Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Go West Old Man – Onward To Rapid City, SD Again – 2012

Of our two RV problems, I was able to fix one myself early the next morning then by using the coach batteries to make up for the alternator not charging the chassis batteries, we were able to get to Rapid City a day late.

We got into the Lake Park Campground and Cottages before noon and began arranging for repairs.  Like most of the campgrounds we’ve seen out here, the roads are gravel as was our site here, but it has some huge cottonwood trees for good shade and we were next to the laundry and bathhouse which was very convenient.

We really like the campground as the staff is friendly and helpful, it's small, but with the on-site cabins, large enough to have good amenities, and the bathhouse and laundry are kept immaculately clean.
It is next to Canyon Lake and Park with a very good place to walk the dogs - here they are anxiously awaiting their walk.
They enjoyed it once they got going.
There were quite a few mallards and geese - don't know if this is a stop-over or they live here year round.
The next day Bev encountered either a herd of turkeys or turkey vultures at the lake.

If you're into knotty pine, extensive use is made of the Ponderosa Pine around this area including at the campground.

After driving along I-90 and around the Black Hills, I have to say that South Dakota has the best roads I’ve been on – maybe it’s because there aren’t as many of them to maintain.  And after using straight-from-the-well water in campgrounds they also have some of the worst water I’ve seen – very hard and with a strong hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) smell.  I think I may have smelled worse after my shower than before :-).   The silver lining is that it's real easy to get dry here. 
Thanks to some communication issues, the repairs couldn’t happen the day after we got there, but did get done on Thursday to the tune of $1100 - they have a $135/ hr labor rate so it adds up fast.  Since we seem to continue to have issues, I'm afraid to go any farther west, so we decided to stay in Rapid City three extra days and cancel the Montana/Yellowstone leg of our trip. We'll just head south into Colorado instead (we have to go south at some point), with a stop in Cheyenne, WY and hopefully fulfill the Denver part of the trip.  Since I must visit Glacier National Park, hopefully we can find a way to get back out there next year - maybe Scotty can beam us there.

I haven't been doing the one and two year ago items as we're just too busy having fun - nice problem to have.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.
Larry

9/4-9/6/12 event date

10 comments:

  1. Very nice pic collection Big Dude, I will recommend your post in my blog

    Regards
    http://webbl1.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't really like to camp, but I think I could get into RV camping.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you know you're having fun. Those are some big turkeys that Bev saw. The ones around here are smaller. Sorry you're canceling part of your trip, but a rest there for a while would do me just fine.
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome to the wild west. If you didn't bring chap stick, you should pick some up. Those are turkey. Your couch in your RV is nicer than what we have in our house. $1100? ouch. I love those big cottonwoods, do you not have them back east?

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great way to see the country. I've never been to our National Parks and hope to visit them one day. RV'ing looks like such a fun way to travel. The comforts of home are right along with you. Hope you don't have any more repairs, Larry.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Larry, Believe me, those ducks and geese don't stay around Rapid City in the winter. It gets colder than hell up there in mid-winter and everything is frozen! Nice bunch of turkeys...good photos too. Sorry for the shortened trip and the necessary repairs but it looks like you guys and your 'children' are still having fun! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave & Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sorry that you have had to leave out part of your destinations but it does sound like the wise thing to do.

    ReplyDelete
  8. what an awesome sight to see all of those geese and turkeys. I saw Canadian geese for the first time once we moved here and I love to watch them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. RV's are like boats aren't they?

    Florida well water was extra sulfur laden too. It even turned the fences orange.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Pretty shots of the small lakes! Yes, the roads in Iowa are really bad . . . the weather takes a great toll on them. We always noticed how wonderful the roads were in the South when we visited. Plus we also noticed how cars don't have the rust on them that they have in the North from the winter!

    On to your next destination post!

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate and enjoy your comments