Custer State Park, SD (September 16 - 19, 2010)

We remembered this time and made reservations in Custer State Park at the Bell Campground.  Last time we were here (the busy summer months) you could not get in unless you made reservations.  This was one of maybe a half dozen campgrounds in Custer State Park; some being completely primitive; others being horse camps -- so they had a variety of what you prefer.  Of course we preferred the electric hookups and it was still a beautiful campground.  The scenery surrounded the campground and we were informed that there were 3 buffalo that visited the campground on a daily basis.  Of course it was evidenced to us by a big pile of poo just about 25 yards from our chosen campsite.  The camp host told us we just missed one of them coming in through our campsite earlier that day.  Our next full day we spent driving the 18 mile Wildlife Loop in which we caught a glimpse of some grazing buffalo, a couple of prairie dogs, and a couple of friendly donkeys in the road.  We also saw several antelope roaming on the grounds as well.  We then proceeded to Mt. Rushmore  on the twisty winding road of the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway.  We passed through 3 granite tunnels; of which one of them we remembered we had visited on the way to Alaska and were fortunate with our  3 kids to climb up on one of the bridge tresses and watch the 4th of July fireworks right over Mt. Rushmore which was back in 2000.  Ahh the good ole memories!!!  We had a picnic lunch at the Peter Norbeck park sitting on top of granite stone looking at the view of Mt. Rushmore.  But that was still not enough scenery for photographer Mike; we had to travel back to camp on the 14 mile drive on Highway 87 called Needles Highway.  It was called that for a reason; there were hairpin curves and narrow granite tunnels.  The name needles comes from the slender granite peaks that characterize this area.  There were also Cathedral Spires, a series of pinnacles that resemble church spires and the Needles Eye, a granite formation that looks like the eye of a needle.  The following day it became very cold (in the high 30's) and drizzled off and on during the day.  We were wiped out from our previous day's journey so we just hung out at camp waiting for the buffalo to show up.  Jason found one grazing behind one of the log cabins that you can rent; and then the other 2 were spotted behind a couple of campsites.  That was our excitement for the day.  We hear what the exciting event for the fall at Custer State Park is the Buffalo Roundup on Monday, September 27th.  Over 12,000 people annually attend to watch the Rangers round and corral the 1500 est. buffalo to a certain area for testing, branding and sorting to keep the population of 850 that's  the  number they say for the  park this size. The rest they will then be auction  off at an later date.  Best part -- it's a FREE event with concessions and exhibit vendors.  We will have to attend one of these years.  We had  great dinner at the Blue Bell Lodge which was a very nicely built log cabin style lodge and the corn bread was the Best.  Thus we conclude our visit at the Custer State Park and we will return someday to enjoy the cycling or hiking or horseback riding.  The park will keep you busy all during your stay.  Interesting websites regarding this park include:
www.CusterStatePark.info
www.CampSD.com      
 www.CusterResorts.com

Badlands N.P. in South Dakota (September 14th - 16th, 2010)

After leaving Herman Lake State Park, we headed to the Badlands N.P. in South Dakota.  Since it was getting dark, we decided to "boondock" at Cabelas in Mitchell, South Dakota for the night. Home of the famous "World's Only Corn Palace".  This palace is an must see if you are going though South Dakota, it is made of real corn and they change it every year. A beautiful work of art with next year's design already started.  Made an lunch stop at 1880 town/train restaurant along the way to the Badlands N.P. with the winds whipping at 42 mph.  No hook-ups in the N.P. so we decided to set up camp at the Badlands Interior RV campground just outside of the Badlands N.P. owned by an elderly Indian couple. Real Tee-Pee out front with an padded floor I had to try out with beer and cigar in hand.  We took a drive to capture the sunset over the Badlands but we were a little bit late.  However, we still had some fantastic views.  The next morning at sunrise, Mike and Jason set out to capture a sunrise over the Badlands. We captured some locals having breakfast along the road and the morning sun made shadows over the Badlands which turn out for some great memorable views!!!  Back to camp and back to bed we went before we set out to Custer S.P. in the Black Hills of South Dakota.


