Family Reunion Trip, Day 18

Oh Well! It was another washout. It rained all day. Games, movies, munchies, and a little boredom!
Here they are at lunch, one of the day's highlights.

And here's the way we all felt!

Did Taco takeout for dinner from a joint named Taco John's. The burritos were actually pretty good. The rain slacked off a little and I got most of the outside stuff packed up. It will be good to get to somewhere dry as everything I packed up is wet!
We all got nice hot showers in the camper and we hope to get an early start tomorrow. Hopefully no more rain!😡

Family Reunion Trip, Day 17

Today was a complete washout! It rained all last night and all day. We spent the day in the camper, playing games, watching movies, and munching.
Here's Jacob and Kaylee. Kaylee is munching her bone and Jacob is munching the pillow.

The rain stopped for a few  minutes and I got Kaylee out for a run.

Forecast is for more rain tonight and almost all day tomorrow. Oh well, we can't have good weather all the time and this has been the only rainy day this this trip so far.

Family Reunion Trip, Day 16

Quick breakfast and then off to the Black Hills.

First stop was Mt. Rushmore.

Cath and I have not been here for 34 years. The place has really changed for the better. The visitor center is first class. Access to parking is great, they even accommodate RVs!
The mountain was fogged in when we arrived.

But it cleared while we were there. The center is only half "dog friendly", so Jacob and I went in first, then Grandma and Jacob went in second. Waiting outside the main area with Kaylee is not bad at all. Kaylee attracts lots of folks as everyone wants to pet her, ask what kind of dog she is, and how old. I probably talked to 50 or more people while waiting, Cath had the same experience.

After Mt Rushmore we headed over to Crazy Horse Monument. This is a private enterprise, state and federal have no part in this endeavor. It looks the same as when we we here 34 years ago. They wanted to charge us $36 to get in! We did a U-turn! Cath says why pay $36 for an in-progress monument when we can pay $5 for one that is complete. I think some of the Indians are making big bucks on the Crazy Horse Monument.
We did grab a pic during the U-turn. Zoom in and you can see the crane. It was there 34 years ago also.

Took the back roads through the Black Hills to Sturgis. Stopped at the grocery store for a few things. Dinner, showers, and maybe some TV tonight.
Here's is Jacobs blog for today:
The gem store we stopped at was beautiful, I saw Titanium there, so fascinating! You can even pan for gems.
We stopped at Subway for lunch, I had a toasted Italian bread, tuna, pickles, black olives, guacamole, tomatoes, and honey mustard, sandwich, while Grandma and GrandPAPPY  had something normal.
I'm having a fab time on this trip!
I need to put an addendum on this blog as I've been remiss is posting pics of my "Geography Shirts", so here they are:

I need these shirts as Nicole says that way I know where I've been...LOL

Family Reunion Trip, Day 15

Slept like a bear last night and I feel better this morning. Still have a touch of the cold/flu, but it is on the down side.
I found the part I needed for the fridge. Problem was it is 40 miles away. Left camp this morning and picked it up, had it install by 0900. All is well again in the Boss Camper.
We headed to Deadwood, SD. It is only 14 miles from camp.

Here's Jacob and I at the Hampton Inn with Wild Bill Hitchcock.

This is a very touristy place. Here are some wood carvings for sale.

Many start around $500, but this dragon was $3700!

A view of the Main Street.

Another view. Lots of Casinos and Bars.

Not really family/kid friendly.

The bikers keep coming in.

We found a dog friendly, Jacob friendly, Pizza joint. The pizza was good and Kaylee behaved.

Here's Jacob with his new medallion. He says it's a cool crystal.

Jacob at the bar on a saddle. Grandparents can get away with this. BTW he is only drinking beer (root that is).

One of the local Jackolopes and a squirrel on his back!

The Deadwood Main Street sign.

