9-23-19 - (Day 61 - Wind Cave National Park)

We relocated 87 miles to Southern Hills RV Park in Hermosa. South Dakota.  We stayed at this campground a couple of years ago during the Sturgis Rally.  We have the luxury of full hookups.  The first time we have had them since the end of July.  Ferny Kat sure does enjoy her unlimited supply of drinking water from the faucet.

We got a nice, long, hot shower then headed to Wind Cave National Park.  It was a great day to ride with sunshine and the temperature in the low 80's.  We saw plenty of buffalo in the park.  Our buddy, Cathy, is staying in the campground here.  She was not here, but we stopped by and said hello to her boyfriend.  We continued our ride through Custer State Park.  It was a pretty ride with more buffalo sightings and plenty of deer sightings.

I cooked spaghetti for dinner, we watched a little TV, then we crashed for the night. 

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9-22-19 (Day 60 - Devil's Tower)

We woke up to 40 degree temperatures and the sound of rain peppering on the roof of the camper.  This is Ferny Kat's kind of weather.  She has been trying to get us to let her outside for 2 days.  I finally gave in when the rain lightened up for just a few minutes.  It was too cold and wet to stay out very long.

By 10 am we had partly cloudy skies, wind, and temps in the low 50's.  Our plans for riding Amber today were changed by Mother Nature.

We took a ride to Devil's Tower in the truck.  The last time we were here, there were very few tourist. Not the case today.  There were lots of tourist here.

We walked the 1.3 mile trail around the monument.  We saw several rock climbers on the wall, one of them had made it to the top.

We made a stop at the picnic area for lunch and had a great view of the tower.  We were pleasantly surprised at the bird activity.   We saw flickers, chickadees, and blue birds.  One of the chickadees  jumped on the table and tried to get some of Lauren's sandwich he had in his hand.   

We checked out the interpretive trail and enjoyed looking at the exhibits.  We were very impressed with the Sacred Circle of Smoke sculpture.

When we got back to the lake, we had sunshine and a light breeze.  We built a campfire that we cooked over, then went in and watched TV until time for bed.


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9-21-19 - (Day 59 - Rainy, Cloudy, Windy Day)

The weather forecast was right today.  We had on and off rain, temperatures in the low 60's, and 20 to 40 mile an hour wind.  Needless to say, we have been inside the camper all day.

I reorganized the stuff in the cabinets and cleaned the camper.  We got our blog and iNaturalist caught up while watching the white caps on the lake.  At least, we have a pretty view.

Finally, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful sunset.

9-20-19 - (Day 58 - Waiting on the Rain Day)

The sunrise over the lake was pretty this morning.  The pretty skies turned into clouds and the rain started.

By the time we got in the truck to take a ride, the clouds were gone.  We had a rainy forecast for today and tomorrow, so we chose to leave Amber parked.

We rode around looking on the other side of the lake then to Sturgis so I could exchange a shirt.  We had lunch at Patti's Cafe and took a walk on the Riverwalk in Belle Fourche.

We had rain at the lake around 4 pm, so we sat under the awning.  Ferny Kat attempted to drink water that was dripping from the awning as it puddled on the ground.  It was absorbing faster than she could drink it.  We placed a bowl to catch the rain water for her to drink. Dang spoiled cat!

The rain quit and we built a campfire. We had a rainbow after the rain.  By the time we were ready to go in for the night, we got some more showers.

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9-19-19 - (Day 57 - Belle Fourche/Spearfish/Deadwood/Sturgis)

We rode through our old stomping grounds today, Spearfish, Deadwood, and Sturgis.  It was really nice approaching these areas from Belle Fourche.  A totally different direction than we have rode before.

We made a stop at the Tri State Museum Center in Belle Fourche, and was pleasantly surprised.  We checked out the wagon camper, the monuments honoring our veterans, the cabin, and the geographic center of the U.S. We could have spent more time here, but decided it's a gorgeous day and time to ride.

It sure is a different world in Sturgis when the biker rally is over.  Just a few weeks ago, there would have been bike after bike.  Today, we saw very few bikes.

Lauren's first order of business, was to take Amber's picture at the Sturgis sign.

We made the mistake of stopping at the Sturgis HD.  We truly did not need anything, but I left with a tee shirt and a jacket.  Suckered me in with their after the rally deals.

We stopped for a picnic lunch at the Lion's Club Park then headed back.  It was a great day to be riding Amber.

When we got back to camp, the wind was howling.  It looked like the Gulf of Mexico on the lake.  We took off in the truck to check out the rest of the camping area.  This is a large area with plenty of camping spots.  We are amazed that this is free.

When we got back, Ferny Kat was ready to prowl.  She prowled around outside for a while, then we called it a night.  It was too windy to build a fire or stay out after dark.

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9-18-19 - (Day 56 - Belle Fourche Reservoir)

Around 10:30 last night, a group unloaded horses from their horse trailer and walked them around on the pavement.  They used the corral to feed their pony.  When we looked out at 4:30 this morning, they were gone.

We drove for 5 hours today and covered 275 miles to get to Belle Fourche Reservoir.  It was a very scenic, enjoyable ride traveling in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota to get here.  We saw Pronghorns galore.

The road to the campground is a dirt road with lots of washboards.  We had a lot of stuff tossed around from the rough road.  It was so rough, that our kitchen drawers were open and would not shut.  Lauren had to get a hammer and readjust the frame so the drawers would shut.

We are another fabulous, free, campsite on the bank of Belle Fourche Reservoir.  All the shaking we did to get here was worth it.

We did a whole lot of nothing after we stopped, watching water fowl and other birds.  There are a lot of campsites here, but very few campers.  It is another peaceful, beautiful, place to camp.

We built a campfire and cooked burgers.  The beautiful clear skies we had today, were illuminated with beautiful stars tonight.

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