Cruisin’ to South Dakota

Leaving Carson City Nevada, we looked at the GPS as we headed for Rapid City, South Dakota. It read 1220 Miles and about 18 hours.  Of course the hours are incorrect since we are traveling in a motor home and towing a vehicle; we obviously can’t make the same amount of time as a car. The speed limit signs across Nevada say 70 mph and Utah and Wyoming average 75 mph on the open road. We left Carson City late morning but we still managed to get as far as WELLS, NV. Boondocked at the 4 Way Cafe & Casino parking lot.

Day two took us as far as ROCK SPRINGS, WY and boondocked in the Home Depot parking lot with the permission of management. Although the scenery across Utah was nice we didn’t stop to take many photographs. In Wyoming, the history of the Mormon and Oregon trails caught my eye as we approached Independence Rock.. We plan to spend more time in the area of Independence Rock, Martins Cove and Register Rock on our return trip. 

Martins Cove and the Devil’s Gate along the Sweetwater River are major landmarks on the Mormon and Oregon trails. The Mormon Handcart Visitor Center records the tragic circumstances of two handcart companies over 150 years ago. Leaving late in the summer, they experienced bad weather, exposure, and death (for many) in order to unite with the main body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley.  Below are a few  images of this area.

Below is an interesting clip from one of the late Charles Kuralt’s travel programs. It takes place in this area. Click the link to play the video.

Gillette, Wyoming is Stop 3 in our trek to Rapid City. We had planned to stay at the Elks Lodge but the parking lot was so small we could not even turn around in it much less find a place to park. They told us we had to park off the pavement in the dirt… The dirt area we saw was smaller than our motorhome.  So we opted for The Crazy Woman Campground in Gillette. They say you don’t have to be crazy to stay there. hmmmm?  Well actually it is quite nice here. It’s shaded and we are happy about that since the temperature is 96 and it is 7 pm. Happy to have AC to cool us down.

Tomorrow we will stay in Rapid City and meet up with our friends Duane and Betty.  They are from this area so they know all the hot spots.  We will tag along with them over the next 2 1/2 weeks. We plan to travel to Custer State Park area and in a few weeks we will spend a week in SPEARFISH, SD.  Stay tuned for photos and details of SOUTH DAKOTA.