                       For More Information on Badlands N.P. Go To: www.nps.gov/badl
                       Or the Only Corn Palace Go To: www.cornpalace.com

                    

Herman Lake SP, South Dakota (September 10 - 14th) 2010

Heading from Cherokee west to South Dakota, we stopped in the "Ice Cream Capital of the World " which was in the town of LeMars, Ia.  Of course, even though it was in the mid.60's, we had to stop for ice cream at their Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor made by the Wells family since 1913. They were designated as "The Ice Cream Capital of the World" in 1994 because more ice cream is produced in Le Mars, Iowa by a single company than any other city in the world!!  And what great ice cream it was!!!!  Mike and Jason had sundaes and I had some ice cream dish with caramel ice cream, caramel sauce and pecans.  That was our lunch for  today!!!  Westward we headed to Herman Lake State Park near our new hometown of Madison, South Dakota.  This park was beautiful and very well manicured.  It was surrounded by water:  Herman Lake and Herman Pond.  There were three good walking trails and a nice bike ride loop 2.5 miles around the whole park. Little up and down but offered some great views of the park and lakes.  There were only electric hookups; but their bathrooms were very clean and the sites were nicely spread out and large. We ended up on the highest site in the park with its great views and even better after the weekend campers left.  We really enjoyed this park for five nights because this was now our permanent home in terms of licensing, titling of vehicles and our newly voting city and state. We were there to take care of  business it which we did. They offer a permanent mail forward address and have no state income tax and the fee are cheaper.  Mike enjoyed the whole area because there was no litter to be found along roads or side roads as in other states.  We took a drive to Sioux Falls (about an hour away) to find a bike shop for repair parts one day and we tried our hand at disc golf since the course was right in Herman Lake S.P.  A nice short course around some trees with views of the lake all round. The bike ride was very enjoyable probably because the weather was so nice and the skies were totally blue.  After a couple of days in the park, we started smelling that awful algae/toxic smell just like from St. Mary's S.P. in Ohio.  Sure enough, Lake Herman had as much algae but the ranger assured us that the water was still swimable. Well once we smelled this algae, we became bombarded by the flies -- not the biting kind but the annoying kind.  Since we had completed our business there, we decided to cut our stay one day short and  move onward west to our next stop, The Badlands N.P. in South Dakota.


                                       For More Information Go To:  lakeherman@state.sd.us
                                                                                      bluebunny.com
                                                                                      www.sdparks.info

      

Koser Spring Lake Park, Cherokee (IA) September 8-9th, 2010

Heading westward towards Le Mars, Ia.  we stopped in West Bend, Iowa to witness the great "Miracle in Stone" called the Grotto of Redemption.  A Catholic priest by the name of Fr. Paul Dobberstein had been gathering rocks and precious stones from around the world for over a decade.  He began construction in 1912 and for the next 45 years he created hundreds of intricate rock settings to form the Grotto's walls and ceilings.  He was helped by another Catholic priest, Fr. Louis Greving and a parishioner, Matt Szerensce who continued his work on the Grotto after Fr. Dobberstein's death in 1954.  This is the largest Grotto in the world.  It is comprised of nine separate grottos, each depicting a scene in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  It is truly a work of art and touches you spiritually like nothing else.  It is more then beautiful.  The detail and the stonework is amazing.  We took the tour which was very interesting and if you would like to see some of the works by computer only, the website is:  info@westbendgrotto.com

We continued our journey after this wonderful side stop and stopped for the night at Koser Spring Lake Park in Cherokee, Iowa.  It was a very nice city park which had full hook-ups and for only $15.00/night.  We were right next to the railroad tracks, but in our 2 nights there, the train only went through twice -- once at midnight and then during the day on our 2nd day there.  On our second day there we took a side day trip over to see the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge that connected Council Bluff, Iowa with Omaha, Nebraska which opened in September, 2008.  What an amazing bridge suspended over the Missouri River.  It spans 2224 ft. long.  You can walk it or ride your bikes.  Since it was evening, we walked 3/4 of the way over it and back.  While in Omaha, we lucked out and ran into a Habitat for Humanity fundraiser on the riverfront.  So we participated in the 4th annual Brew HaHa where there was plenty of beer tasting  from local brewers and lots of good food donated by the area restaurants and bars. Local radio station got in playing the music/live on the air. What an nice way to end an visit.  As for Koser Spring Lake Park, we would recommend this nicely laid out city park to anyone on their journey's through Iowa.  We hate to say this, but it was a better park then their Iowa State Parks hands down.

