Kentucky - Week 21

From St Louis we went due East, through Illinois and Indiana, and four hours later landed in Louisville, KY.  Missouri, "the Gateway to the West", was such a pleasant surprise that I was hoping the road to the East would follow a similar trajectory.  Yet as soon as we started exploring Kentucky we realized that we had a long way to go before the big cities of the East coast.  The Kentucky drawl is significant, and redneck is said with a sense of pride.  With our California plates, Mini Cooper, and city accent we looked like a trio from Hollywood that was accidentally left in the country by the tour bus.

We arrived in Louisville on Saturday night and our KOA campground was a buzz of activity.  Shoeless children swarmed the playground and the screen was getting set up for a night time movie.  The time changed on us again but it took several minutes of trying to account for that lost hour before we realized that we'd entered Eastern time.  I took Lukas over to the lawn to watch Toy Story 3 and eat popcorn with the rest of the camp.  This was Lukas's first exposure to the big screen, and his eyes were wide.  He could hardly remember to eat popcorn he was so involved with the movie.  It ended up being too scary for him, with the toys narrowly avoiding the garbage truck only to be taken hostage by some evil toys at the day care.  I brought him home, filled up my wine jug, and went back to watch the movie.  Not ashamed to admit I even shed some tears at the end.

The next day we decided to explore the town.  First stop, an Irish pub in downtown where Brian could finish watching the British Open.  It was on a strip along a walking street that looked like it got pretty lively at night.  Hard Rock Cafe was featured if that tells you anything.  Anyway, we get to the pub at noon and they don't start serving alcohol until 1 pm on Sundays!  No Guinness with my lunch at an Irish Pub?  Ugh, Kentucky.

We waited around long enough to chug a beer, then took Lukas to the Louisville Slugger Factory.  We had a short tour of the factory, saw some of Buster Posey's special bats, then each got a mini bat.  Lukas also got to hit balls in the the T-ball batting cage.  Great place, would recommend it to anyone who's visiting Louisville.

It was still early afternoon so we decided to drive around a bit, maybe get some coffee.  We drove, and drove, and drove some more, but could not find an open coffee shop.  Apparently what there is of Louisville shuts down on Sundays.  Mostly we saw run down brick buildings and closed diners.  Finally we wandered into the "happening" area of town, the Highlands, and found a really good coffee shop with a drive through.  That perked up our spirits quite a bit, then we found the Whole Foods!  OMG, finally some good food.  We loaded up on organic veggies and gourmet cheese.

On Monday Brian spent the morning golfing, then I went to Louisville Zoo.  Walking through the zoo to the gorilla area I was less than impressed.  The enclosures were all sub-par and the animals looked way too hot.  The gorilla area was a different story.  There were two giant yards and a several large indoor rooms, plus a lot of informative graphics around the African bush camp themed trail.  Louisville has eleven gorillas and four patas monkeys in five separate groups.  What a headache for the keepers!  There is a group of four bachelors, all about twelve years old, the age when they really start fighting.  They had two breeding groups of gorillas, and a geriatric group with a male who was in very poor health.  As a keeper who has nursed a gorilla through some bad times, I know how stressful it can be for the keepers and the gorilla group.  My heart goes out to them.  They also had a group of patas monkeys that had been mixed with the gorillas, but the male patas is overly assertive so the mixed species group broke down.  Which leaves them with the five separate groups to manage!  Luckily they have a lot of space to work with, but still... that is a difficult situation from a keeper's point of view.

The harried gorilla keepers then sent me to the Islands exhibit, a rotating exhibit that houses orangutans, siamangs, tapirs, and tigers.  Each species has several enclosures and the groups and enclosures are rotated several times a day, keeping things fresh for the animals.  The Islands keepers have time built into their day for training and tours, so they seemed much more relaxed than the gorilla keepers.  My main reason for being at Louisville Zoo was to visit Sungai, a siamang that I helped hand rear at San Francisco Zoo.  She came right over to see me, reached through the bars and made some whimpering noises.  What a sweetie.  When she was a baby we spent quite a few nights together, and she had peed on me more times than I could count. It was nice to see her with other siamangs and doing well.  I really enjoyed the Islands exhibits.  Overall, mixed review on the Louisville Zoo.  A few great exhibits, and some in need of renovation.

