CUSTER STATE PARK, SD - DAY 2

With a few things to check off our bucket list today we took off early to head for the hills. The best route to get there was Iron Mountain Road. Along the way we saw a few North American bison otherwise known as buffalo. Not only is Custer State Park home to largest publicly owned herd of buffalo but it’s one of the largest state parks in the United States. 2019 marks their Centennial Celebration! 

Iron Mountain Road is a very scenic drive located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. In only 17 miles the road has 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 tunnels and 3 pigtails, turns which loop over their own road, allowing the road to climb rapidly. The road encompasses miles of stunning views through twisty hair pin corners, high elevations and steep grades, some at 10%.

First stop was Mt. Rushmore ...

Then not far away we stopped at Crazy Horse. This stop turned out to be my favorite of the day. A work in progress and once completed, the mountain carving will be the largest in the world. 

On our way back to basecamp we stopped in the town of Custer at Mt. Rushmore Brewing Company for some local brew and a ‘burger’. Sorry Mr. Bison. This turned out to be our first time eating out since we began our journey seven days ago. 

Once back at basecamp we settled on a nice cozy campfire. A great way to end the day! 

Today’s quote ...

“Where ever you have dreamed of going, I have camped there and left firewood for when you arrive.” HAFIZ

CUSTER STATE PARK, SD - DAY 1

At the crack of dawn this morning I took off with Jett for her morning walk. While cruising through the campground in my jammies I hear an on/off noise like someone is dragging a blue boy on the ground in the other side of the campground. Then all of the sudden the sound is ever so familiar. It’s a hot air balloon!!! Majestically but slowly rising above the grand forest. Jett and I went off on a trail running a ridge line to get a better view. Spectacular! 

This will be our shortest travel day over the next four months. Tim moved the Airstream from camp site number 33 to site number 28. Jett and I just walked over. 

This will be our basecamp over the next six days. From here we will explore what we can in the time allotted. Based on weather and day of the week we have a lot of ground to cover. 

O nce Tim and I got settled in the new site we decided to go for a hike down to the lake with Jett. The trailhead starts at the campsite where we were at last night. Jett just couldn’t walk fast enough to the lake!

At a glance at my FitBit this evening I have done over 10,000 steps today. And it says 48 floors. Wow! I know it’s mountainous here and I have been all the campground and down to the lake and back. But that’s just crazy! 

On our return to camp I got a little hammock time before the rain set in. Then we had ‘blueberry lemonade’ beverages prior to some very tasty Mexican Taco Stew for dinner. A perfect day!!! 

Today’s quote - 

‘I am at home among the trees.’ - J.R.R. Tolkien

Temperature- 76* (nice)

Elevation - 5,250’

MONTROSE, SD to CUSTER STATE PARK

We made it y’all! And arrived here one day earlier than anticipated. Originally we had thought we could stay two nights at one place somewhere along the way and when it came to our stop last night we could have stayed there one additional night however today was going to be 90*. So we decided to take the 90* on the road and get to Custer a day early and enjoy 75* here tomorrow. 

Our adventure driving today made for a few stops. We first stopped to see Dignity. She is a beautiful site of stainless steel sitting at fifty feet tall on the bank of the Missouri River in Chamberlain, South Dakota. She is absolutely stunning representing the pride, strength and durability of the native cultures. 

In Mitchell, SD is the Corn Palace. You have to go at least once in your life. It was a fun drive-by to help break up the day. 

Our next scheduled stop was thenworld famous Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD. We knew we could take Jett in and did so. What we didn’t know was how tight, busy and crazy it was on the inside. Well Jett happened and we did not stay long nor would we have had we not brought her in. It was not our cup of tea so to speak. We do not need to go back. 

The main goal of the day was to land safely at Custer State Park in South Dakota. This park is worthy of being a national park. We haven’t even seen much of it. Breath taking! Tim and I will now have the week to explore here and are really excited that we won’t be driving hundreds of miles tomorrow. 

Quote for today ... 

‘If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.’ - Maya Angelou 

KANSAS CITY TO MONTROSE, SD ...

Even more miles are behinds now! We are 1,609 miles from our house and still have many more miles ahead of us. The plan for now is to land a day early tomorrow, at our first scheduled reservation. At that point we can slow the roll and really begin to enjoy the journey.  Hopefully my cactus and herbs from the house will make the entire journey ...

Along the way we began to see previously flooded areas. Then we realized we were driving through them. Not for a few miles or ten miles but for probably at least a hundred miles. Devastating. This was all along the Missouri River today. Houses, crops, businesses and silos. All either in water or had been and I’m sure this wasn’t even the worst of it. In doing a quick search this began all the way back in March both from rain and snow melt. It all kinda sinks in knowing that where we were driving had recently been under water. 

For tonight we have landed at Pioneer Campground in Montrose, South Dakota. This is north west of Sioux Falls, SD. This is such a sweet little town. The city owned campground is right in town. Tim and I took Jett for a casual little walk into town after we got settled. 

On our return to the Airstream I made some of Tara’s World Famous Egg Roll Bowl for dinner. Tasty! Life is good! 

Today’s quote ... 

“As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.” - Pooh 

Miles Driven Today - 410 miles 

Temperature - 79*

Elevation - 1,500’

KENTUCKY TO KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI ...

