“Uh oh, guess what day it is. Guess what day it is. Huh? Anybody? Julie, hey, guess what day it is. Aw c’mon I know you can hear me. Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike, what day is it Mike? Wuuhahaha. Leslie, guess what today is.”

They say it's your birthday, well it's my birthday too, yeah.

They say it's your birthday, we're gonna have a good time!

Yes my little langoliers, it's my birthday. Now Joan says I'm 61. I just say I'm more mature and experiencd than I used to be! I kept wondering why Joan was constantly running over to the campground office every day for the last few days, when finally while Dave & Lydia were here she gave up the ghost and stated she had made an executive decision.....she was giving me my birthday present early. So I opened the newly delivered parcels and what to my wondering eyes should appear.....it was a GoPro camera! Alright. What an unexpected surprise.




Our friends Dave & Lydia arrived the Thursday after Sturgis ready to ride with Dave's 1996 Harley. It only has 95,000 miles so Dave figured it needed to be ridden just a little. Dave & Lydia started riding Friday morning and I joined them just after lunch. Friday we went looking for bison and it didn't take long. We drove up on a small herd of about 200 just outside of Wind Cave as they were crossing Hwy 87. Let's just say Lydia was very excited when several of the bison decided to walk along the edge of the road just 10' from where we had stopped.

We drove on through Custer State Park and turned onto Iron Mountain Road. Iron Mountain Road is made for motorcycles with 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 tunnels and 3 pigtails all within a 17 mile stretch of road. About 3 miles in we came to a stop behind a couple of dozen cars and close to 1000 bison. It was a 2-fer day! There were bison on the left and bison on the right....bison in front of us and bison crossing the road from both sides. We spent about 15 minutes waiting for traffic to move, but that never happened. We did see a sightseeing jeep simply pull out and kind of slowly maneuver his way through the meandering herd. After a few more minutes of standing still, I decided to follow the jeep's lead, so I pulled out of my traffic lane and started slowly working my way forward through the herd...making sure I didn't crowd any mama's with small calfs or seem too aggressive approaching any of the bulls that showed an interest in the motorcycles. We 'plowed' our way through the herd passing all of the cars that were blocked and soon had the entire road to ourselves. A few miles further down the road we stopped at a scenic overlook, only to be approached by a woman who started thanking us for saving her. She stated she had been 'trapped' by the bison herd for quite some time and was afraid to move her car with so many bison roaming back and forth. Once we passed her, she simply pulled in behind us and followed us to safety. Ah shucks ma'am, it weren't nothin'.

Full Throttle Saloon

Over the remainder of the weekend, we visited Mt. Rushmore, Sturgis, Needles, Vanocker Canyon, Devils Tower and Spearfish Canyon.

Mt Rushmore

Devils Tower, Wyoming

Crazy Horse

Driving Around the Black Hills
You Just Never Know What
You Might See

You Also Learn a Lot About Your Friends

We had a great time. When we stopped in Sturgis we noticed quite a difference between the 'during' and 'after' event city.

During Sturgis

After Sturgis

Dave was telling me that he was starting to experience small problems with his bike....he had to wire up one of the exhaust pipes as he had discovered a small hole that had rusted out and he was afraid it might get worse while we were riding. Well the pipe never fell off, but the hole nearly tripled in size. His shocks were 'bottoming' out whenever he road 2-up and his front forks were looking much worse the wear from 18 years of riding in all types of weather. The paint on the bike was starting to wear and his speedometer cable broke the first day out. All things considered he was thinking about shopping for a newer bike. He took me up on an offer to ride my streetglide one morning and he couldn't stop smiling when we eventually stopped for breakfast. It's my opinion that a new bike is in Dave's near future. I'm glad I didn't tease him too much about his maintenance concerns because as we were riding one day I noticed my shifter pegs gently rocking back and forth.....for those of you that don't know, that is not a good thing as the shifter pegs should be firmly attached in order to shift gears. We pulled to the side to check things out and it turned out not to be too bad after all. Just a loose nut and we were back on the road in about 10 minutes.

When the weekend was over we had ridden a total of over 700 miles. What a great time. For any of you FOSJ riders. Keep us in mind next time your planning your vacations!

