Our RV Adventures

We had a visitor this morning a little before I got up. Bob Fitz, a blog reader, came by to say HI, and let us know he and his wife were in Keystone yesterday when we were. They’re visiting Rapid City for a few days, and invited us to stop by and visit when we’re again in the Sioux Falls area.

It’s still going down into the high 30’s/low 40’s every night, but it’s supposed to start warming up a little in the next couple of weeks.

And speaking of a ‘couple of weeks’, after we had been here a couple of days, we started talking about staying a few extra days past our one week stay. But when it all boiled down, we reupped for a second week. Which means we won’t leave here until June 6th.

Unless we decide to stay longer.

Elk Creek is unlimited PassPort America, so we can linger pretty much as long as we like. And one reason for us to stay longer is that Jan used to live here.

She was here when she was in 2nd grade while her father was stationed at Ellsworth AFB. So she remembers places around here that she would like to revisit. And at least one of them is still around.

That one is the Dinosaur Park, a group of dino statues built on top of a hill near downtown Rapid City. Constructed in the mid-1930’s to capitalize on tourists visiting nearby Mt. Rushmore, the city hoped to keep some of the tourist’s dollars in town.

And while we were at the Safeway, I looked up on top of the nearby hill and saw one of the reptiles on the loose.

Finishing up on yesterday’s 1880 Train, trip we were surprised at how many large homes were located out in the Black Hills National Forest.

Don’t know if this guy had a lot of firewood left over from this past winter, but he’s certainly ready for next winter.

Turns out that there were about 60+ mining claims that predated the 1897 creation of the Black Hills NF, and today many of those claims are now the location of family homes.

But some of the mine facilities can still be found along the route, mostly in the Addie Camp area. This was the Addie Camp tin mine.

Or at least it was supposed to be. Although they went down over 800 feet,  they never found much tin and the mine was closed down.

This is the remains of the Good Luck Tungsten Mine, which was much more successful than the tin mine, but it finally closed down in the 1950’s.

The 1880 Train ride turned out to one of our favorites, and is much recommended.

Later, while we walking around Hill City waiting for our not-to-be Alpine Inn dinner, we came across this two amazing horse sculptures along the sidewalk.

Both done by the same artist, they’re made from junk, springs, tools, even other horses, and faces.

and there was also a smaller one.

Really amazing.

Jan had a good time exploring The Farmer’s Daughter shop right across the street.

And even found her a new moose to add to her collection

Cute.

We’re trying to keep our heads down during the holiday weekend, but we may run into RC to grab a burger at Fuddruckers, and maybe a trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s.

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