On Tuesday we decided to check out the Louisville barbecue scene.   I was sick for a couple days after the Irish breakfast fry up, but felt ready to take on some more meat.  We drove to Smoketown, a BBQ place on the edge of the projects.  The owner was a real character who called himself a redneck jew.  His wife was a yard sale fiend and had decorated the place with her finds.  Everything on display was for sale.  We had some tasty ribs and greens, but they couldn't compare to the ribs we had in Wyoming.  Then we drove to Clifton, the upscale part of town, where the houses look like mansions and the yards are giant expanses of perfectly mowed Kentucky bluegrass.  I felt sick by evening time.  Too much meat for this former vegetarian.

Southern Kentucky is known for its numerous caves, and the largest of them is Mammoth Cave.  We drove down to Mammoth and were going to stay in the national park campground, but temperatures of 100 degrees sent us back to the RV parks with electrical hook-ups.  In this heat wave we have had our air conditioning running non stop.  We ended up staying at Diamond Caverns RV park, just outside the park boundary.  It was a beautiful area, super lush and green.  It looks like the greenery is always creeping forward, trying to take over.  Riding lawn mowers are a frequent sight, because if you don't mow weekly then you'll soon have a jungle in the front yard!

I took an afternoon tour of Mammoth Cave.  Once again I was thrown off by a time change, this time back to Central time!  The park is pretty serious about preventing the spread of White-nose Syndrome, a  disease that has been killing bats across the country, and we were asked to walk through disinfectant before entering and upon leaving the cave.

Mammoth Cave has over 200 miles of passageways, many of them stacked on top of one another.  We ventured to the third of six cave layers; the bottom layer is currently an underground river.  Our tour guide had a thick Kentucky accent and was a great story teller.  He told us about the Kentucky cave wars of the 1930s, when cave owners would pay their workers to sneak into competing caves at night to break off the stalactites, later selling the pieces on the road side.  What I found most interesting about Mammoth Cave was its lack of formations.  There was a small room with some formations, but mostly Mammoth Cave was very dry with large rooms and passageways that were once rivers.

The next morning I decided to take Lukas on a tour of Diamond Caverns.  This cave was just the opposite, with water dripping on us throughout the tour, and formations everywhere.  There were several stalagmites that had been sawed in half during the cave wars and polished so that one could see the deposition rings.  It was a really spectacular cave, and I enjoyed it far more than Mammoth.

As for Kentucky, we had enjoyed it as much as we could and were ready to check out the next destination, Nashville, Tennessee.


RV PARK REVIEWS


Louisville South KOA, Shepherdsville, KY: B-
  Big park. super busy on the weekend, bouncy pillow, pool, nature trail to man-made fishing pond and small rock overhang.

Diamond Caverns RV Resort and Golf Club, Park City, KY: B
  Very quiet, lots of greenery, pool, across the street from Diamond Caverns and golf course.

Missouri - Week 20

As soon as we passed into Missouri we could tell it was different.  The vegetation is thick and lush.  There are openly gay people on the street.  One can get a well made cappuccino and some educational wooden children's toys on the same block.  We decided to slow our pace and enjoy this state.  And so we spent almost ten days crossing Missouri from Kansas City to St Louis.

Kansas City covers two states, but the Missouri side is way better.  We stayed at a campground on a lake not far from the city.  It was one of the best places we've stayed so far.  The symphony of insect and frog noises at night were much better than our sound machine.  It was a little unnerving when the raccoons were climbing up the ladder to our roof and scrabbling around up there.  But they did no damage and only ran the circuit a few times before settling down.

Lake Jacomo is one of three lakes in the park system.  It was a huge park that included a cross country course, model airplane flying area, native hoofstock enclosure, swimming beaches and several marinas.  I'm a big fan of lake swimming, so we did that a couple times.  It is great swimming entertainment to watch deer grazing on the other side of the lake, or watch great blue herons fishing.

