Murdo, S.D. Thurs. August 2, 2007

8:00 a.m. - This was a nice park and very quiet, a good place to stay and we would stay here again. Our destination today is Murdo, S.D. South Dakota's state jewelry is the Black Hills Gold and it is called Mt. Rushmore State. The Lewis and Clark Trail is here and you can actually walk and see what they supposedly saw. There a lots of Indian Reservations here as you probably know. There is also no helmet law here, but it is strongly recommended, but it is mandatory to wear eye protection. There is glacial lakes on the east and Black Hills on the west. The temperature here now is 69 degrees. We stopped at a super Wal-Mart before we took off on the Interstate to stock up on fruits and veggies. Just outside of Buffalo, WY there is rolling hills and lots of space and alfalfa fields.l Not any buildings, just the road between two sets of hills. We are staying pretty much at the 4,500-4,800 ft. elevation.

11:00 a.m. - We are stopping in the small town of Gillette, WY to have a bite to eat and stretch our legs and let Abby out. The skies are kinda overcast and it feels kinda humid with the temperature around 83 degrees. There is a huge coal mine right off the road and the train loaded with many, many cars of coal is chugging down the track.

12:30 p.m. - All of a sudden it got very windy, so windy that we stopped to put duct tape on our awning. The awning looked ok, but Frank wanted to make sure that the wind did not grab it and flip it over our motorhome while we are driving. That happened with the other motorhome and it cost us big bucks to have it replaced. We noticed a few others had pulled over to do the same and on the road, there were others that had already taped their awnings. We are leaving the Wyoming mountains and headed for Black Hills Country.

1:00 p.m. - We are 40 miles from Rapid City,S.D. and we are under a big rain cloud and it is pouring down very hard, but it smells good!!! It's been a long time since we saw rain. The bikers are all pulling off under the overpasses to try and keep dry or to put on their jackets. The temperature has dropped down to 66 degrees.

There is a big motorcycle rally going on in the town of Sturgis, S.D. this weekend and there are thousands of bikers coming in from all over for this event.

2:15 p.m. - We got through Sturgis and the bikers are still coming in a steady stream. It was not as bad as we thought it would be. the Rally does not start until Saturday, and from we have heard, it is suppose to draw 1/2 million bikers!! We stopped for gas at a Pilot station and gas is $3.04 a gallon. We just had that rain in Rapid City and here there are signs posted to not throw cigarettes out the window because of serious hazard conditions because it is so dry.

4:30 p.m. - We just changed to Central Time and now we have to put our clocks and watches ahead one hour. so now it is really 5:30. ugh!! How time flies! It's a bummer to keep losing an hour, much better to be gaining an hour, life passes to quickly as it is. We are about 15 miles from the RV Park we will be staying for the night. This part of the country is know as the Badlands.

6:00 p.m. - Pulled into the American RV Park in Murdo, S.D. with a warm 92 degrees. It was a nice drive most of the day. It also was very interesting to see so many bikers going to the rally, both watching them ride and also hauling their bikes with trucks, cars, etc.

7:00 p.m. - After hooking up and getting the motorhome set, Frank suggested we go out to eat since it was so late because we lost that hour. Naturally, I said yes! There is a restaurant right on the RV Park property called "The Rusty Spur" and we went there and had a good dinner. Had a conversation with a guy that was on his way to Sturgis, and he had just come from Spirit Lake, where we are headed for tomorrow and where Ronnie and Lorrie live!! Small world. Did some laundry and then enjoyed the beautiful night.

Drove 378 miles today