We had fun while there. It was not too crowded during the middle of the day, but I'm sure it gets crazy in the evening/night. Again, not kid friendly. Here's the view leaving.

Did a few errands and got back to camp around 1500. The weather has cooled down and we had a nice late afternoon. Jacob spent it in the hammock, Cath and I spent it in the shade, it is still in the 80s.
Steak for dinner, a little TV, and then off to bed. Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse tomorrow. And yes we will be looking for Indian Fry Bread!
Here is Jacob's blog for today:
My crystal necklace is so super awesome, I also got a Dream Catcher bracelet.The crystal necklace has 8 different crystals on it.

Family Reunion Trip, Day 14

I'm feeling a little better, but still not at the top of my game, runny nose and lots of congestion.
Woke at 0500 to a driving rain and thunderstorms. It ended by 0600, but I was soaked by the time we were ready to roll at 0730.
Here's a pic of the backseat.

Drove 300 miles and stopped at Wall Drug, SD for lunch. Cath keeps calling it Walgreens and Jacob and I keep correcting her.

Here's a pic of the two goof balls at lunch. The temp was 106 deg!

Drove the last 100 miles and arrived at our new campsite at Days End Campground in Sturgis, SD.

We got a nice spot. The owners here are really fantastic. They took me for a tour of all 200+ sites and let me pick the one we wanted.

For the first time on this trip we got a clear shot of the southeast sky, so the satellite works. Jacob is thrilled, he has TV!
The next highlight for today started when Cath asked me why the lights on the refrigerator were not on. I checked the circuit breaker and it was good. The lights are not on because the fridge is not working! I checked the AC power, it was good. Checked the DC power it was also good. Went back to the camp office and picked up a few business cards from some local RV techs. I finally got hold of one of them and he walked me through some troubleshooting. To make a long story short, the Thermal Melt Down fuse had blown. This is a safety feature to insure the fridge does not catch on fire. It blows at 150 degrees! Because the weather was so hot (110 on the Interstate) it blew! I did a jumper over the fuse and low and behold the fridge turned on! So we saved our food as the fridge is full. Tomorrow I will find a new thermal fuse and install it.
I'm starting to fell a little better, but the weather and the fridge problems did not help. We will be here until Tuesday, 19 Jun. The forecast is for severe thunderstorms for the next three days, Oh Boy! 
And here's Jacob's blog for today:
Today's CTC count is 316 HOLY COW CAMPER HEAVEN, bye.

Family Reunion Trip, Day 13

Woke this morning with a really good cold/flu. It started yesterday, but it really hit during the night. I spent the day at the camper.
Cath and Jacob went into town (Luerven, MN). They had a good time, visited some museums and walked the town.
Here's some pics. Notice the red stone,

Sorry I missed this side trip. I packed up the camper as we are on the road tomorrow. This cold is kicking my butt, hope to feel better tomorrow as we have 400 miles to drive.

Family Reunion Trip, Day 12

Today we headed to Pipestone National Monument.
On the way we stopped at Split Rock Creek SP. Nice little park on a small lake, mostly wooded, so we figured the bugs would be bad.

Arrived at Pipestone around 1030. Check out the website for the history of this place, but bottom line it is a sacred place to many of the Plains Indians. They actually came here to mine for a certain type of stone they made their pipes from.

Here's the visitor center. We watched a movie about the history here.

Cliffs. The pipestone is under these huge rocks, They had to quarry to get it.

Here's Jacob crawling on the cliffs.

And another one of Jacob at the waterfall.

This stairway led to the top of the cliffs.

This rock when viewed at a certain angle looks just like the head of an Indian.

We saw this monster on the path. Don't get too close it's a snapping turtle. The locals said it was a small one!

Nice stream downstream from the waterfall.

These rocks are known as the three maidens.

A small pond in the park.

Back at camp Jacob discovered my entrenching tool and decided to excavate the sandbox in the campground.

Dinner, smores, and then early to bed. It's been a fun day.