And as most all full time RVers know, there are almost always some sort of maintenance issues that need to be taken care of around the RV. On Thursday we had the lower doors of the refrigerator replaced under our warranty contract. They had begun to sag and the doors were rubbing against each other when opening/closing. Also we had been noticing that the foot pedal on the toilet was sticking, so I decided to check it out Saturday morning. I tried checking a couple of items, but to no avail. I ended up having to remove not only the toilet bowl, but the pedestal as well. And as I was disassembling the various parts of the pedestal I figured out what was wrong.....a broken spring attached to the foot pedal. Let's see.....it's 11am on Saturday....what are the odds I can find an RV shop with the part I need that will be open today...oh well, to the phones! First call, Dakota RV in Rapid City...."Well we don't sell the springs but we do have a kit that includes the spring. And we're open till 4pm today"....yipee! Off we go about 45 miles to Rapid, pick up the part, lunch at Outback, then on to Walmart for groceries before returning home. Reassembling the pedestal turned out to be a little trickier that taking it apart, but finally managed to get everything back together just before dark. A happy ending to a crappy job.

2 of my favorite ladies

This pic is for Tom Davis. Wish you could have been here.

Doug & Tristyn

Shout out to my oldest son Doug......birthday upcoming September 1. Happy Birthday son. Looking forward to seeing you and your family soon!










Well, that's it for now. Stay Tuned. More to Come!

Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back

Yes my little langoliers, I'm back from the nasty little sinus infection I contracted a few weeks ago. Feeling better every day! For all of you back in central Florida...do you remember the connection to langoliers? And for all of you that were around in the mid-70's.....does the title of this blog ring a bell? Maybe you still remember Vinnie, Epstein and Horshack?

Joan and I have completed well over half of our assignment here in South Dakota and have just over 6 weeks left until it will be time to head south towards Lake Mead. We have really enjoyed our stint here at Crazy Horse and would recommend it to anyone who has not had the opportunity to visit the Black Hills of western South Dakota.

A few weeks ago the city of Custer celebrated Gold Discovery Days. Arts, crafts, car show and a parade which Joan and I decided to check out.









I guess you just never know what you might see at a parade like this.

Joan & Kevin

Over the last few weeks we've been on the bikes quite a bit. 2 weeks ago Joan's cousin from Ohio Kevin and 2 of his friends, Mike & Julie called to let us know they would be passing through town on their way to Wyoming. After 3 days of riding through the Great Plains, once they drove the 50 miles through the Black Hills to stop and see us, they decided to stay.....which they did for 3 days! We had a blast. We led them on a winding ride that included Wind Cave, Custer State Park, Iron Mountain Road, Keystone and Hill City.

Mike & Julie
Check out the stats under the
Iron Mountain Road sign

The next day Phil & Rudy took them riding to Pactola Lake and a few other locals including a pre-rally ride to Sturgis. I think we wore them out as poor ol' Kevin had to check in at the clinic for a quick pick-me-up before they could head out the next day. Don't worry Kevin.....it just a sign that your getting to where you're more mature and experienced than some of the others around you.



Last week was the official week of the Sturgis Black Hills Rally and Joan and I knew we had to make the passage at least once while we were here. Our days off were Monday and Saturday......hhmmmmmm...let's see.....should we go early in the week before it gets too crazy? Or should we wait and join in the insanity that ensues on the weekend? Decisions, decisions. We chose Monday. 57 miles between our campsite and the location of 1 of the most well known motorcycle rallies in the world. And there was never a break in the oncoming traffic.

I would have never guessed that the roads that far out of Sturgis would be so busy with motorcycle traffic. 2014 is the 74th Sturgis Rally and estimates for attendance included over 400,000 bikes. Next year, 2015 will be the 75th and sources are estimating that anniversary will bring out more than 1 million motorcycles. Let's just say that Joan and I are in agreement that we plan to be far away from that crowd. Sturgis was a lot like the Bike Weeks and Biketoberfests that we have seen in Florida with the vendors and the crowds. But the riding in and around the Black Hills is what makes it so special. Nothing like Florida at all. Remember the title of this blog? Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back. That's what the state of South Dakota says every year to the motorcyclists that visit. The local Chamber of Commerce has published information that the Sturgis rally pumps over $800 million in revenue into South Dakota every year. Huge, just huge.


Our friends Dave and Lydia are leaving Florida with their Harley in the back of the truck this week headed to visit us! We expect them this Friday and are looking forward to showing them around. I'm already planning the routes we'll ride and some of the non-bike related activities we'd like to share with them. Hurry up you guys!