The weather in Kentucky last night was perfect for leaving the windows open. It was great even though I didn’t get much sleep. Jett took up half the bed and refused to move. But what made up for it was that I love the sound of the bugs coming to life at darkness, the soothing sounds as they slowly get quieter during the night, the smell of a distant campfire and the start of the song birds chirping right before sunrise to waken me for another day of adventure. 

Once up and about Jett and I took a nice walk down to the boat ramp while Tim got the truck ready for departure. Then we began heading west. 

The day was uneventful. We just focused on putting miles behind us in order to make our first reservation on Saturday. The day ended with us finding a nice place just outside of Kansas City, Missouri at Blue Springs County Park. 

Today’s quote ...

‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’ - Eleanor Roosevelt 

GEORGIA TO KENTUCKY ...

Jett let us sleep in just a little this morning. Either that or I was so exhausted I didn’t hear her whining to be fed. After her breakfast she and I took a nice little walk to the dog run to get some running in! 

With ourselves having put over 40,000 miles on this Airstream this will be our longest trip yet. We have taken many one month and even a two month journey plus uncountable one week trips. This one will be the biggest yet. With about 8,000 miles to cover, out west and four months to do it in, we have a lot to see ahead of us! 

This afternoon we landed at Lake Barkley Resort State Park in Kentucky. This is an absolutely beautiful park and lucky for us it’s quiet and cool enough to open the windows and leave the a/c off. After getting settled in we had a cold adult beverage, cooked some chicken outside and took Jett for another walk. 

Tonight’s light show was amazing! Thinking we would get a beautiful night sky for star gazing Mother Nature instead surprised us at sunset with a few hundred lightning bugs! Now that it’s dark ... it’s really dark ... I can not see anything outside except a random lightning bug. Perfect. 

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And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling ... ‘- Shanti

Miles driven:  360

Temperature: 71*

Elevation:  460’

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!

Today was the day of departure! Tim and I had a pretty uneventful day of traveling until the end of the day. Jett was a little fussy for the first hour but it was her first ride with the back seat in that configuration. 

Overall we drove 400 miles to Plan B which was Atlanta South RV Resort. Plan A was an old familiar stop for us at High Falls State Park south of Atlanta. We had arrived to a locked gate, no flyers for late check in instructions and no one answering the after hour numbers. We had to feed poor Jett in their parking lot because it was already past her feeding and she gets grumpy without food. 

Anyway Plan B got us farther north, full hook-ups and a closer re-entry to the interstate in the morning. We just had our drivers meeting and have decided to depart late in the morning to lessen the hot mess of traffic in Hot-tlanta on our way through. Onward. 

And we found a ‘cousin’ here! 

84° upon arrival

810’ Elevation 

Today’s quote ...

"I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news!" - John Muir

THE NEXT BIG ADVENTURE BEGINS SOON ...

After two years of planning the time has finally come. Tim and I were supposed to have taken this trip out west last year for our 30th Anniversary. Then my work got in the way so I postponed everything until now.  It allowed another year to plan some more details and to finish figuring out the journey. Our anniversary has since passed. More jobs have come and gone, shorter Airstream trips took place and additional work was able to be accomplished on our 1948 Airstream that we are restoring, so all was not lost. 

This trip will now hopefully be filled with all things adventurous, wild and wonderful. We will soar to new heights, explore many new places, search for the treasure again, take in some spectacular hikes, live the cowboy dream by some cozy campfires, watch as many sunrises and sunsets as possible, eat some amazing food and possibly go to another country but most of all we will be present in each day. There will be surprises both planned and not known along the way. But that’s what is it all about right? The journey and not just the destination.

Jett is ready to go! She knows a trip is in the works and is anxiously waiting for departure. Jett is so excited to be coming with us and already has her new sweater and coat, that she loves, packed and ready to go. Favorite toys and treats have also been set aside for the trip. She even has an invite to a special place in Montana! This trip had originally been planned around two dogs. We dearly miss our sweet Mattie who passed unexpectedly this past Christmas Eve. Mattie was our three year old black lab rescue. In her memory Mattie’s collar will travel with us. We know that a majority of this journey will be planned around Jett as many of our locations will not allow dogs on the trails (for her safety) and we will also need to be mindful of her while we go explore out on our own. 

Tim has tediously prepared as well. With no time for me to help do the final preparations he has had to take on more prep like polishing the Airstream plus doing all of the maintenance needed on both the Airstream and his truck for this long road trip. Bearings have been repacked. New tires and rims have been purchased and even new batteries were in order. Tim then decided last minute to get a new truck. The new truck then had to be rigged for this trip as well.

I have a few goals to accomplish on this journey. Other than spending this time with the best husband EVER and Crazy Jett I want to play my ukulele everyday, get some hammock time, practice yoga, see the Narrows again, have the courage to hike Angels Landing, be lucky enough to hike The Wave, sleep outside under the stars and come back a better person. Our departure is so near!!! 

Leaving you with a quote . . .

‘Our world is beautiful and many lifetimes wouldn't be enough time to see everything worth seeing, spend your time wisely and get a good look at as much as you can before it gets dark.’ — John Muir 

GREY TANKS AND BELLY PAN

Grey tank installation is complete and Tim has begun installing the belly pan. The weather in Florida has been great this past week. Hoping to make some good progress before the summer rains begin.