August 31 - Buffalo, WY area

Barb - We took two Jeep drives in the Buffalo area today. The first one was the Crazy Woman Creek canyon road (maybe the name fits me sometimes?). The drive would not be for all "city" vehicles and certainly not a lengthy motorhome! The road was rocky, steep, and not very well maintained, but the canyon was scenic. I would call part of it "off-roading" except we were on the road! The other drive went past the Bud Love Winter Range wildlife refuge area where we saw pronghorn, mule deer, and wild turkeys. Much better road!

Ed - The drive down the rock/river canyon was interesting. I do not think any of the holes or ruts were 12" deep but they were deep enough. Many of the areas were rough or rutted enough to slow the car to 2 or 3 miles per hour. The road (such as it was) would have cut the sidewalls out of the tires if I had tried to go much faster. We only passed 2 ranger vehicles on the 15 mile trail. We did not see any wildlife until the scenic byway we took after lunch. During this trip we saw herds of pronghorn antelope, mule deer and white tail deer.

August 30 - Hill City, SD to Buffalo, WY

Barb - We are keeping with the under-200-miles-a-day rule! We were going to add a few more miles and stay off I-90, but didn't go that route. We arrived in Buffalo mid-afternoon. The campground here has 6-8 deer and wild turkeys that wander on the edge of the campground, providing new animal scents for Ike to uncover on our walk! We may stay another night here and do some backcountry driving in the area. They filmed "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" around areas south of Buffalo (some of you are much younger than this 70s movie starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford!)


Ed - Well the driving was interesting today. On the way past Jewel Cave the road is very narrow and very winding. The best speed I could achieve was 25 mph and white-knuckle it for 30 miles. The rest of the way was 65 or 75 miles per hour. I am very happy the RV handles well and really runs down the interstates at 75 mph without any problem. Of course the 6.5 to 7.5 mpg could be better.

August 29 - Custer State Park drive, SD

Barb - We selected a "curvy" road or two today (NOT to be driven in an RV but the Jeep instead!) to see the natural sights of the Black Hills National Forest and Custer State Park. We decided to forego the $10 parking fee at Mount Rushmore and really enjoyed the drive on the Norbeck Byway and Wildlife Loop Road - saw Mount Rushmore from a tunnel view and enjoyed waiting on the road for bison, mules, and pronghorn to cross!

Ed - We left the RV at 10:00 to drive the 100 mile Needles highway, 6 hours later we returned home. I do not think there is a straight section longer than 200 yards on the highway. There are 6 pigtail bridges that are very interesting. These bridges can curve as much as 180 degrees while either raising or declining. There is nothing square, flat or staight on the bridges. Watching the wild aminals was also interesting since most were standing in the center of the highway.

August 28 - Chadron, NE to Hill City, SD

Barb - We didn't drive many miles today! We decided to spend a couple of days in the Black Hills and reserved two days' camping at the Rafter J Bar Ranch camp resort. It had been recommended by a friend from Marshalltown. What a great place! 5 different camp areas and plenty of grassy space and roads to walk the dog (who has discovered prairie dogs!) We sat out last night and watched the stars but had to find the wool blankets to stay comfortable - temps went down to the low 40s!

Ed - Driving about 120 miles is not difficult. We left at 10:00 AM and were parked and set up by 1:00 PM. Our current RV camping neighbors (who are full timing in their $400,000 Country Coach) suggested that we follow the 2's --- Drive no more than 200 miles in a day. Always arrive by 2:00 PM and always stay 2 days at each location. Seems like something we could do without any problem. Of course it would be nicer in a $400,000 RV!

Thursday, August 27 - Chadron, NE area

Barb - We decided to stay at the same RV park for a second night, so caught up on "RVkeeping" tasks - laundry, cleaning, windows (they are BIG in the front!) - and working on our blog! In the afternoon, we drove to Fort Robinson State Park, which was a major fort during the American Indian Wars. It was also a major remount facility for the cavalry. It was a camp location for German prisoners of war during WWII. Crazy Horse died there in 1877.

Ed - I enjoyed the state park and the history that it shows. Some of the buildings have been turned into rental cottages. This would be a fun place to spend a few days, with horseback riding, hiking, off-road jeep tours and other park areas within 20 miles.

Wednesday, August 26 - Hastings, NE to Chadron, NE

Barb - The early morning hours in Hastings (2:30 to 9) brought 4 to 5 inches of rain! Some areas close to our campground were decently flooded. We headed north to Highway 2 which spans central Nebraska east to west to see sand hill country. It was very green for August with lots of wildflowers in bloom, plus corn and soybeans looking good for eventual harvest in the flatter areas. I know we saw at least 10 BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) trains heading mostly east with loads of coal! Highway 2 was mostly a good highway with little traffic, but also few towns to stop in for gas or a lunch stop. We got to Mullen, NE and found a park for lunch. After getting to the metropolis of Alliance (9,000 pop.), we drove past the Carhenge tourist site.

There wasn't enough parking area for us (we need 60 feet with RV and car) so I was proud of the photo I took from the window as we went by! We drove on to Chadron and decided to stay an extra night to see a couple of the local historical sites. Ike, our Brittany, likes the rabbit scents in this RV park!

Ed - When we arrived I found the area to have an over abundance of mosquitoes. In order to set the RV up I had to find the bug spray and coat myself.

Tuesday, August 25 - Wilson Island, IA to Hastings, NE

Barb - We journeyed west on Highway 30, then went south and west to Red Cloud, NE. We saw a few markings for the original Lincoln Highway while on 30. Red Cloud is in southern Nebraska and was the home of Willa Cather, author of several pioneer fiction novels. (I had read My Antonia! long ago). We arrived too late to take any interior building tours, but found several of the houses and churches on the walking tour. We headed north to Hastings for our overnight stop.

Ed - We outran the rain clouds to Hastings and arrived while there was still blue sky. We parked in a nice site and set up while listening to the weather radio talk about the heavy rain that was on the way. Nothing happened until about 2 AM when the rain, hail and wind hit. The Hastings area received between 4 and 5 inches of rain in about 6 hours. The area just west of us 2 miles recorded 5 inches of rain before 6 AM. As soon and the rains mostly stopped I unhooked the RV and we headed northwest and to highway 2

Monday, August 24 - Rhodes, IA to Missouri Valley, IA

Barb - We made it out of Marshall County! We traveled to DeSoto Bend Wildlife Refuge and RVed overnight at Wilson Island State Rec Area, close to the Missouri River. The cottonwood trees and lovely park area provided a great first night away from home.

Ed - It was very windy driving. Gas mileage for our 38-foot motorhome was 6.5 MPG - and we don't feel we're driving a clunker!