Travel with Sue and Ted

Category: Western-US

  • Four Days in South Dakota

    Our travel adventures continue!  On Monday we drove to the Black Hills in South Dakota with a lunch stop in a motorcycle grill/bar Sturgis.  We are staying at the beautiful Rafter J Bar Ranch campground and our site overlooks expansive lawns and many trees.  While Mount Rushmore was the primary reason to come here, we saw a lot of other great places, too.

    Custer State Park is an amazing space that rivals a National Park.  It contains over 45,000 acres and has a road named “The Needle Highway” which goes to the top of the peak and culminates in a one-way tunnel only eight-feet wide. Here’s a fun, short, timelapse video of Custer State Park.  The road ascends to the cathedral spires and presents views of the Black Hills that are unparalleled from other places.  It is beautiful state park, and after stopping at the visitor center, we drove on the 20 mile wildlife loop road, and saw a herd of 400 bison in addition to many other animals.  Wow!

    mt-rushmore-922We went to Mt. Rushmore on three separate occasions: sunrise, during an afternoon, and for the late evening program. We particularly enjoyed our time at sunrise. There were only four other people there at 6 am and the thirty second reflection of the sunrise on the faces was breathtaking.  Click this to see a brief timelapse video of morning clouds above Mt Rushmore that Ted created. The monument is so impressive, as were the efforts that were expended to design and create it.

    We drove to the Badlands National Park on Wednesday and took in the mandatory stop at Wall Drug, which is a huge and cheesy store in the middle of nowhere.  We smiled remembering our visit to Wall Drug seventeen years ago when, uncharacteristically so, we gave each of our young sons $20 to spend as they wanted at Wall Drug.  Without hesitation, they sprinted to the video game room and played video games to their hearts content. The badlands are beautifully barren and the scenic loop drive through the park is sufficient to see the amazing scenery.

    george-mickelson-trail-hill-city-south-dakotaBack in Hill City, we rode the George S. Mickelson bike way, which is a wonderful 109 mile railroad line converted for walkers, joggers, and bicyclists.  We biked the five miles into town and did some wine-tasting.  Yes.  South Dakota has wineries.  Grape juices are imported, some from California, and fermented here, and given marketing names of buffalo, motorcycles, and area scenic spots. And – wait for it – the wine tasting is free!

    Click here to see Sue’s photos from Custer State Park;  and
    here for Mt. Rushmore photos.

    We have thoroughly enjoyed our times in the Black Hills!

  • The Glories of the Open Road

    Our travel adventures throughout the western United States continue to be a gift and glory to us.  Ted has been doing a masterful job of driving our truck, pulling our trailer, and finding great campgrounds in which to stay.  Today was a travel day taking us from Medora, North Dakota to Hill City, South Dakota.

    Kevin and LInelle from Michigan
    Kevin and LInelle from Michigan

    One of the very special aspects of our adventures has been the opportunity to meet and chat with other travelers.  It has been a joy to meet people from all over the country and to share life stories and travel experiences.  Most recently, when we stayed in North Dakota we met Kevin and Linelle from Michigan.  It turns out that Kevin attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo during some of the time that I was a student there (although we never met each other then) and we had such fun getting to know one another and sharing great times together. Truly, there is much more that unites us than divides us and the world is full of wonderful and caring people.

    Rafter J-Bar Campground, South Dakota
    Rafter J-Bar Campground, South Dakota

    Tonight finds us at the beautiful Rafter J-Bar Campground in South Dakota, very near to Mt.Rushmore.  We stayed here seventeen years ago when we visited this part of the country with our sons. It’s still as beautiful as ever and we look forward to exploring South Dakota.

     

  • Teddy Roosevelt National Park

    tr-s-t-805Teddy Roosevelt National Park was new to us.  Located in the west side of North Dakota, next to Montana, it’s a “prairie and badlands” kind of park along the Little Missouri River.  It is rugged and rather lonely – which helped TR get over his sorrow at the loss of his wife and mother (on the same day) as well as understand and put into motion a vision of conservation.  TR set aside land for more  national parks than any other president.  This national park, named after him, took 30 years to be finally approved by President Truman in 1949.

    Click on the link below to enjoy a special page of photos that Sue took as we visited here:   https://travel.thisnextchapter.com/trnp

     

  • Our Long Drive Across Montana Included Miles City

    We drove across 400 miles of Montana on Friday, and arrived at Medora, North Dakota, about 5 pm.  But the big story was Miles City, Montana.

    The City GrindSue has this talent to find great local restaurants, and for this lunch stop in Miles CIty she found wonderful Yelp reviews for “The Main City Grind” – a combination deli, hamburger, and coffee shop. The food was good, and Ted struck up a conversation with an 86 year old woman named Esther.

    Esther told us she moved here from Michigan about 15 years ago to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren.  Prior to that, her family had a second home in this town of 9,000, and would come to Montana to escape the brutal winters of northern Michigan.  (It had never occurred to us that someone might actually go to Montana for the winter!!!)

    Small TownsSmall towns are great.  People are welcoming and love to talk about their town and life.  After lunch, we spotted the “Cowboy Cobbler” store and walked in to buy a leather strap for Ted’s hat – $2 for a yard of it!.  Sue heard a Matt Maher song (a Christian artist) playing on the radio and mentioned it which got a big smile from the owner.  At the gas station, Ted chatted with a guy named Jim.  Jim owned a greenhouse in town, and during the winter drove trucks across country from California to keep his income going.  In the Napa Auto Parts store, while purchasing a small item, Ted talked with Walter who was very helpful.  Small towns are unique and wonderful.

    But small towns also have their challenges.  While driving down main street, Ted suddenly had to slam on the brakes.  The street went under the railroad tracks.  The posted sign stated:  Clearance 11′ 6″.  Whoa!  We need 12′!   A close call averted by quick observation.  We were able to back up a few dozen feet, turn onto a side street, and find our way to the truck route out of town!  Yep, Ted had thoughts about that one all day.

    This weekend we’ll explore the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is in North Dakota near the border with Montana.  “When Theodore Roosevelt came to Dakota Territory in 1883, he was a skinny, young, spectacled dude from New York. He could not have imagined how his adventure in this remote and unfamiliar place would forever alter the course of the nation. The rugged landscape and strenuous life that TR experienced here would help shape a conservation policy that we still benefit from today”.   (www.nps.gov/thro)

    T & S

    PS:  On September 23-25 there is an astronomy festival here!

  • Livingston KOA in Montana

    Thursday, September 15.  We left the sulphur smell of the Yellowstone National Park to spend a night at a KOA camp right on the Yellowstone River, just outside of Livingston.  We also did a supply run to Costco in Bozeman, MT.

    One of Sue’s fav-things to do while driving on vacation is to “Yelp” the towns for out-of-the-way places to eat that have high recommendations from the locals.  In Bozeman, MT, she found “The Garage” – a BBQ and burger joint built from an old gas station/garage building and kept the theme.  From the menu (with real license plates as covers) we selected food that did not disappoint, and in fact were some of the best sandwiches and burgers we’ve had.  All the meat in Montana is very lean, and better quality that we’ve had at California restaurants.

    Back at the Livingstone KOA, we sat in our chairs on the riverbank for two and a half hours, talked, did some email, and watched the sunset.  Glorious.  Enjoy these pics Sue took of us on the river!

    Sue on Yellowstone River in Livingstonlivingston-719