Stay Tuned. More to Come.

Guest Blogger

One of many roads we've ridden

Hi everyone! Joan here. You may wonder why I'm writing the blog instead of Steve. Well he's been a little under the weather this week; missing work for 3 days and eventually visiting the doctor last Thursday. Seems as though he has a viral sinus infection with lots of coughing and headaches. On top of that the doctor determined that the over-the-counter decongestants he had been taking were causing his blood pressure to spike. Now he's on a different med. Friday he went to work but was not able to narrate his normal bus tours as he continued to cough when he tried to talk for any length of time. He worked in the Welcome Center instead and now he's got the next 3 days off to heal.

Our Crazy Horse jobs are going well. Steve enjoys driving people around the mountain and to the top. I’ve ridden with him a couple of times and have learned quite a bit about the memorial. He does a good job with his narrative.  Working in the gift shop is a little more physical as I have to stand the entire time I’m there. I think this job is tougher than when we were cutting down trees in Oregon during our first workamping job. The fun part of the job is getting to meet people from all over the world. I love hearing their stories. The second best part of our job is that we only have to work four days which means we have three days to play!

Yesterday was time to get out of the house and do something. One of my favorite things to do is to drive the gravel forest roads. I drove and Steve came along for the ride. We took Deerfield Road west out of Hill City about 11 miles to the end of the pavement and continued onto the gravel road.  These roads are in great shape and easy enough for any vehicle to travel.  The scenery is spectacular and you wouldn’t believe all the wildflowers that are in bloom.  Of course I had to make several stops. I was trying to take a picture of each flower I saw.

After driving west for 2 ½ hours and crossing into Wyoming, we were still wandering along the gravel forest roads when we came upon a sign which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere (we didn't know it then but if we had continued another 6 miles we would have reached highway 85 just north of Newcastle). We couldn't see any buildings, but decided to explore anyway. We turned and drove maybe 100 yards when we saw a fairly new building with about a dozen ATV's and pickup trucks parked outside. We went inside and found a rather nifty restaurant.
Steve and I both had prime rib which was excellent. We’ll be back! When we left we decided to take the forest roads back home. Still recuperating from his sinus infection and with his tummy full, Steve slept most of the way back home. For entertainment I decided to count deer. I stopped counting after 75. Hoping to see elk was my primary reason for going back the way we came. They are very elusive and unfortunately I didn’t get to see any on this trip.

My friend, Terri, from Seattle flew in to town the 1st week in July and spent a week with us. We picked her up on Saturday in Rapid City and on Sunday she and I headed off to visit Devils Tower in Wyoming.  The drive from Custer is only about 100 miles but when you add in all the stops for pictures along the way it can take a while.

We decided to get off the interstate at the visitor center in Wyoming and take the northern route to Devils Tower. I should have remembered from earlier vacations that anyone who travels out west soon realizes that just because there is a point and a name on a map does not mean that there is a city or town there.  






Needing fuel, we figured we’d get it at the first town we came to. After all, the map showed one just a short drive away. Driving through the first town we were disappointed that all they had was a little store. Not to worry, there were several more towns along the way. 

In the meantime we we’re stopping every few minutes to take pictures. You really have to drive it for yourself. Absolutely beautiful! After arriving at the next town we began to see a pattern.  These “towns” were just spots in the road where a few houses were built. Terri was driving and I kept leaning over to look at the gas gauge and getting a little worried. Traffic was non- existent. Finally we drove into a town that had a post office, hotel and several stores. As we got to the end of town we could see the gas station. Yes! Terri pulled in and wouldn’t you know it.......they were closed on Sunday! 

With 40 miles left to reach the interstate and our hotel we decided to continue on.  We began to see Devils Tower off in the distant and stopped to take pictures. We had plenty of daylight so we decided to bypass the turnoff to the tower in favor of going to town for gas. I breathed a sigh of relief when we saw several “open” gas stations.  

We got our room, had dinner then drove back to Devils Tower. It worked out great as there were very few people in the park. We took even more pictures!

 Tuesday Steve and I went back to work and Terri used our car to sight see. Wednesday I had traded days off so Terri and I could spend the day together while Steve worked. I took Terri through the wildlife loop at Custer State Park where she could get up close and personal with the buffalo.