We spent an afternoon exploring Kansas City and had to check out their "hippest" neighborhood, Brookside.  It was surprisingly reminiscent of Brooklyn's Park Slope, with awesome coffee and super cute high end kid's stores.  The best place was the Reading Reptile, a children's library, book store, play space and cupcake shop.

The Reading Reptile, home of Le Petit Rouge

Le Petit Rouge

While in town we visited the Toy and Miniatures Museum on the campus of University of Missouri.  We thought it would be a good place for Lukas to play, but turns out they don't allow touching, or even pictures.  The miniatures were so finely detailed, like a three foot Victorian doll house with all kinds of accessories inside.  My favorite was the inch long violins that actually play music.  Brian liked the Star Wars room.  Lukas pointed at the miniatures and said "so tiny!" in a high voice with his fingers pinched together.

On Friday night we went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival, held in the Great Mall of the Great Plains, on the Kansas side of Kansas City.  The breeze that night was too strong for most of the balloons to take off, but three test balloons ascended and flew a short distance.  The rest inflated for a "glow" at dusk when they all blew air into the balloons at once.  We also saw Lonnie McFadden, a jazz musician and tap dancer with whom Lukas was entranced.

On Saturday Lukas and I went to Kansas City Zoo while Brian went golfing.  It was super hot, so we rode on every possible mode of transportation: train, tram, carousel, sky ride.  Thankfully the zoo and the rides were cheap, and Lukas is still under three so he was free.  The front part of KC Zoo is fairly standard, not great but not terrible.  We checked out a sea lion training, and the two yearling females were rescues from Marine Mammal Center in Marin.  

The real jewel of KC Zoo is the Africa section.  It takes up two-thirds of the park and is comprised of a lake you can explore by boat, a savannah area you can see from the sky ride, and a heavily wooded section you visit via winding trails and bridges.  The chimpanzee enclosure was impressive, with a huge amount of space including trees eighty feet tall.  As for the gorillas, the resident silverback was being introduced to two new females.  It was clear that he had been breeding with one of the females, and the other female was also soliciting the male.  There was a lot of competition happening between the females, but no overt aggression.  I wish we had spent more time in the African section, but we had used up most of our energy in the front of the zoo.

We probably left Kansas City too soon.  There was more to see and a great campsite to stay at.  But we were used to being on the move so did our thing and moved.  After a full day of zoo and golf, we drove two hours to the outskirts of Columbia, Missouri, and checked into a partly flooded campsite covered with mosquitos.  

I chose the campground because it was on the Missouri River and supposedly very quiet.  Well, the Missouri river had flooded the soybean fields next to the campground so the farmer was running a generator 24/7 to try and pump out the water.  And all that soggy ground made for a lot of hungry mosquitos.  Oh well, we made it a short stop and moved to a different campground early the next day.

River through flooded soybean field

After moving a mere twenty miles to a new RV park the plan was to regroup: go shopping, do laundry, things like that.  But there was a stifling heat wave happening and our car was reading 115 degrees, making it very difficult to motivate and do anything.  There were no shade trees at our new RV park.  But there was a pool.  And a nearby winery.  Thus the chores had to wait while we joined the permanent RV residents in a pool party then moved on to the winery.

Locals told us that Les Bourgeois winery had some tasty wines called Riverboat Red and Riverboat White.  At the tasting room we found out that these are super sweet wines, and that most folks in Missouri like their wines sweet, like dessert sweet, and think the other stuff is crap.  I liked the wine made from local Norton grapes, a mellow red that in comparison makes the big Californian wines seem overly fruity and bold.  We retired from the tasting room to their cafe overlooking the Missouri River, drank more wine, and chatted with some Californians who had relocated to Kansas City.  Back at the RV park, we joined up with the pool party once again.  Not bad for a hundred degree Sunday.

On Monday we sucked it up and got our errands done, then returned to the air conditioning to plan our move east to St Louis.  Brian did some golfing early in the morning, and around dusk we barbecued.  Nothing like humidity to clear the pores!