Winnebago Visitor Center, Forest City, (IA) (September 3 - 7th) 2010

We arrived at the Winnebago Factory a little too late for the tour on Friday at 1 pm.  So being Labor Day Weekend, They invited us to stay in their visitor lot  until Tuesday so we can make the next tour at 9:00 a.m.  September 7th.  So that meant we stayed 4 nights actually free in their parking lot which had electrical plug-ins.  Here we were able to wash and wax the motorhome, including the roof and the windows and do some small maintenance jobs.  Since the town of Forest City was kind of small, we quickly learned our way around it doing our laundry, attending mass, shopping, and we checked out an couple of local parks -- the normal chores of life.  The weather was pretty cool but by Labor Day it was nice enough for Jason and Mike to get in 18 holes of golf in at the Bear Creek golf course.   On Tuesday we were there for the 9:00 a.m. short film and factory tour which was pretty interesting to see how the different  Winnebago Models are built by an assembly line process. A bus and tour guide took us to the different buildings of operation. [ Sorry No Photos During the Tour, I don't know what they got to hide.]  After the tour, we stopped in the Service area to see if they could look at our leveling jacks because the alarm was once again going off when the jacks were in store mode.  They could not get us in until Wednesday so they handed us another parking pass to park in their Rally grounds which were across the street. [ Big Rally held Every July for Owners of Winnebago Products ]  Very nice grounds with restrooms and there were showers.  By eight a.m. the next morning we were parked in the service area so they could see what the 100th problem was with our leveling jacks.  They ended up replacing all 8 springs so we hope this will remedy the constant problem.  It was nice that they have the mechanic come out to talk to you personally to see what was going on and tell you what he was going to do.  After a couple of hours we were out of there and heading down the road westward to South Dakota our future Home State. Yes!! You read that Right!!!

Backbone State Park, (IA) (September 2nd, 2010)

Decision time, where do we want to cross the Mississippi River?  Well, we decided on Savanna, Ill. and we headed north along the River Scenic By-Way from the town of Fulton, Ill. and it's Dutch Working Windmill. which was disassembled and brought here from Holland. What a beautiful work of craftsmanship as I toured the insides..Our son Jason brought up we stop at the original site for the movie, "Field of Dreams" in Dyerville, Ia.which we couldn't pass up. It is still in its original state with the baseball diamond, the corn fields and the while farmhouse with its wrap around porch.  The whole area is very scenic with its cornfields and farms all around it. Remember that saying " If You Build It, They Will Come"  well we did. Working our way to Forest City, Ia. Home of Winnabago RV's. Where our RV was born!!  We called it a day at Backbone State Park in Dundee, Ia. This park was constructed by the CCC from 1933 to 1941 on 2002 acres of heavily wooded land. Of the 127 campsites located on two campgrounds only 41 are electric, {No water Hook-ups}on the South Lake Campground at $16. per night. Park was showing it's age!!  CCC did some great work here like the dam on the Maquoketa River forming  Backbone Lake. That's the beach house in the photo. We only spend the night here as we moved on to Forest City, Ia.


                           For More Information Go To:  Backbone@dnr.ioma.gov
                                                                          www.fodmoviesite.com
                                                                        

Morrison-Rockwood SP (IL) (September 1st, 2010)

      Only an overnight camping stay; campground was very soggy from rain.  No rangers or gate. Not much to do and they never stopped by to collect camp fee as sign said.  Only 92 electric hook-ups, but spacious sites  Went looking for the camp hosts. No luck.  Fire-grill was an little worn out and hard to start an fire that night "because of the hole in it". This park of 1150 acres offered hiking trails and  14 miles of equestrian trails, remote control airstrip,  10 hp. max.plentiful fishing variety lake, and plenty of wildlife to see as well. Crossed another covered bridge on different way back though the town of Morrison, Ill. as we head to the" Field of Dreams".


                           For More Information Go To:  http://dnr.state.ill.us.