We watched 4^th of July fireworks from the rv park so we wouldn't have to fight the traffic coming and going from Custer. We had a great time with Terri and I’m hoping to see her again in October when I plan to fly to Seattle.

Another interesting place Steve and I visited recently was in Rapid City. It’s called Chapel in the Hills. It is an exact replica of the Borgund stave church in Norway. The original Borgund stavkirke was built around the year 1150 and is considered the most completely preserved stave church still standing in Norway. 

Several years ago I hosted 2 foreign exchange students from Norway. We've kept in touch over the years. The funny thing about seeing this is that my two exchange students, Janne-Marie and Jeanette are both visiting in the states with their young families. 

When I posted pictures on FB to show them where I was, their first response was that I must be visiting EPCOT! One day I hope to make it to Norway. They’ve promised to show me around.

They have big planters here in Wyoming!

I cannot say enough good things about South Dakota. It is absolutely beautiful! The scenery is fantastic in every direction. There is also a fragrance in the air that smells so sweet. You notice it everywhere here in the Black Hills or at least I do.  Wildlife and wildflowers surround us. I may sound like a broken record, but if you have not been here, you should add it to your list of places to visit.

That’s it for now. Steve got up at 3:15am this morning to take a special group to the top of Crazy Horse for a sunrise ceremony. He has been sleeping since he returned home about 9am. I hope he wakes up in time to go spotting with me tonight!

Won't be long and shell'll be on the road. LOOKOUT!

Ryan is big enough now to help poppop through the woods!

One last thing. Have to wish grandaughter, Emily a very Happy 16th Birthday and also a shout out out to grandson Ryan who is celebrating his birthday a few days after Emily.  We love you both very very much.  Be sure and watch the mail this week!

June....Are You Sure It's June?....What happened to May?!

Local Color

OK, I know it's been over a month since I've written...and I apologize for the delay. I just can't write to write. I enjoy writing the blog when we've discovered something new and exciting; or when there's something that I really want to share. But unlike some, I can't just write to have something to post each day. Nuff said about that.

Joan and I have settled into our summer work schedule - Tuesday thru Friday..32 hours/week. We were surprised about the weekends off, but we're not complaining. I rotate between buses (to the base of the mountain), vans (to the top of the mountain) and the OC (Welcome Center). Joan works in the gift shop. Joan and I seldom work the same hours as the buses only run from 8am-8pm, while the gift shop stays open until 10:30pm. Depending on our schedules, one of us has the car while the other either carpools with other workampers or takes the motorcycle to work. I've even walked to work (it's only 1 mile from the campground to Crazy Horse).

While we were in Lake Mead earlier this year we started to notice our Splendide washer/dryer acting up every once in a while. About every 3rd or 4th time we used it, it would stop working between the wash and rinse cycle and the selector knob would start clicking as it turned around the dial. After a couple of weeks of using it here in SD, it started acting up again. I did a little research and discovered how to interpret the blinking lights and determine what Error Code was being signaled.  I downloaded the Technician Training Manual and began my attempt at repair. The error code indicated it was either the pump or the water sensor. I contacted Splendide and spoke with one of their tech support reps who confirmed my test analysis and referred me to a local mobile RV tech who might have parts. I replaced the water pump first and everything seemed OK for the first couple of loads; then the same error occured. The mobile tech was great; allowing me to return the pump and purchase a sensor. I installed the new sensor and was able to wash a couple more loads of laundry before the error returned. After consulting with the mobile tech; and he in turn consulting with the manufacturer it was decided a control board could be the culprit, so I engaged the mobile tech to perform the repairs. Both the pump and sensor cost less than the deductible on my warranty so I had done them myself. But the control board was on the high side so I decided to have it repaired under the warranty. $250 deductible and a new control board later and everything has been working fine for several weeks. It seems we're doing laundry more & more these days.

The 2nd week in June my youngest son Chris celebrated Christmas by utilizing the Christmas present he received last year....a flight from Florida to South Dakota to visit us for a few days. And he brought along his girlfriend Lindsey. We had a great week exploring some of the local tourist destinations and restaurants. On the days we had to work Chris and Lindsey visited Mt. Rushmore and went horseback riding. We took several drives along Iron Mountain Road, Needles Highway and Custer State Park Wildlife Loop where we got caught in the middle of a buffalo herd. And we took a couple of long drives through the National Forests in the area spotting lots of deer and elk. We went to Wind Cave National Park and they even got to take a tour to the top of Crazy Horse Mountain. We really enjoyed getting to know Lindsey better and were sad to see them go at the end of the week. See you guys soon!