The drive to St Louis took us at least an hour longer than expected due to a navigation fail and a closed road due to flooding.  Finally we hit our destination and barely got the utilities hooked up before a thunderstorm arrived to cool things down.

We spent our first day in St Louis exploring the tourist sights.  The Gateway Arch was pretty spectacular from the ground and from the top.  To ascend inside the arch you get into a four foot tall pod that takes four minutes to rise the 630 feet to a viewing area.  Back on the ground, we walked down to the Mississippi River for a boat ride. I wouldn't recommend the riverboat tour because the shore is mostly industrial and the historical narrative about the downfall of the region is fairly depressing.  Next we walked to City Garden, an art garden and play space where all the fountains are meant to be used.  There was an old fire engine selling lemonade and ice cream.  Lukas jumped in the fountain pool, Brian and I drank fresh lemonade, and I was just loving the vibe of this city.  

It was getting late, but I dragged the boys to a free evening concert at the Botanical Gardens.  Wow.  The gardens were freaking amazing.  The special exhibit was ground level houses made out of living trees, all of which you could explore.  There was an incredible kids garden with a splash area, slides, forts, music area, and arts and crafts center.  And as for drinks... vodka Sno Cones!  We were getting hungry and it was started to rain, so we skipped the music and instead went to Central West End, the happening part of town, for a St Louis style pizza.  It was super thin crust and kinda tasted like it was made on matzah bread.  Not my favorite.  But the area was great and even had a Chess Club all done up like a fancy lounge.  Oh, and the rainbow flags were flying high and proud.  Who knew Missouri was so great?

Day two in St Louis Brian went golfing at Pevely Golf course, a beautiful course near our campground, and Lukas and I hit up St Louis Zoo.  We were pretty wiped out after all of the excitement the day before and not really up for the zoo.  Especially since the zoo is free, and anyone who works at a zoo knows what that means.  Too many people.  The Zoo was nice.  It was huge.  I had to wait in line to park, then pay $11 for the privilege.  Everything inside the zoo had an extra fee or was more than normal, because they have to make up for the free entrance in some way.  Lukas almost fell asleep on me during the train ride.  We saw the apes, ate lunch, and got going.  All the animal areas looked nice but nothing stood out to me.  The animals seemed to be very well cared for.  It was a place I would not want to work, mostly because of the free factor.  Take St Louis off our short list of possible places to live.

Our last day in Missouri we went to Grant's Farm, home of the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales.  The horses were beautiful and happy to accept a scratch on the back.  Then we took a tram ride to see the grounds and had an unexpected tour of the Busch family's menagerie.  They had bison, cattle from around the world, ostriches, koi, geese, goats, sheep, and even elephants!  Inside the Bauernhof everyone was allowed two free 8 oz samples of beer.  Sweet!  I guzzled mine down then rode the carousel with Lukas.  I finished Brian's beer samples then got on the tram for the ride back home.  Oh, and the whole thing was free!  If we hadn't bought food or taken a carousel ride it would have been a free family friendly afternoon with complementary beer.  I'll toast a Shock Top to that.

RV PARK REVIEWS

Lake Jacomo Campground, Lee's Summit, Missouri: A+

Beautiful area, large RV spots with plenty of space, wildlife, playground.  Would be perfect if it had laundry.

Katfish Katy Campground, Columbia, Missouri: C

Next to the Katy hike/bike trail that runs for 200 miles, flooded, only a few sites with utilities, lots of mosquitos.

Cottonwood RV Park, Columbia, Missouri: B-

Standard RV park, friendly residents, well maintained, no shade trees.

Historic Route 66 KOA, Eureka, Missouri: A+

Beautiful area, backs up to old cemetery, next to creek, pool, playground, laundry, super friendly staff.

