On to the Badlands

Sunday September 18, 2011
Cedar Pass Campground Site 12
Badlands National Park, South Dakota

 

We’ve had a fun 4 days in the Custer area
and enjoyed spending some of it with Eldy and Jeannie.
But today was time for us both to leave.
They are off to Sioux Falls to sign Jeannie
up as a South Dakota resident.
We are off to Badlands National Park
to meet Mike and Terri.
The friends you make in this life are amazing!

 

David was up on top the coach wiping off the slide toppers
from last night’s big rain when I saw his shadow on
their Phaeton.

 

Here are the guys working on their rigs.

 

.

 

Down the ladder he goes

 

 

 

We saw Jeannie and Eldy off at 8:45 but it was another TWO hours before we could get on the orad.  Don’t ask ME why…ask that other guy.

 

 

And then we had to stop to get gas
and put the car on the dolly.
But FINALLY we were off.

 

Our route took us through the edge of Rapid City.
Here’s what we saw on
opposite corners of the street
when we stopped at a light.

 

We entered the Badlands from the west which we
later learned was the least common way to come in.
Nearly eveyone comes from the North West or North East off of I90.

 

We were on the Prairie for miles and little by little the
Badlands appeared.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
When we got to the little town of Interior,
we knew we were only 2 miles from
our destination at Cedar Pass Campground.

 

 

 

The campground is $28 a night for electric hook ups.
Half that if you are a senior.
There is a dump station and you can take on water there.
There are two loops and about half the sites in each
have electric.  I thought it was a lovely setting.

 

 

Here’s Duckie’s mighty fine view!
(hey Roamin, when you gonna get your tail feather out here?)

 

We headed over to the visitors center since it
was so late in the day to catch it before it closed
at 5pm – it’s winter hours.  We hooked up the electric
but new we could level up later.

The Badlands is an oddly shaped park.
The National Monument was made into a
National Park with the help of some additional
lands on the Oglala Lakota reservation which are jointly administered.  The Northern section (in yellow)
is the original monument and the Southern (in green) is on
the Lakota Reservation and contains many sites sacred
to the Oglala Lakota and other American Indian cultures. 

There is a 3rd section of 122,000 acres
which was formerly  used as an aerial bombing range
during World War II.  Due to the quantity of unexploded ordinance that continue (AFTER OVER 60 YEARS???) to litter the areas used for bombing practice, a multi-agency task force is working toward clearing the South unit of these devices.  Cell phones can detonate
these devices.   Sounds like no one is going to be hiking
here for another how many years??

 

 

The Visitors Center is named in honor of Ben Reifel
the first
Native American elected to congress. 

 

 

We watched the 15 minute film which was excellent
except for the “change lamp bulb” notice that took
up the middle left hand side of the screen for the entire film.
Why don’t they change the bulb already???

They had very informative exhibits of the fossils found in the
Badlands which is one of the chief paleontology sites
in the plains.  This area has bones and teeth from the dinosaur era
but none of them are dinosaurs.  They are all marine mammals
and the ancestors of cats, dogs and horses.

Among my favorite things at this center was this
1905 photograph of the Lakota here in the Badlands
their home place.

 

David had a favorite picture too

 

 

When we got back to the coach,
this beautiful singer flew up to the top
of our picnic table cover and serenaded us with
his lovely Meadow Lark song.
Not sure you can see him there.

 

But here’s a closer look.

 

What a good omen for our stay in the Badlands.

Visiting Wind Cave and Custer (the town)

Saturday September 17, 2011
Broken Arrow RV Park
Custer, South Dakota

 

A second beautiful morning in a row. 
So we decided to go early into the little town of Custer
and check into those buffalo we’d seen
when we’d gotten gas the day before.

 

I saw this sign and thought of
Nancy Mills  who had once commented that Laundromats should have restaurants so you could get breakfast, lunch or dinner while doing your laundry.
Custer’s got you covered  Nancy.  Here are a couple of things you can do while your clothes are in the washer.  :-)

 

Custer has an annual buffalo round up in the park. 
This year it is September 23-27.
The local cowhands and staff of the park
round up the 1300 bison.  They sort em’, brand em’
give em’ their shots and decide who stays
and who goes to auction in order to
control the herd size.