We've taken several motorcycle rides since we've been here, including a ride to Deadwood with Rudee and Phil. The other day Joan rode on back with me while we took a short 50 mile ride to Deerfield. About half way there we spotted something unexpected on the side of the road. A large thunderstorm had swept through the area the night before and we had seen small hail back at our campground. We turned around to investigate and what did we discover......snow! How unusual to see snow in the middle of June at 6000' elevation.

Dianna & Joan

2 weeks ago I stepped out of the RV and heard someone ask "Are you Steve?". A couple (Dianna and Pat) were walking through the campground and stopped to introduce themselves. They were friends of some of our fellow RVers Dan & Jonelle and had stopped for a few days in our campground to visit. They also knew Phil & Rudee and had been hoping to meet Joan and I as well. Over the next few days we had a great time getting to know them. One day we were out driving looking for wildlife in the middle of the national forest when we saw a sign for Bear Mountain Lookout. We decided to check it out and a few miles deeper and higher into the forest we came to a fire tower. We stopped and got out of the car to explore, only to be greeted by a voice from above...."Hi, would you folks like to come up and see inside?" It was the lookout, Colleen inviting us to visit her in the tower lookout.

Steve, Colleen, Dianna & Pat

So we all proceeded to climb to the top and spent almost 30 minutes chatting with her. What a view! And what a good time we had! Hopefully we'll get to see Dianna and Pat again soon. And I expect we'll visit Colleen again before the summer is finished.



Phil and I finally managed to sync our schedules last week and played a round of golf while the girls checked out the Mammoth Dig at Hot Springs. Phil is regaining his former glory as a ball striker after a several year layoff, while I just matched my annual average for the number of holes played (18) since I started full-timing. The weather was nice and the course was in good shape. We both plan on not letting this be our only outing of the summer and we're hoping to get Dan & Jonelle out with us soon.

3 or 4 times each week Joan persuades me to take her for a wildlife viewing ride down 1 or more of the country/forest roads. The roads in our area of South Dakota are wonderful; probably the best roads of anywhere we have traveled. And that includes both the paved primary roads and the back country and national forest roads.


Even when we're off-road I can set the cruise control and ride along at 25-35 mph without worrying about humps and bumps in the road. The scenery whether on road or off is some of the most interesting we've experienced as well.

Badlands

Forested roadsides with plenty of open views and vistas; gray rock out-croppings spotted throughout the roadside forests; beautiful fields of multi-colored green grasses surrounded by forested mountain sides; deer, wild turkeys, elk and buffalo around most every corner. I would recommend this area of South Dakota to anyone who enjoys driving; regardless of whether you were touring in your car, riding your motorcycle or off-roading with your jeep or ATV. You could easily spend a full week riding/driving and never get bored.

We had hoped our friends Ernie & Donna, Jim & Debbie and Dave & Lydia were going to be able to take a vacation out here with their bikes, but plans never really got off the ground as Jimmy's work restricted time frames in which certain employees take time off and Dave's daughter was expecting twins with a summer due date (congratulations to the Dumke family on the birth of Eva & Eden on 6/22). Hey Guys....even if you can't come while we're out here you need to add it to your Bucket List. It's probably my 2nd favorite travel location and Joan and I would really enjoy meeting you guys out here some time in the future.

Mutliple Shout Outs
- to Tommy Ritten - Happy Birthday Tommy.....82 and still going strong. Hey Tommy, when you coming out for a visit?
- to Bill & Barb Z - Good luck with the new knee...looking forward to seeing you at Lake Mead this fall and congratulations on the new grandtwins!
- to Jim (my Dad) - keep working hard. We're all waiting for you to be able to come home and we're proud of all the progress you've made

PS - note from Joan
Happy Birthday to my Dad and Happy Anniversary to my wonderful Husband!!!

Yep, that's right folks. Tuesday 6/24 is our first wedding anniversary. It's been a great year! Love you Joan.

That's it for now. Stay Tuned. More to Come.

Can You Tell We're Having Fun?