Yankton, SD to Topeka, KS - Week 19

We spent most of this week in the Heartland of the United States, driving from South Dakota through Nebraska to Kansas.  Along the way I saw a few things, like the pro-life signs, anti-Obama billboards, prevalence of trash rock music, and the accompanying style of motorcycle riders that listen to metal.  South Dakota legislature was discussing a bill that would require pregnant women to have a 72 hour waiting period and attend pro-life counseling before getting an abortion.  Kansas was about to become the only state in the nation without any abortion providers.  (This week one Kansas Planned Parenthood center managed to obtain a license under new state regulations that  are being challenged in federal court.)  The Obama billboards called him a Marxist.  And I don't know how one acquires "cool" status in the Heartland, but I think it involves a really loud truck or motorcycle, cigarettes, and a tall boy of Bud Lite.

Other notes regarding the Heartland:  Fireflies!  Temperatures near 100 degrees with high humidity.  Mosquitos.  Swimming pools.  I am tan and dotted with mosquito bites.  We have almost emptied our first tube of sunscreen.  Terrible food.  The options are the supermarket are abominable: no organic anything, super sweet yogurt, lots of pre-packaged food and meat of questionable origin.  I have to stop reading labels and just throw it in the cart.  Great BBQ.  I had brisket for the first time since high school and it was tender and juicy just as I remembered it from all those Jewish holidays I attended, though the Heartland version had more of a vinegar tang than my ex-boyfriend's mother's recipe.

This week began in Yankton, South Dakota, next to the swollen Missouri River.  We visited the dam where workers have opened all turbines, hoping to prevent severe flooding.  The torrent of water over the dam was amazing.  We joined the crowd in the spray, watching the waves jump and crash against each other, then rush downstream over class five rapids until the flow settled down to wind around picnic benches and pull at tree branches.

After almost a week in South Dakota, we headed south through Nebraska toward Kansas.  Everyone I spoke with said to go fast through Nebraska and avoid it altogether if possible.  We ended up spending the night in Waco, Nebraska, just off the freeway in yet another RV park with a golf course.  It was an okay spot, kind of run down, but with a nice golf course.  There were quite a few local families there for the weekend, enjoying the pool and the factory ordered mini golf course.  The area was covered with fireflies, and mosquitos, too, so I retired inside to watch the lightning bug show from behind the screened window.

Nebraska is the fateful state where I completely lost my moral compass and shopped at Walmart.  I drew the line at eating lunch there, so we ended up at a Nebraskan Mexican food restaurant in a town whose name I forgot before leaving the city limits.  This is the first Mexican place I have been in where all the workers were white, with the exception of the main chef.  The food was gross.  My veggie burrito was just soupy refried beans with a sprinkling of cheese, like a Taco Bell burrito, only worse.  Oh, how I miss Pancho Villa, with its lard free beans and fresh ingredients.

Then, Kansas!  I had heard mixed reviews about Kansas.  Some had told me to avoid it, others had highly recommended it.  A friend suggested spending Fourth of July in Abilene, the home town of Dwight D Eisenhower, so we booked a spot at a nearby RV park for the holiday.  Kansas was pretty, more rolling hills and fewer flat plains than I had expected.

The RV park ended up being one of the worst places we've stayed so far.  It was mostly full time residents and the place was littered with trash.  There were geese in the pond, but on further inspection they were all in poor shape so I kept Lukas away.  At least there was a pool which was crucial in the heat.  Most of the residents were stand-offish, but one waved every time we passed, so we dubbed him the "Mayor of Four Seasons RV."  Brian eventually went over to chat with the Mayor and found out he used to have a BBQ business and makes his own sauce in bulk.  The Mayor even stopped by later with a cup of his special sauce and dang, was it tasty!  It really added that something extra to make our July Fourth burgers holiday worthy.

On Independence Day we went into Abilene for the Old Fashioned Fourth celebration.  It was held at a gorgeous playground and included mud volleyball, frog and turtle races, and a free hot dog feed.  In the afternoon we headed to Old Abilene, which has historical houses, a restored train, and dramatizations of gunfights.  The place has a Renaissance Faire feel with the actors in character all day.  We saw some old cabins, a hanging platform, and watched the train pull into the station.  The gunfight was too loud and violent for our little family, so we took off when the shots started.

