Nasty Weather and Slow Days

Wednesday September 14, 2011
Broken Arrow Campground
Custer South Dakota

 

Not much going on these past few days
since we went to Bear Lodge.
Tuesday the  weather turned cold and windy. 
I was inside most of the day
working on the plan for the next week or so. 
Where are going when and for how long to do what.  
It seems much more complicated with the current restrictions.

But we were rescued from total boredom
when our friends Jeannie and Eldy (Where's Eldo)
moved in right beside us. 
They’d come a long way to check up
on us and we had a great night
having dinner and talking at Winnona’s table.

 

 

Wednesday we found the weather
had turned colder and rainy.
We had intended to boondock
at Wind Cave National Park’s Campground
and try out the solar panels.
But with night time temperatures
predicted to drop into the low 30’s
and no sun expected,
we revised our plans and decided to take off
for Custer, South Dakota and stay in the campground
Eldy had picked for the two of them.
Thanks Eldy and Jeannie.
We’ll go ahead and scout it out for you!

 

We packed up,
everything performed perfectly
jacks, slides
Hooray!
So off we went.

The rain was drizzling off and on
but things weren’t too bad until
about 8 miles out of town on one of
the three different two lane roads between
Sundance and Custer,
we came upon a VERY slow moving
caravan of 4 escort trucks with flashing lights
and two high flat beds with complete buildings on them.

They were going about 20 mph
when we got into the line behind them
and slowed to 5 or 10 going up the Black Hills. 
So a trip of 80 miles took
twice as long as it would have since we had to
follow them up and down
for about 30 miles before they turned off.

 

 

We stopped at the top of Salt Creek Overlook
to get a picture of the Black Hills but
with the weather such as it was,
the picture isn’t much.

 

The Black Hills are named after the dark green
carpets of pines that cover them.  They stretch
125 miles North to South and 65 miles east to west
and rise 300-400 feet above the red valley floor.
Bur oak grows in the Salt and Beaver Creek valleys
I was looking down into.

 

Thank goodness the fog didn’t get
terribly bad until after we had gotten
out from behind the barely moving cavalcade.
Hardly my favorite driving conditions for even
what should have been a short trip.

 

We finally pulled into Broken Arrow Campground about
3pm.  The high hadn’t gotten out of the mid 40’s.
So we got things hooked up and turned on the heat
for which we had forsaken Wind Cave Campground.

It was so dreary and rainy we didn’t even get a picture
of our site here in this Horse Campground.
Pretty interesting place though.
They have corrals and barns for horses and more
than half the rigs are horse trailers with living space.
But they are making very nice quiet neighbors!

Pictures on all of the above to come
assuming at some point we get a clearer day.

When David went in to register the fella behind
the desk greeted him with “Howdy Pardner”.
That’s twice in about 4 days some has said “HOWDY”.  
Sounds as novel to our ears as our Ya’ll does to lots of other folks.

 

Freezing rain tonight.  YUCK!
But………..quiet!!

 

Even colder predicted for tomorrow,
along with more rain and fog.

May be a good day to go to Jewel Cave and see
what sort of a tour I can do in a wheelchair.
IF we can see to drive there.