After leaving Jordan, MN, on Friday we made our way slowly across South Dakota because we did not have reservations until Sunday. We made two stops on our way across the state, one boondocking and one with water/electric hookups. We ultimately are going to end up as far west as Cody, WY, but we stopped for a week in the Deadwood, SD, area for an Xscapers convergence at the Wild Bills Campground about 5 miles South of Lead (say it like in “lead-er-ship”) and Deadwood, both historic mining towns turned tourist traps.

Night 1 – Harvest Hosts: Porter Sculpture Garden

Our first night on the road we used our Harvest Hosts membership for the first time and stayed at the Wayne Porter Sculpture Garden in the “cow pasture” overlooking the gardens. We were Wayne’s first guests in the program and he was our first host. The location is excellent for a stop over and he was so hospitable to hosting us. The gardens are huge and he does charge a small fee to tour them, but he does provide a golf cart to do that. His largest and most iconic statute is the bull which can be seen for miles away on the highway. The generator worked well because it was in the 90’s out in the direct sun. However, the run time on it only gets us to about the middle of the night before running out of fuel.

Butterfly hand with thorn, at our first Harvest Hosts stop at the Porter Sculpture Park by Montrose, SD

EAAKKK! Scary spider at our first Harvest Hosts stop at the Porter Sculpture Park by Montrose, SD

Currently the largest piece in the park, soon to be the second largest. Our first Harvest Hosts stop at the Porter Sculpture Park by Montrose, SD.

Wayne Porter’s first sculpture he created, while at our first Harvest Hosts stop at the Porter Sculpture Park by Montrose, SD

Our rig parked at our first Harvest Hosts stop at the Porter Sculpture Park by Montrose, SD

Barb planning head while at our first Harvest Hosts stop at the Porter Sculpture Park by Montrose, SD

Wheezy was trying to find anywhere cool since it was in the 90’s when we stopped at the at our first Harvest Hosts stop at the Porter Sculpture Park by Montrose, SD

Watch for this sign on the road, marking the driveway to the Porter Sculpture Gardens

This particular host is in the middle of a cattle pasture, plenty of fresh and dried cow pies at our first Harvest Hosts stop at the Porter Sculpture Park by Montrose, SD

Night 2 – KOA: Belvidere, South Dakota

We had planned for a second night of boon docking as we continued the second day across the state of South Dakota on the edge of the Badlands. There is a popular parking spot that is literally on the edge of the cliffs we have learned about. However, the forecast looked pretty windy and we thought it would not be the safest idea. (As it turns out, one of the Xscapers did boondock there and got stuck there a couple of days in the mud. We made a good call.) So instead we went to the Belvidere KOA near the 1880’s Town just off of I-90. This also gave a chance to catch up on laundry and enjoy a cold dip in their pool. We did have some rain and storms later in the evening, which did not amount to a whole lot but it did complicate the morning hook up as it was continuing to rain. The travel across South Dakota went well, we used a couple of the rest areas just to get out and take a stretch and the weather was clear until we got to the western side of the state.

Just off of I-90 at Belvidere, South Dakota, there is the 1880’s Town and this associate train car diner. We had a lunch and breakfast there, a bit pricey and the train car is really run down…they need to restore the restoration.

Dignity of Earth and Sky at Chamberlain, South Dakota

Dignity of Earth and Sky at Chamberlain, South Dakota

Night 3-7: Deadwood, South Dakota

Entry of the South Dakota Air and Space Museum

The Cold War nuclear stockpile inventory numbers at the Minuteman Missile Museum (Orange USA, Blue USSR)

The exhibits at the Minuteman Missile Museum are well done

Comparison of the USSR’s premiere missile to the USA’s at the time of the Cold War height, exhibit at the Minuteman Missile Museum

Barb talking with the tour guide at the Titan Training Missile silo on the Ellsworth Air Force Base at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum

War head on the training Titan I missile at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum

Information about the cable network install for the Titan Missile program, South Dakota Air and Space Museum

Jason and our tour guide to the missile silo networking in common. This is an example of a harden splice case that was used by the military to protect communication cables.

Mural as you walk down into the training silo for the Titan missile at Ellsworth Air Force Base

We made our last push across the state to Deadwood, but first we made a stop at the Minuteman Missile national site. This national park system facility is just a video and some exhibits, you can also go to the last remaining silo to peak down in the glass into it. Unfortunately, with the rain that site was closed. The museum is well done with a new video that premiered this year, interviewing players from the Cold War on both sides. Later in our week, we visited the South Dakota Air and Space museum on the Ellsworth Air Force Base where we took a bus tour onto the base and got down in the training simulator silo. This was a lot of fun and was probably far more interesting than just looking down into a hole through glass. The combination of the museum and then the base tour would be the best way to experience the Cold War Titan Missile program history.

We finally landed on the west side of South Dakota at Wild Bill’s Campground and Cabins, nestled in a valley about 5 miles from Deadwood and Lead, South Dakota. This site was selected by the Xscapers Convergence and it was beautiful but had some really functional issues. The sites were super cramped and cellular services were very sparse.

We found lettuce in Spearfish, SD, from Baldwin, WI!