Later in the evening we went to Junction City for the fireworks.  The British seventies rock band Foghat was playing "Slow Ride," Mike's Hard Lemonade was for sale at the beer stand, and Ed Hardy was the en vogue fashion.  I saw fireworks that have been banned in most states because they are often still burning when they hit the ground.  I could hardly pay attention to the fireworks because I was too busy people watching.  This was definitely not a San Francisco party, unless you count some of those white trash parties where people try to act like they're from the Heartland.  This was the real deal here, and I felt like such an outsider.

I had been worried about driving home on the Fourth in case people had been drinking, but that turned out to be the least of my worries.  The highway was empty and dark, the speed limit 70 mph, and the area has an abundance of wildlife.  On the drive to Junction City I saw a couple coyotes on the move in a nearby field and, on the highway shoulder, several roadkill deer and raccoons.  Speeding along in the Mini in the dark I was terrified I would hit a deer and kill all involved parties.

We survived the drive home, so the next day Lukas and I decided to visit Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure in Salina, Kansas.  The name sounded familiar, but we were out in the middle of nowhere so I assumed it was a roadside zoo.  We arrived in the heat to find a huge, beautiful zoo devoid of visitors.  After hunting down the ape keepers I was reminded that SF Zoo had received a vet and a male mandrill from Rolling Hills and thus had heard many stories about the place.

In our wanderings we saw a large joey poking out of red kangaroo mom's pouch, cotton top tamarins on their own island in the giant flamingo pond, a one horned rhino who rubs down his horn, and two female white rhinos with horns so long they were curving together.  Then we found the Wildlife Museum.  This was a separate building with thousands of taxidermy animals arranged into dioramas which included life-like hunter-gatherer types talking about animals and conservation.  It reminded me of Disney World, something between Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World.  Half-way through there was an educational play room.  We did not see another visitor or staff member the entire time we navigated the building.  All that, and I was able to get a two snacks and a water at the cafe for less than three dollars!

Kansas Zoo pic for Lori

That night we stayed in Topeka.  We didn't see much more than the RV park and the BBQ place next door.  That's where I had my brisket.  I also took a drive in the warm night and checked out the neighborhoods.  One thing going for Topeka, there is more racial diversity than I've seen in quite a few states.  My heart is ready to leave the Heartland, and off we go to Missouri.

RV PARK REVIEWS


Double Nickel RV Resort, Waco, Nebraska: C+
  Nice golf course, run down pool and mini golf, highway noise.

Four Seasons RV Acres, Abilene, Kansas: D
  Dirty, run down, middle of nowhere.  Pool.

Deer Creek Valley RV, Topeka, Kansas: B
  Pool and playground.  BBQ restaurant next door.  Clean and well maintained.

Yellowstone National Park, WY to Yankton, SD - Week 18

From our campground in Yellowstone we drove an hour through high mountain terrain before reaching the park border.  I was scanning for bighorn sheep the whole way, but to no avail.  I expected the majestic scenery to end once we left the park, and it did, only to be replaced with something just as amazing.  The terrain quickly shifted from snow covered mountains dotted with pine trees to monolithic rocks that looked as though they were carved out of sand.  Yellowstone was an amazing experience, but if we were to return we would stay in some of the picturesque RV parks near the East entrance rather than in the crowded park campgrounds.
  

Yellowstone East entrance

North Fork Highway East of Yellowstone

Northwestern Wyoming is Buffalo Bill country.  I couldn't really get behind the fervor, seeing as he murdered thousands of the bison species that I had so recently been admiring in the park.  We chose to stay in Greybull rather than Cody, mostly because its a smaller town, but also because the town is named after an albino buffalo that used to roam the area when settlers arrived.  

After four nights of state parks we were ready for a resort style RV park with laundry and full services. We've stayed in some not-so-great KOAs, but the Greybull KOA was not one of them. We finally learned the significance of the KOA President's Award and now will only frequent the KOAs with high honors. The owners were uber friendly and maintained the campground very well. It was lovely to swim in the pool, and Lukas was ecstatic to play in the playground and ride the coin operated train. I awoke super early the next morning and found the trail along the river for a run. It was a really cute town, all the houses nicely kept and surrounded by large lawns. I am quickly becoming a fan of the small town, at least while traveling.

