Broken Arrow and the Black Hills

After a good visit with Rick and Linda in Rapid City, John and I packed up the RV and headed a few miles west to one of our favorite spots, Custer and the South Dakota Black Hills.  We have been coming here for many years, and it always feels like coming home.  We made our way in through the east entrance of Custer State Park, which this year is almost impossibly green and beautiful.  It was mid-day, so we only saw one of the park’s critters, this bison napping close to the side of the road.

Our destination was Broken Arrow Horse Camp, one of the best home-away-from-home locations we have ever found.

We love the friendly folks here, and no, you don’t have to bring a horse to get in.  But, there are plenty of nice ones that put their heads over the stall doors to get a nose scratch. 

 

We shared the trails east of camp with a number of them.  

I think this group of riders comes down from Sheridan, WY.  Their Appaloosas are striking.

As I said before, Broken Arrow is a friendly place.  One evening the owners hosted an ice cream sundae party, complete with music by Bob, one of the riders who visits regularly.

One of our favorite activities is to take the dogs hiking in the numerous trails east of the RV park.  In addition to the horseback trails, there are a couple of forest service roads that offer easy waling and plenty of room for the dogs to run.  Most of the time they wear their packs, but there are a couple of seldom-used trails where they get to go without.

While in town, we had a chance to meet up for lunch with dear friend, Lee Ann McCormick.  We met Lee Ann and her late husband, Larry, a number of years ago when we first began coming to the Black Hills.  Lee Ann usually spends her summer in Custer.  Her rest-of-the-year home is in Nevada, so we try to get together when we're in town.

Rick and Linda came up to join us to celebrate Independence Day.  We all drove into town for the parade…

...and to enjoy the annual fly-over by what I think is one of our country’s B1 bombers from the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base, home of the 28th Bomb Wing.  It passed over with a rush and a roar, to the delight of the watching crowd.

The parade was followed by a scrumptious buffet lunch at the State Game Lodge in Custer State Park and a drive around the beautiful park.

We loved our time at Broken Arrow, and look forward to our next trip.  We spent quite a bit of time in the Black Hills while we were in Custer.  Stay tuned for pics....

Too-Rapid Time in Rapid

Our time in Rapid City, SD, with dear friends Rick and Linda Lorentz, passed all too rapidly.  

We enjoyed the peace and quiet of their beautiful, shady deck, where we spent happy hours and couple of memorable breakfasts, not to mention many pleasant hours of just hangin' out.  

The dogs got to stretch their legs in the grassy backyard, and had a couple of good runs in nearby Robbinsdale Park.

We have visited Rapid before, and are familiar with most of its attractions, (Bear Country and and Reptile Gardens are two of our favorites.), so we didn’t do much sight-seeing.  Rick and John kept us well-fed with treats from the Pit Boss smoker and Blackstone grill, and Linda made one of her specialties, strawberry-rhubarb pie!  We also raided her garden for some fresh rhubarb and made a batch of rhubarb muffins that may spend some time on my hips and thighs.  But it was worth the pounds!  

Linda and I had some girl time shopping and messing about.  I even tried out a foldable Eunora E-bike.  I was happy to learn that it is a brand carried by E-Bike Central in nearby Waco.  I'll be doing a little more shopping there when we get home.

Our one excursion outside of town was to the Black Hills’ Powder House restaurant to meet friends Bernie and Rhonda who live in Custer.  After stuffing ourselves, Rick drove us through Keystone and into Hill city, where we topped off our culinary extravaganza with cones from Dairy Twist.  

We seem never to take an extended RV trip without a visit to a local vet along the way.  This time, we checked in with Cody at Dakota Hills Veterinary Clinic in Rapid City. In spite of all our pre-trip precautions, Cody came up with a good case of round worms.  The excellent vets had him (and the rest of our dogs) dosed and back ingot shape with only a day's notice.  After learning that the practice offers OFA imaging services, I decided to have Meg's OFAA scans done there instead of waiting until we got back to Texas.  I am thrilled to report that she passed with flying colors.

It’s now a beautiful, sunshiny Monday, and we are back at Broken Arrow Horse Camp in Custer for a few days before heading home.  We came by way of Hermosa, and through Custer State Park.  At mid-day, there weren’t many critters out and about, but we did see this bison resting beside the road, oblivious to the traffic passing just a few feet away.  

The dogs sensed that they were headed into familiar territory.  Cody was on full alert all th way through the park.  I guess he was anticipating seeing some of the park’s “fluffy cows.”  

More to come as we revisit some of our favorite spots in these amazing Black Hills.   

Scotts Bluff National Monument

Scotts Bluff National Monument is located alongside the North Platte Riverin western Nebraska, just outside the towns of Scotts Bluff and Gering. and along the Old Oregon Trail  and later California Trail.  Its sandstone cliffs tower some 800 feet above the valley floor, giving the visitor amazing views in all directions.  It was also an important milestone for emigrants traveling west during the 1800s.  

John and I arrived early for a quick tour of the visitor center, including a nice, short video and a number of original watercolors by Artist William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) depicting wagon trains, Native Americans and other scenes from the 1860s.  

The visitor center is open from 8-5, and the road to the summit opens at 9.  The road passes through three short tunnels (large enough for a car to pass through, but RVs and trucks are prohibited)... 

...and winds around the bluff to view points and trails at the summit.  We were early enough to take a couple of short hikes to take in the views in all directions, and to enjoy the wildflowers that eked out an existence along the trail.  

In addition to the wildflowers, we were amazed at these striking lichens growing on the rocks.  

And, there was this very tough tree growing beside the path.  Its roots extended for several yards along the walkway on both sides.

And speaking of paths...the trail we were walking at the summit zig-zags down the slope and across the valley to the visitors center.  (You can see it in the image below.)  We didn't follow it all the way, because then we would have had to climb back up to our car!  Maybe next trip...or maybe not.

If you have a chance, don’t miss this gem of northwestern Nebraska.