We were finally leaving our spot in Spearfish South Dakota. We had fallen in love with that campground, the views, the people and the UFO. We still talk about it, I do not know if anyone believes, yet, we tell everyone.
We managed to see one last site in the area before leaving, Spearfish Canyon. It was right behind the campground; we had wondered where the walking trail led.
From Spearfish, we were on our way to Wyoming. Most people think of Wyoming as Yellowstone, that was not where we were headed. Our first stop was to be Devil’s Tower. You know, the one from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This is the vision that comes to my mind. The entire way there, yep, mashed potatoes. It makes sense, he has a vision of a place he has never been. The potatoes were his medium to show his family. It certainly got us thinking of alien life, After all, Star Wars had come out, we had long been watching Twilight Zone and similar tv shows. Lost in Space for instance, we grew up thinking there was life out there. Perhaps there is or was .
The real story or legend of Devils Tower comes from Indian lore.
Painting by Herbert Collins taken from NPS website
Now that we have left South Dakota, we barely went into Montana. I don’t know if you can really count it. What do you think?
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This was our path from border to border as we drove toward Devils Tower. We never go in a straight line, it’s not that interesting. We didn’t officially travel into Montana, the sign just as you entered was as far as we ventured. On to bigger and better things.
Spearfish, north on 212 until we hit Montana, I am counting that as a visit.
Off we go, got the obligatory sign picture, so we’re good. If you have never been to Devils Tower, it is ominous! We could spot it from a great distance, sprouting up from the earth, looking volcanic and massive. This giant rock rising out of the earth, from a distance looks like it is on a plain or prairie. Where did it come from? A rock rising more than 5112 feet, that’s nearly a mile. No wonder you can see it from 10-12 miles away. It is indeed a sight to behold. All things in the United States, all lands, mountains, canyons, waterfalls/ buttes, rock formations and I want to see them all. We thought as we approached, wow, to camp here. Can you imagine the stars above, no light from towns, the wildlife that could be there. This is a journey again later in our life, we are certain of it. While David was in the tourist gift shop, I was happily taking photos for a group travelling on motorcycles. I was admiring the Indian bike, when one of them made me an offer I had to refuse. I was almost a biker chick on the back of the single guys ride. Hahaha, really nice folks enjoying their country. Bikers have a leisurely and interesting ride with a fantastic view.
Devils Tower up close and ten miles away.
On the next post, we will be travelling from Devils Tower to Cody Wyoming. A scary and treacherous ride! Wow what a view we had.
I don’t believe I told you about the campground site we reserved, it was three nights at this beautiful county park. Right on a stream, near the walking trail and had lots of beautiful rocks and friendly folks. There was a fish hatchery on site, a walking trail and nearby Spearfish Canyon. One of the first things that happens is the hammock gets set up for pleasure. A great gift from my husband on my 55th birthday, I remember that, because, it’s also the first year we had the camper.
What’s even better is the stand he got to with it. It has a convenient drink holder for the beverage of your choice, cell phone nook and table. Ahhh, it’s the perfect relaxation spot while camping.
We pale in comparison
Here we are, another day in South Dakota, this was another adventure in our circle through the western side of the state. I had never been to see Crazy Horse; in fact, I knew very little about it. I knew of the legend of this warrior chief from history lessons, when we actually taught history to children. I am linking the site History.com here to share with children who may be interested in learning, one of my favorite subjects. They even have a today in history daily knowledge bump here. Today, as I write, Elvis Presley made his debut on the Ed Sullivan show.
The Crazy Horse Memorial is not a National Park, instead, a privately funded memorial, made possible through a foundation and donations from patrons and visitors. It is a remarkable tribute to the Indian nations. Everyone should know the dedication of the man and the Ziolkowski family who began the process, the story of the family and collaboration of tribes and Chief Henry Standing Bear to carry through a promise made.