We had planned to take Highway 14 over the Bighorn mountain range, but it was closed for several weeks due to a rockslide. Instead we headed south on Highway 16 and hit the southern end of the Bighorns. It was still a pretty intense climb over the mountains. Snow was in effect and the creeks looked much higher than normal. We hit 9,600 feet at the Cloud Peak pass, then descended toward the town of Buffalo.

Bighorn mountains

Buffalo was a great town to visit.  We got our car washed by some high school students raising money to attend a business prep course out of state.  Then we hit up historic Buffalo, where we found some organic ribs made by a guy who used to work for Amy's Organics label.  The ribs were killer, but so was the sage macaroni and cheese, and the homemade chocolate peanut butter banana ice cream made with cream top local milk.  Holey moley, that was a good meal.  Then we visited the Occidental Hotel where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used to hang out.  The hotel is still decorated like it was in the 1880s.  There are numerous mounted heads of bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn deer, etc lining the walls.  The saloon is just like you would expect, all dark wood with a piano in the corner, and wooden rockers sit on the porch out front.  Back at the RV Park, Brian attended the campground ice cream social and met one of the camp hosts who was a CB expert from California.  Brian was able to pick the brain of his new friend about all things CB and learned a little more about his newest hobby.  

The next morning we stopped by a team roping event.  Two adults on horseback chased a calf into the ring, one tried to rope the horns then the other tried to rope both feet.  I'm not sure how the scoring worked, but this sport was only for the serious cowboy/girl types.  We were one of two parties watching the show go down. Lukas has decided he wants to be a cowboy.  We'll have to see how that plays out once we're back in SF.

Next stop: Rapid City, South Dakota!  We had been trying to get a baseplate for our Mini Cooper ever since we got the dang car.  Now our made to order plate had been shipped to an installation place in Rapid City and we were off to return the U-Haul tow dolly and get our car ready for four-down towing.  We pulled into Rapid City early enough to drop off the tow dolly and pay the ridiculous fees for taking the thing half-way across the country.  Then to another KOA, where we heard about the last few days of golf-ball sized hail and experienced a five minute wind storm. 

Early the next morning we stopped by the KOA's pancake breakfast and experienced the cowboy poet.  Lukas had a Sponge Bob pancake made by the poet, and now my pancakes will never compare.  Then off to the maintenance shop, soon to explore the town in a loaner car.  We had mediocre coffee then spent hours at a playground.  Highlight of the day was buffalo burgers at the Firehouse Brewery which was located in an old firehouse, brass pole included.  Lukas got a complementary fire hat which has been an outfit staple ever since.  Around 2 pm, tada!  the installation was complete.

Cowboy Poet showing off his pancake skills

Lukas the fire fighter

We were ready to leave Rapid City immediately after the install.  It was so great pulling the car without a tow dolly.  That dolly weighed several hundred pounds and really slowed us down.  Now it was a simple thing to hook and unhook the car, versus the five to ten minute process it had been for the last few weeks.  Finally done with the appointment, we found ourselves within a half hour of Mt Rushmore.  Though I had no interest in visiting the site, it seemed a shame to just pass it by.  So on we went into the Black Hills of South Dakota.

We spent the night at a giant RV resort.  The Black Hills are one big tourist trap.  From the moment you enter you are besieged with offers to visit various sites: Reptile World, Bear Country, Old MacDonald's Farm, helicopter tours, wineries with rhubarb wine (I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted), Crazy Horse (the in-progress Native American equivalent to Rushmore), and the list goes on.  The Hills were pretty, but... nothing that special.  The problem is that it takes approximately half an hour to visit Mount Rushmore.  But people want to make a vacation out of it, so all these other sites spring up to fill in the void.  Our campground was fine, but busy with kids and families celebrating the start of summer.  I went running the next morning and the trail was nice, but right along the freeway.

We packed up camp and headed for Rushmore.  It was as underwhelming as I expected it to be.  I apologize for being such a horrible patriot.  While it was impressive that these faces had been carved out of rock, I found myself shaming the artists for defiling the beautiful rocks that nature had created.  We took some pictures and skedaddled.  

