Day 10 - Keep on Truckin'

We had a short driving day planned today, so we weren't in a hurry to pack up and leave the Badlands. Don, the kids, and Grandpa and Grandma P. went over to the campground's all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast while Gramma K. and I got the camper travel-ready. No matter how many times we say that we need to keep everything picked up and put everything away as soon as we are done using it, it never actually happens. We always end up stowing things away at the last minute before we hit the road. It was a nice KOA and we all enjoyed our time here.

Bob's truck (and photo)

We have had a couple of nighttime thunder/rainstorms that have brought at least a little moisture to the area. As we left, there was finally a tiny rivulet going down the middle of the White River bed that has been completely dry while we've been here (so much for fishing!)

We had our last glimpse of the Badlands, and the land started turning from brown to green as we headed across South Dakota to Custer. However, much of the land was very, very flat.

Also Bob's photo - Hey, that's us up there!

In the Badlands, they need 30 - 40 acres of land for each head of cattle, so the ranches are HUGE. From the road, you see mostly empty land with a cluster of cows under the one shade tree (or billboard.) As we move west, we are seeing more grass and grazing horses. As we got closer to our destination, the terrain became rockier and the Ponderosa Pines began to appear. We ended up driving through part of Custer State Park on our way to the campground. Bee-yoo-ti-ful! They also had very friendly hosts to escort us through the park.

Walk this Way

There was no zoom used in the taking of this picture. I could have reached out and touched him. But I opted not to :-)

 
On the other side of the park, we arrived at the town of Custer.

Watch out, Onawa, Iowa! This is a pretty wide Main Street, too.

Grandpa agreed to feed the kids lunch while Don escorted the ladies into town for lunch and grocery shopping. Gabriella wanted me to take pictures of all of the buffalo statues in town (they're like the painted horses in Saratoga,) but I only took one at lunchtime to appease her.

We had an excellent lunch at Baker's Bakery (yes, that's the real name.) At first, we were disappointed because they were out of buffalo burgers, but my Southwestern wrap made up for it. This was not your typical ladies-who-lunch wrap. Those jalapenos had a serious kick!

Supply shopping was a bit of a challenge. We were pointed in the direction of the "department store" Pamida. Our waitress said it "wasn't as exciting as a Target," but it would have everything we needed. Well, it was more of a Ocean State Job Lot. It did at least have the collapsible hampers we wanted. It's amazing how much laundry five of us can generate. And quickly. Next, Don went to a hardware store while the rest of us went to the grocery store. Being a tourist town, everything was SUPER expensive and the inventory was not very extensive, but we made do.

When we got back to camp, we decided to go to Mount Rushmore for the evening lighting ceremony. Oh, if we had only known. It wasn't a long drive. We had just passed Crazy Horse when we noticed that Bob was no longer behind us. We pulled over and inched along until we could pick up a cell signal. Don got them on the phone and discovered that Bob's truck had simply stopped. Shut down. Kaput. His brand-new truck. So, Bob stayed with the truck to call his Good Sam's roadside assistance while the rest of us crammed in our truck so Don could take us back to the campground. Don went back to wait with his dad. Gavin and my mom hauled some laundry over to the campground laundry room while Gabriella played photographer.

Meanwhile, Bob's cell signal wasn't strong enough to have a successful conversation with Good Sam's. They couldn't ascertain his exact location, so they wouldn't send a tow truck. Bob had to call 911 so they could lock on to his location and send help.

The last picture of Bob's poor truck.

After waiting a couple of hours, they followed the truck up to Rapid City to drop it at the Ford dealer. They finally got back to the campground around 11:30 that night. Not the best start to this leg of the trip. Tomorrow, the saga continues...