You need to plan on several hours at this memorial, the walking, the scheduled tram ride to see the process up close and yet another large scale nose. It is certainly humbling to see the sculpture, walk the museum full of artifacts and history, perhaps see a family member who oversees the project.
Considering we got to the Crazy Horse Memorial early in the day, we still had plenty of time to visit other places on our list. Remember, our campsite location was in close proximity to so much! We decided on Custer State Park, just southeast of Crazy Horse, The path took us on highway 385 to 16 A into the park.
Time to look for buffalo…..in this beautiful park, which meanders on all kids of roads, lots of sites to see along the path to buffalo. I was eager to get great photographs of buffalo in their native habitat, although , I learned that occasionally, the buffalo are moved to new areas. Here’s why. The buffalo roundup occurs once a year in order to keep the balance between healthy live stock and available forage. Good news, just days away on September 30, 2022 is the Livestream of the roundup. Join here to watch this roundup without being there, but, it will be like you are with cowboys and cowgirls as the plains rumble with thundering herds of buffalo. Here is the roundup from 2021, wow, what a sight and adventure. This could be or should be on a bucket list, am I right!
We were not fortunate enough to see this kind of a sight, but, on my list was to see them on the plains, with baby buffalo roaming about watching the day to day life of a buffalo. I got my wish, and, my husband was brilliant enough to locate a spot high above in the park, perfect for viewing and photos. He had recently purchased a tripod for me and I couldn’t wait to utilize it. I had purchased a nice digital camera about two years before that, I was always a 35mm film camera photog before, I had the right camera for this purpose. This tripod is affordable for everyone and I highly recommend having one. At this low price, how could you not!
Hello again, I admit, I am skipping around a little, bypassing other trips to get this one posted. This was one of the most magnificent trips we have taken to date. We werescheduled to get married in October, as everyone remembers, Covid happened in March 2020. At that time, we were in Florida visiting Davids’s parents, soon after we realized, we would be visiting family more over the next year.
In May, once we gathered all our plans for the wedding, we decided on who was going to walk me down the aisle. We had both been married before, me never having a real wedding. My Dad wasn’t going to be available since he had passed away a few year before in 2017. My niece was visiting, my great niece that is, Bella, we love when that little girls visits with us. We try to get her involved in crafts, outdoors and cooking. This day though, we had another plan. I wanted to check in with my friend Jim Brown, he worked with me at Academy Sports and Outdoors, we had both left the company at this point. He wanted to officially retire, I changed retailers. Jim was one of greatest inspirations when it came to travel. He and his wife Pam had a camper, he always showed me pics of places they had been, beautiful mountains and sunsets and weird places they had seen. Our goal was to get travel advice about places to see on our next trip.
The planned trip was to be one before our wedding, to Wyoming and South Dakota. Our plan was to camp on our longest journey yet with the Patty Wagon, David named it by the way. Jim and Pam had taken this trip, by a different path, but the destinations were going to be the same. I told Jim we wanted to come visit for info and guidance. He obliged willingly. An opportunity to show us photos and brochures and share some of the pamphlets we could review before leaving on our trip. We got to Jims, Bella alongside us, he already has all the info layed out for viewing. I am not sure how long we were there, but by the time we finished we had new goals. We also could not leave his house without completing one other detail, the real reason behind us visiting that day. You see, Jim was the person I wanted to walk me down the aisle for our wedding. We had become close friends over the years, and he was who came to mind. Because Jim is who he is, and rarely says no to someone, he agreed. David filmed me asking Jim, some tears were shed and I knew I made the right choice.