As we drove east through South Dakota, we quickly entered the grasslands.  Gently rolling hills, crops, grass, cows... that was about all we saw on our drive toward the Badlands.  The only exception was Wall Drug.  They advertise for several hundred miles in either direction and take up an entire city block in the town of Wall. The store includes a restaurant, gift shop, boot store, and curio shop, all with a Western theme.  I liked the plaza with a giant Jackelope, hungry T-Rex, piano playing gorilla, and free water stand.  I almost got sucked into the boot store, but am holding out for a true fitting in Texas.

Wall, South Dakota is named after the wall of stone that makes up the Badlands National Park.  This area was once a shallow inland sea.  500,000 years ago it began to erode, and in another 500,000 years all of these sandstone towers will be gone.  As we drove we saw many prairie dogs coteries: individuals on sentry, eating, and diving into holes.  Off in the distance we could see herds of bison.

We settled in at the park campground and Brian quickly made friends with the CB hound next door.  Lukas and I scouted out the motorcycle riders, then Lukas flashed his smile and weaseled a ride on a Harley.  Sunset over the rock formations was amazing.  I ran off to a ranger talk about the Lakota people and their study of the constellations.  It was a moonless night so I stuck around after the talk to view the stars through my binoculars.  One thing I forgot to bring to the talk: a flashlight.  After being told there are rattlesnakes in the park - but don't worry, they hide during the heat of day and come out at night - I walked toward the RV with wide eyes on the pavement.  Of course I walked the wrong way and wandered for over half an hour before actually finding the RV.  I did have time to appreciate the density of the stars and how close the are to the horizon when there is no light pollution.  I was also quite relieved to find my family without being bitten by a snake.

It was flippin' hot that night, so we slept with the windows open.  I woke bright and early at 5 am and went out to watch the sun rise.  The birds were in full effect and the clouds only amplified the coloration of the sunrise.  What a gorgeous morning.  I got back and Lukas was lying lengthwise across our bed, so I made coffee and decided to enjoy the cool of the morning.  We left early and cranked the AC.  It was the first heat of the summer for the Badlands, and the first hot night of many for us as we cross the country.

sunrise in the Badlands

Badlands spring wildflowers, late June

After the Badlands we were at a bit of a loss as to which direction to go.  We randomly picked the towns of Chamberlain/Oacoma because they were two and a half hours away and on the banks of the Missouri River.  Previously unbeknownst to us, the Missouri River is experiencing the worst flooding in recent history.  Half of the sites at our campground were closed due to flooding.  It was striking to see barbecue grills out in the water and stairways leading into water.  The nearby pool and restaurant were open, restoring our spirits for the evening.

Goodbye Oacoma, we were headed for Yankton.  I called the state parks in advance, but it being Fourth of July weekend they were completely booked.  We stayed at a relatively new KOA with a pool and a bouncy pillow like a trampoline.  Thank goodness for the pool, because the temperature was pushing toward a hundred with 85% humidity.  Finally we had a good WiFi signal, so we decided to stay here a couple nights.

RV PARK REVIEWS

Greybull KOA, Greybull, Wyoming: A

  Pool, playground, super friendly staff, close to walking trail along river.

Deer Park Campground, Buffalo, Wyoming: B-

  Ice cream social, camp host knowledgeable about CBs, great historic town.

Rapid City KOA, Rapid City, South Dakota: B-

  Tight spots, road noise, pancake breakfast made by the cowboy poet, two playgrounds and game room, pool.

Rafter J Bar Ranch, Hill City, South Dakota: B-

  Freeway noise, nice space between spots, huge resort - had to drive from site to pool, hike/bike trail along road.

Cedar Pass Campground, Badlands National Park, South Dakota: A+

  Gorgeous scenery, friendly people, ranger talk, morning birding.

Cedar Shores Resort, Oacoma, South Dakota: B+

  Friendly staff, could use amenities at hotel next door, playground, sites on the Missouri River.

Yankton Missouri River KOA, Yankton, South Dakota: A-

   Pool, bouncy pillow, playground, laundry, good WiFi.