We stayed at the Wild Bill’s Campground for the Xscapers Convergence

Another weather “first” for us this week, the campground owner has never seen the creek banks overflow in his 14 years here. We had tons of rain from Sunday through Wednesday and each day later in the week we had some rain every day. The tour guide at the missile silo also mentioned that he has never seen the Black Hills this green this time of the year as they would normally already be brown. We didn’t even get out of the trailer for two days since it rained so much. There is a local chain of Lynn’s Dakotmarts in the area, both in Lead and Sturgis, where we found Baldwin, WI, lettuce! The rain subsided enough to finally make our way out to see some sights when we got peaks of sun on Tuesday.

There are so many things to do in the tourist areas of Deadwood and Rapid City, but we really usually avoid those and try to find some driving tours to enjoy the scenery. The local Black Hills tourism group has published a great map of the Black Hills area that we used several times. We made a couple of tours including the Spearfish Canyon and the “Grand Canyon” which is actually in Wyoming.

Bridal Veil Falls in Spearfish Canyon

A small dam in Spearfish canyon

Flowers at the creek in the Spearfish, SD, canyon, running south from Spearfish to Cheyenne Crossing

Our 2015 RAM Truck dwarfed by the Spearfish canyon walls while we explore along the creek bed, this day was really rainy and hazy, made for interesting views of the rock formations but we did not get to see the views

The Spearfish Canyon reminds us of the Wisconsin Dells and the “Grand Canyon” area gets its nickname because it looks like the big one in Arizona. This was a rainy day, but the low clouds added to the beauty of the rock formations and kept the “tourists” to a minimum.

Posing in front of the “Grand Canyon” in South Dakota Southwest of Spearfish, SD

After getting cut up, Jason still got the selfie over the valley looking from O’Neill Pass

Jason encountered some barbed-wire from a down fence while hiking out on ONeill Pass, got a couple of puncture wounds and scratches

Nurse Barb tending to Jason’s boo from encountering the down barbed-wire fence on his hike

We gave the truck a work out in the mud and the dust of the “Grand Canyon” road (Wyoming) from Spearfish to Cheyenne Crossing through (South Dakota) thanks to the Black Hills Tourism Map

In the “Grand Canyon” of Wyoming we encountered a marmot that was interested in us as we were of him.

Sheridan Lake, North of Hill City, South Dakota

The “grand canyon” drive was our favorite because it was dirt forest roads and we didn’t see any people for almost two hours. We did encounter a local animal, the marmot and a few other mule deer. There are a number of signs for bighorn sheep crossing, but they don’t seem to exist in the wild and never saw those. We went over a pass at about 9000 feet and Jason did a little hiking but found a barbed wire fence laying down in the grass scratching up his leg.

The free visitor center for the now Sanford Underground Research lab is at what was the Homestake Mine, take a paid tour from here of the town of Lead and the topside of the mine

Hard hats on for the tour of the topside components to what was the Homestake mine and is now the Sanford Underground Research Facility

Homestake open pit mine, just a small visible portion of the mine which is actually mostly tunnels under Lead, SD and is now a underground research lab

The surface mine at Lead, SD, is just the small top section of what goes down 8000 feet below the town of Lead

There are two massive hoists at the old mine that is now the Sanford Underground Research Labatories

A 3D representation of the underground mine network for the mine at Lead, SD, which goes down 8000 feet below the town

The Homestake mine is now the Sanford Underground Research Laboratory, they have a great tour of the facility and the town of “Lead” South Dakota. The mine ceased operations in early 2000’s and now is a federal research lab looking for neutrinos. We also learned that some of the “mountain” peaks around here are actually waste tailings from the mine, basically a pit mine turned upside down. Given the 50 to 100 years since they were dumped there they are now covered like many other natural mountain peaks. The free museum is worth a stop and the $8 trolley is well worth the time as well.

Live music on Saturday during the brunch when we were at Loud American Roadhouse in Sturgis, SD

Mustang and Camaro car show on the streets of Sturgis, SD

Steak and tater tot eggs benedict at the Loud American Roadhouse in Sturgis, SD

From the Deadwood Mountain Grand Casino looking over the creek to downtown

We really enjoyed the Brian Regan comedy performance at the Deadwood Mountain Grand Casino

The original mine processing plant where they used cyanide to leach the gold out of the ore and then ultimately that ended slime ended up in the creek. Now the building is the Deadwood Mountain Grand Casino. At their event center we saw comedian Brian Regan perform.

Comedian Brian Regan performing on stage at the Deadwood Mountain Grand Casino

We “did” Sturgis!

On our last day here we visited the before mentioned South Dakota Air and Space museum and then made a loop up to Sturgis, SD, to say we “did” Sturgis. We had a great brunch at the Loud American Roadhouse and stocked up on groceries for our coming adventure in the mountains. Later in the evening, we wrapped up the week at the Deadwood Mountain Casino, which is a 1906 converted gold ore mine processing facility, seeing comedian Brian Regan.

Jason is now on vacation from work for a while and are heading up another 3000 feet in elevation to Ten Sleep, WY, (8500MSL) area where we will dry camp at a national forest campground for a few nights and then on to Cody, WY, for the 4th of July week and the Cody Stampede Rodeo!