Helo and greetings from ND sitting in Hermosa ND east of mount Rushmore.. Going to tour the area next few das before starting back east and touring the badlands next. Then on to st Louis for more train museums.. then back south..
Bus is running well at the moment... no sprint cell service hear but so what else is new...
meteor shower tonite chief crazy horse monument tomorrow..
Regards an happy busssin mike
Mike
Sounds like you are having a good trip. Keep us posted and I would like to know what kind of fuel mileage you are getting.
I just ran up to the midwest two weeks ago.
My fuel mileage was all over the board from 4.5 one time to up to almost 8 another. I'm guessing it was from inconsistent fill ups and running the generator -- we never stayed in a campground.
Melbo
Hey Mike
We were in that part of the country last year. We really enjoyed Mt Rushmore but did not do the Chief Crazy Horse monument, while it really looked intriguing from the road, if I remember correctly they wanted to charge us something like $25 each for entry which I felt was ridiculous. I might have misunderstood the person at the gate but I asked him twice and he said yes $50 for the wife and I to drive through the gate.
If you do the tour let me know if it was worth it and/or if maybe I just somehow misunderstood the pricing.
Huh! They must have moved it from South Dakota since the last time we were there. ;D
Hi Mike,
We were in that area two weeks ago and it was great. Mount Rushmore had RV/bus parking for $10.00. We also stopped at Bear Country USA. It was a pleasant surprise. Sitting up high we had a great view of their 150+ bears. If you go be sure to see the bear cubs, and the badgers. The Badlands were great, especially at sunset. My wife didn't like the signs warning of Rattlesnakes! Okay, maybe it wasn't the signs. Don't miss Wall Drug. Plenty of free RV/bus parking across the street by the train tracks. It is not for everyone but we enjoyed it. Diesel was about $.25 per gallon higher in Wall than if you went east about 100 miles. Of course we bought fuel in Wall. If you go through Mitchell S.D. you might want to check out The Corn Palace. Its free and so is the parking.
Have fun,
John
You're right Ed. It's South Dakota.
John,
Is that $10 for overnight parking or just parking at the monument?
We're heading that direction Monday and plan a side trip to Pierre via US-83. I flew over it once and it looks interesting with all the falls and the river.
Mainly I want to visit the grasslands park after reading a book about the original western grasslands and what happened to them.
We will also return to I-90 via Philip. I've landed quite a few times and stayed overnight there at the only motel in town. Quite an interesting place, very small.
We also did Bear Country USA and really enjoyed it. Well worth the cost and we would do it again,
gus,
The $10.00 is just for parking at the monument. We stayed about 4 miles from Mount Rushmore in Keystone at the Holy Smoke Resort/Campground. It was $32.50 plus tax per night (866-530-5696). It was a pull thru with full-hook ups. http://www.blackhills.com/holysmoke/rvpark.html (http://www.blackhills.com/holysmoke/rvpark.html)
We drove into the National Grassland park at Buffalo Gap when we took the scenic route into the Badlands. There were some ranches scattered throughout the area. It looks like it would have been a very hard way of life back in the day. Probably still is.
I was hesitant taking the bus towing the Suburban through Bear Country USA but it worked out great. It was worth the money.
John
I found parking in Keystone (instead of paying to park right up by the prseidents) and putting the $$ towards the helocopter ride was worth while.
Grant
hello staying at a passport park 55 bucks for 3 nites.. hermosa not far from the sights.. drove through a herd of buffalo today some weighed as much as the car... very slowly of course had a good day...
Regards and happy bussin mike
As a North Dakota native and land owner, I'm going to take a little offense to you thinking that you're in North Dakota when you're actually in South Dakota. No big deal; we don't get whipped up about that type of thing but c'mon read a highway sign! :D
A big difference really, Custer was healthy when he left North Dakota.>>>Dan
Yeah, his visit to Montana didn't go too well.
"Custer was healthy when he left North Dakota"
but he wasn't when he left Montana............can ya hear me now
:)
Skip
When you are in that area of the world and NOT see Ft Robinson, just west of Gordon, NE is really quite a shame. A LOT of history there....and a great campground, too. As for ND.....my next journey will take me to TR's ranches. (He is, by far, my favorite President).
Went through that area a couple of weeks ago. Stayed a night at Ft Robinson, but was to busy licking my wounds to enjoy what the Fort had to offer. We had just came though a VERY NASTY storm on hwy 29 in western Nebraska, wind, rain, and hail. Lost a little paint off of my new paint job on the bus, hail knocked a hole in the shower vent, the back of the air conditioners are a mess, hail went through the gill on the radiator and dinged the fins on a new recore, 50 to 60 mph side winds blew enough rain in through a couple louvered grills to shut the inverter down for 4 hours, my truck had damage also. I had two hysterical women and a son that was concerned. With all that said we still had a good trip back through the midwest. Went to Mt Rushmore and Yellowstone (free with senior pass) and down through Jackson WY. Dropped out of Yellowstone's South entrance, had 15 miles or more of watered down dirt roads in construction zone. My poor truck had 1/8" dirt on it. BUR
Hello sorry my mistake we are in south dakota... however today we saw more buffalo,donkeys and one mountain goat on the road.. lots of rocks... tunnels and neat stuff... This am we went to ellsorth afb and visited theair museum. on the base tour they take you down into a minuteman silo ancient history but neat anyway. tomorrow on to the badlands then south to nebraska to platte area Union pacific has a large marshalling yard there that we can see from a 70 foot tower...
Sorry about the weather for others ; we have been fortunate so far to have sunny skies... some light rain today
Regards and happy bussin mike
Mike,
What PA park did you stay in for $55/three nights? Was the limit three nights for the PA price? I haven't renewed yet since I get to use it so seldom. I keep finding that a bunch of parks listed in the book are no longer PA members.
Having flown and driven through SD, WY, MT and NE numerous times I can say that the weather can be really nasty or very nice, except the wind never stops. Drives my wife nuts!
Sounds like you are headed towards North Platte Mike. Do check out the Valentine area and Fort Niobrara on the way. Beautuful area. If you're into antiques and history head east to a town called Minden and "Pioneer Village". That can easily take up a whole day. Later
We've been to Harold Warps's Pioneer Village in Minden and it is a fascinating place, not far off I-80. They have their own campground right next to the Village and it's real convenient, especially so you can take your time and go thru the Village leisurely. If you stay at their campground, the second day admission is free. http://www.pioneervillage.org/ (http://www.pioneervillage.org/)
Kirby