Getting a camper ready for a cross country trip is no small undertaking. We had been on several small trips, local campgrounds, family in Kentucky and to neighboring state Tennessee. All relatively close and knew the location. Our questions were, will the truck withstand the mountains, were campsites going to be available, will we get eaten by a bear? We only had one reservation, aside from the bear part that was. A reservation in Spearfish South Dakota, for three nights at the Spearfish city campground. We chose it based on location, you know that’s everything, not just for house hunting. It’s close to Crazy Horse, the never-ending monument. What a great place to visit and the history and dedication by one man’s family to it’s completion. We would be close to Mount Rushmore , Custer State Park a beautiful place to view, also, that is where buffalo roam. Yep, this was where we wanted to stay for three days. We chose wisely what a beautiful campground. Extremely well maintained, friendly staff and beautiful surroundings.
These are pictures taken at our campsite, that’s me in the hammock! Rocks that were left from previous campers, our chairs for viewing , rocks I wish I collected and the stream. A beautiful location for relaxing , claiming rocks and seeing flying objects.
We were definitely set up to camp, but, honestly, we ate out every morning at a local restaurant. The omelets were amazing, I usually make those when we camp, but, theirs…let me link their info here, the food was amazing for breakfast and dinner, at least three of them! The Millstone Family Restaurant is just a normal family fare spot, but, we found it very appetizing and delicious.
Now, had we not eaten out those three days, I would have used all my supplies. I want to give you a rundown of those items, I always set up first. In the three years we have had the camper, we have come to know what we can take with us because of space allowances. A kitchen set up is crucial and I have it going on at the campsite.
Collapsible items are easily carried and stored, and yes, mostly from Amazon! I have many purchases we have made to make it that simple for us.
I will show you some of those products after the breakfast pic, getting hungry?
Eggs Benedict, they were delicious!
My camping style is let’s make it easy but let’s eat fantastic! Like we’re at home, it can be done. You just have to plan and be well organized. I do both very well. One of my favorite things though is this map, I got it for David the Christmas of 2019 to track our progress across the states. I have these cute flag push pins to track locations, prettiness and restaurants!! Get you a map, whether it’s a magnet one for your camper, or like ours, on a big corkboard in the office. You won’t regret it, and you will create new goals.
Tracking where we've been, one trip at a time! #founditonAmazon
I love camper designed stuff! These bowls are cute and useful, and they match my melamine dinnerware too. Look at the little pattern on them, I find a use for them every camp trip, whether it’s for Pico de Gallo that David makes, prep for fajitas or a salad, they work and store great!
My wonderful camp bowls with cute design #founditonAmazon
Our melamine dinnerware set
#founditonAmazon
We did stay in Spearfish three nights, beautiful weather for flying saucers. The skies are so unobstructed, so clear and so dark. One night, by the fire, about midnight, I in my hammock and pa in his cap, no wait, wrong story. I was in the hammock he was in his chair, we both were looking up in this dark sky, unobstructed when one of us says, ” what is that? ” Really far off, too far to be a jet, maybe a satellite, maybe the shuttle? It looked like it could have been a satellite, but the path was not direct. Kind of wobbly, like a loose superball, bouncing around with no direction or a dog’s Chuck It toys, that is random and erratic. We didn’t know, but we both saw something. Very bright, extremely distant and definitely unidentified. We didn’t know, so, we continued on with our adult beverages.
And, hey, if like me, you gather rocks while camping, and paint them as I enjoy, here are some of the supplies I use. Who knows, you may be the next Bob Rocks!
50 Piece paint brush set
#founditonAmazon
Mandala dot tools
#founditonAmazon
Brush organizer #founditonAmazon
On the next episode of Two People on an Adventure, go to Mount Rushmore with us! Just a heads up, I cried coming around the mountain !
Heading out of Australia to escape this Aussie winter. First stop Japan, then UK/Ireland and if work doesn't call me back, onto Chicago. I will make it up as I go along
Tracking where we've been, one trip at a time! #founditonAmazon
My wonderful camp bowls with cute design #founditonAmazon
Our melamine dinnerware set
#founditonAmazon
50 Piece paint brush set
#founditonAmazon
Mandala dot tools
#founditonAmazon
Brush organizer #founditonAmazon
Two People on an Adventure 