden in Nagadoches, TX, home to Stephen F. Austin State University—Go Lumberjacks!

The 8-acre garden contains 7,000+ azaleas among more than 500 varieties, earning the distinction of “largest Azalea garden in Texas”.  Who knew there were so many colors and varieties of azaleas!  There are also azalea trails within Nagadoches for hiking, strolling, or just sitting on a bench to admire nature at work.  We thoroughly enjoyed the visit!



This butterfly enjoyed the gardens as much as we did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve had some very wet weather here—over 8 inches of rain in the last week or so.    But Mr. Sunshine finally came out yesterday, so off we went for a motorcycle ride.

Now that we have completed our residency business in Livingston, we have extra “free” time.  So we’ve been doing some volunteer work here at Rainbow Park.  We assisted with grounds keeping by pulling weeds, cultivated gardens, and raking leaves.  We saw all kinds of cool insects and reptiles, too!  Web worms (they look like caterpillars), a soon-to-be- Mommy spider (see the eggs on her back!), even chameleons and assorted lizards.   Dad and I enjoyed watching them—Mom not so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of cool critters, check out this live video stream from the Pennsylvania Game Commission of two bald eagle fledglings in Hanover, PA. 

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1592549&mode=2

We've been watching these babies for the last month.  They were so funny looking and awkward when they first hatched—and they still are!  

We also volunteered for several days at the C.A.R.E. (Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees) Center’s semi-annual “Garage Sale”.  The event was quite successful, raising more than $5,000 to go towards the purchase of a transport van!  I’m glad I was a part of it.  Although I won’t tell you how many times someone tried to buy me--I know, I’m hard to resist!

I know I'm cute, but I'm not for sale!

 

Earthshattering news here in Livingston—our local Wal-Mart is one of the five nationwide that closed down due to plumbing problems.  Local folks are in a panic and uproar, with all sorts of stories and theories circulating through the rumor mill.  As Gloria Gaynor said, “I will survive”, with or without Wal-Mart.

 

Oh well, got to run—going to the Livingston Community Band Concert at the Activity Center.  Talk to you soon!