So Wednesday morning, we were on the road by about 6:15am and headed further east. The only problem with getting up at that hour and heading east is that the sun is shining right in your eyes!
Really pretty countryside, we kind of wish we were heading south into the Black Hills area, but we are trying to make a b-line east as much as possible, while staying off the Interstate highways.
Things are nice and green in this area.
Scenery along the way.
Entering South Dakota.
We made our way to the town of Belle Fourche (Pronounced Bell Foosh, pop 5,600) and found some free WiFi by the visitors center where they also have a free RV dump station.
After breakfast we took the bikes off and went for a bike ride. They have a short river walk bike trail, which is actually pretty good for such a small town.
Ruth, standing in the "geographic center of the United States".
Lebanon, Kansas actually claims to be the center of the "contiguous" United States, while Belle Fourche somehow includes Alaska and Hawaii.
Out for a bike ride in Belle Fourche.
After lunch, we had showers in the rig and then dumped the holding tanks and filled the fresh water tank. Then, we did the short drive over to the Belle Fourche Reservoir.
There is an actual campground there run by the Bureau of Reclamation. But they are just dry camping spots, so why pay for a parking spot when there are so many free boondocking ("dispersed") sites that are also in the area?
View from our windshield.
We could have parked right down by the shoreline, but we thought it was more important to have some shade.
Sherman's spot for the night at GPS 44.725374, -103.679415
It was a nice quiet spot for the night, but we were pretty much relegated to stay inside because of the bugs... not mosquitoes... but house flies! Oh well, we were comfortable parked in the shade and just did some reading and played some backgammon.
Up early again this morning, and headed due east towards the town of Faith. Not sure what we'll find there, so may continue further.
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Belle Fourche was the cattle drive destination of my favorite John Wayne movie "The Cowboys". Your xlnt lightning picture made me think of the photo I use for my desktop background that comes via National Geographic's 2017 travel picture of the year. If this photo does not show the shear power of mother nature little will.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/2017-travel-photographer-of-the-year-colima-volcano/
Now we are going to have to see if we can find that movie somewhere. :-) We both loved John Wayne movies when we were much younger. Belle Fourche has a big rodeo event every year called the Roundup so it is still very much a cowboy destination.
DeleteThat is an quite the photo of the Colima Volcano and the lightening. Amazing how someone managed to get that shot.
You would have loved Hoover, not too far away from Belle Fourche...
ReplyDeletehttp://cindybrick.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-strange-experience-in-hoover.html
I see your point about highways, but Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument are fascinating. We're headed there ourselves soon, once this crazy book I'm working on is done. (sigh) And the crowd clears out after the Fourth.
Wow, that was quite the story. So glad that you didn't run out of gas. Some of those hidden away little places have quite the history and some very interesting people.
DeleteWe have been to Mt. Rushmore back in the fall of 2015 and we drove by the Crazy Horse monument but they wanted too much money (for us) to get in to see it so we just had a look from the distance. Yep, best to wait for the crowds to thin out. One of the rangers at Devil's Tower told us that they closed the road on the 4th of July so people that wanted to see the tower had to hike up the steep path and he said they had about 30,000 people on that trail and that the trail couldn't handle it plus with that many people there is no way people could distance themselves 6ft apart. The day we did that same trail we saw about 25 to 30 people in total, all the rest were on the shorter paved path around the tower which we wanted no part of.
Ontario is BAKING right now. No respite from the heat for at least a week apparently. 38C out my window at the moment.
ReplyDeleteOntario almost always gets like that in July. Hopefully by the time we get there at the end of the month, the temperatures will be a little lower. Mind you we still have to go through parts of the US that will have similar temperatures to Ontario.
DeleteWas that a vortex? Haha! Looks like you're having a great trip! Every thing is green here and the weather is great !
ReplyDeleteLol, no it wasn't, it was missing the lower circular wall around it to make it a vortex. :-P
DeleteWe are having a great trip despite everything that is going on at the moment. We do our best to just stay away from people and enjoy the outdoors as much as possible. We are so happy that you are enjoying your time in Valle de Juarez. We have always wanted to visit there at this time of year, so we will just enjoy your pictures. I bet the flowers are all coming out now too! :-)
In case you make a sudden turn North make certain you can quarantine for Fourteen Days if you cross the border. Stiff fines if you don't.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy the Black Hills.
It's about time.
Yes, we are fully aware of the rules once we cross into Canada.
DeleteGreat to follow your travel sights! Such nice places you're getting to visit. It relaxes me every time I see your blog and your pictures. Thank you for sharing, and safe travels!
ReplyDeleteHmm...for some reason I show up as "Unknown". This is Ivan. Cheers, both!
DeleteThank you Ivan, we are happy to hear that you are still following along and enjoying our travels. We certainly have been enjoying this unexpected trip through the States this spring/summer. :-)
DeleteJust getting caught up with your posts.....beautiful scenery....you guys have been fortunate to find beautiful free boondocking spots throughout your trip even there in the US! Good for you! And Sherman seems to be doing his part too!
ReplyDeleteYes, the scenery on our trip for the most part has been beautiful. There is no shortage of boondocking spots in the US, especially in the West, and Kevin has certainly found some fantastic spots. :-)
DeleteSherman is doing just fine, he definitely loves traveling, lol!