It’s one of the country’s last real western round ups.
There is an art festival on the Saturday and Sunday
before the Monday round up.  Bet the town is PACKED
but it sure would be a fun thing to see.
But we have a date in Badlands National Park
with Mike and Terri (Forever Young)

 

Artists submit designs to decorate buffalo
both full size and miniature.    They are selected
by a panel of judges and the finished works  are
auctioned off during the roundup days.
 

Some of them have been purchased by Custer businesses
and are on display in town.

Wonder who bought this colorful one for the
Church of Christ

 

 

They are all along the main street.
On many corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post office had the White Buffalo, one of my favorites.

 

 

 

 

 

There were a LOT of buffalo in town. At least 12 or 15 by my count.

 

 

 

   

And of course one with Custer himself

 

 

 

 

 

 

The detail on some was amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don’t want to pick up a big buffalo to mow your grass or carry around in your toy hauler,
they had table models on display in the town and park visitors centers.

 

Lest you think Custer is only a town
of buffalo, here is a local truck full of elk antlers
We assumed he must be trading at
the Claw, Antler & Hide company.

 

 

Doesn’t this look like a bank Jesse James might have robbed??
(notice buffalo)
J

 

 

There was also a used bookstore and restaurants in
this fine little town.

 

 

After we returned from Custer,
David took off for Wind Cave to
do a tour and potentially a hike.
While he was gone I stood around
and got those bugs off of
poor Winnona.

 

Seems David was the only one playing today
Jeannie was knitting and Eldy and I were
working on the rigs.

 

I also got
some pictures of
Broken Arrow Campground.
Unlike Peter D’s, this was a
GREAT place to stay.

 

 

Here’s  the office.
And the new owner’s runabout
with “Host Jerry” painted on the side.

And here’s the genial host himself.
(is he doing a Custer imitation?)

 

 

I loved watching them unload this
great chuck wagon today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerry told David that the wagon has a canvas
top and on Friday nights next Year
there will be a Chuck wagon cook out.
He brought the wagon and lots of cast iron
cooking pots from Texas.
Ya’ll better come on out now, ya heah??

 

 

Nice horse stables

 

Our view of the mountains out Winnona’s  front window.

 

 

 

and the cabins out the back.
(if she had a back window)  :-)

 

I would highly recommend Broken Arrow to
anyone coming to the Custer area especially
from out of state as the State Park fees for camping
add up when you include their $15 per vehicle per week charge
(toweds & motorhome are separate vehicles)
and $7.70 fee for out of staters.
Wonder if that’s why so many full timers
choose South Dakota as their “home” state.
:-)

 

The folks at Broken Arrow are very friendly.
They honor both Passport America and Good Sam.
The campground is neat and tidy
and QUIET!  :-)

It’s also very interesting with all the
horsie folks (at least for those of us who have had
or like horses).  But No smell, no flies. 

 

 

Thanks for a very nice few days Jerry
you can bet we’ll be back and stay longer.

So that’s what I did and here’s what David did
this afternoon.
(In the interest of catching the blogs up to date,
David didn’t write this section.  I know you
love his posts but they take a LONG time to do.)

 

 

 

 

The visitors center again had excellent exhibits
about the history of and formations inside the cave.
They also had this information showing the
differences inside the cave and outside
and which direction it was “breathing” at this time.

 

Since he was alone,
He could take  a “real” tour this time and went in through
the original cave entrance.

 

 

 

 

Wind Cave, like Jewell Cave, is a “dry” cave
meaning few Stalagmites or Stalactites.
But cave “breathing” and narrow low places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the
formations in the
many pictures he took
that I found most
interesting.

 

There are many other formations on the tours
only offered during the summer.  This time of year
there is only one tour to choose from.

 

After the cave tour, he went up on top to “tour”
some of the  28,295 acres of beautiful
mixed grass prairie and Ponderosa Pine Forest

 

 

 

and look who he met

Antelope have such beautiful markings.

 

Next it was the trail to the tower for a look
over it all.  Clouds are looking ominous.

 

 

The incoming clouds cut what would have
been a very long dstance view of the Black Hills.

 

But he did see some elk
in the distance.  Not sure you can see them though

 

 

The rain started just as he got back
to the car to start for home.
He was very nearly late
for pizza with Eldy and Jeannie in their Tiffin Phaeton.
We were more than hungry and were about
to start without him by the time he got there.
I’m sure you can see the blur here from the
speed with which that slice is going up to my mouth.
Since he was gone and late coming back I put
ANCHOVIES on half of the pizza.
YUM!!!