Living Our Dream

Kansas City to Sioux Falls, SD

Sioux Falls, SD

For our next destination, we headed to Sioux Falls to get our driver licenses renewed. Unfortunately, the direct route from Kansas City to Sioux Falls (I-29) was closed in several spots in Iowa due to flooding of the Missouri River.

The detour recommended by Iowa DOT was to take I-35 north, then take I-90 into Sioux Falls, but that route would have added about two hours to the two days we planned to take to get to Sioux Falls. We considered crossing the Missouri River into Nebraska and taking US 75, which would have theoretically added less than an hour, but Nebraska DOT recommended against that due to numerous construction delays on US 75. The only reasonable route left was to take US 59 north in Iowa and cut back to the west to pick up I-29 again in Sioux City, IA north of the closures. Our GPS estimated this would add a little over an hour to two days of travel - not too bad.

US 59 runs roughly parallel to I-29 about 20 to 30 miles to the east through the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, we found a campground in the middle of nowhere at about the halfway point along the route.

Prairie Rose State Park is near the little town of Harlan, IA on Prairie Rose Lake. Prairie Rose has 95 campsites - 77 with electric only, 8 with full hookups and the rest with no hookups. From the campground map, it looked like most (if not all) the sites had 30/50 amps. Electric-only sites are $16 a night, and full hookups are $19. About half their sites are non-reserveable, so we had no problem getting a site for one night on a Monday.

There is an east loop and a west loop in the campground. From the satellite images online, we could see the west loop was heavily wooded, so we didn't even consider a site there. All the full hookup sites are on the east loop anyway, so that was another reason to skip the west loop. It's not that we need sewer for only one night, but we only travel with a minimal amount of fresh water in our tank to save weight. Therefore, for an extra $3, we preferred the full hookup site so we didn't have to look for a spigot and take time to add water to our tank before we set up.

We got the last non-reserveable, full-hookup site. Fortunately, it also allowed us to get good satellite reception.

The roads are paved, the sites are gravel, and there is grass between the sites. The sites are fairly wide, but not as wide as most state parks. Being in the middle of nowhere, the campground was very quiet - no traffic and no trains. In spite of being in the middle of nowhere, we had 4 bars on the cell phone. Go figure. The next photo shows a view down our row.

The east loop overlooks a finger of Prairie Rose Lake. There are two rows of sites that are terraced, so both rows have a nice view. However, the second row does have to look over the roofs of the RVs in the first row, but there was hardly anyone in the first row when we were there.

In the morning, we continued our detour northward up US 59. When we lived in Pittsburgh, we used to think western Pennsylvania had the worst roads in the country. Now that we travel, we are finding out there are other states that have a shot of claiming the dubious distinction of having the worst roads. Iowa is one of those states. Another one of those states where we have been recently is Louisiana, and Louisiana doesn't even have cold weather so they can't blame their bad roads on the freeze/thaw cycle and the use of road salt.

US 59 in Iowa has narrow lanes and narrow or non-existent shoulders that are also low in most places. The road also has a lot of pot holes and very rough expansion joints. When you're driving a heavy vehicle with 100 psi air pressure in the tires and a solid front axle, you really feel every jolt up through the steering wheel and through the seat of your pants. When we finally rejoined I-29 north of Sioux City, it wasn't a lot better. There were still narrow lanes and rough expansion joints. The South Dakota state line finally gave us some relief from the ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk of the expansion joints.

We pulled into Tower Campground in Sioux Falls in the early afternoon. We stayed at Tower Campground when we went to Sioux Falls get our drivers licenses when we first started full-timing 5 years ago. Tower Campground was a little rough around the edges back then with lots of older mobile homes in the eastern section and permanent RVs in the western section. From some of the reviews we read, it continued to go downhill until new owners took over about two years ago.

The new owners have done a remarkable job fixing up the campground. They still have some work to do, but they have cleaned out most of the mobile homes, the old house, and older RVs. The few mobile homes that remain are newer and very well-kept. They have installed new utilities in some of the old mobile home sites in the eastern section and converted them to relatively spacious RV sites. They want to do more sites, but they are waiting for zoning approval.

There was a time when our mail service, Alternative Resources, no longer recommended Tower Campground for those RVers staying in Sioux Falls to establish their South Dakota residency or to conduct other business. However, with the great improvements at Tower, they are once again on the Alternative Resources list of recommended campgrounds. Tower also gives Alternative Resources customers a special camping rate of $25.

There are full hookups with 30/50-amp electric (at least in the eastern section - we don't know about the western section) and free Wi-fi and cable. The roads in the eastern side are paved, as is about half the road in the western side. The sites are gravel. Unfortunately, the gravel is pretty dirty with lots of dark-colored, fine particles that tend to get tracked into the rig when it rains. We know that because it rained the first two days we were in Sioux Falls. The photo below shows our site at Tower Campground after the sun finally came out.

The next photo shows some of the other RV sites in the eastern section where our site was located.

And the photo below shows the western section where sites are a little closer together.

Tower Campground is conveniently located fairly close to town, but that also means there is a lot of traffic noise from I-29 that is nearby and from 12th Street, which is a busy, 4-lane, main artery into the city. There are also occasional trains fairly close by. Tower Campground is also close to Sioux Falls Regional Airport, which is home to the 114th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard. If the wind is right, Tower Campground is on the glide path to the airport, and you will get to see (and hear) passenger jets, commuter jets and F-16s. Fortunately, the noise from 12th Street and the airplanes quiets down at night. Although the F-16s are loud when they do fly over the campground, it's the sound of freedom; and we didn't mind.

The next morning, we headed over the the DMV office. In our next post, we'll tell you about our adventures at the license office and the sightseeing we were able to squeeze in.

After we left Winterset, IA, we made a one-night stop in Onawa, IA at Lewis & Clark State Park. This park is located on an oxbow lake near the Missouri River. An oxbow lake is a former section of river that was isolated to become a lake when the river changed course. The campground has mostly electric-only sites with gravel pads with a few full hookup sites mixed in. Although the roads are kind of narrow, the sites are nicely spaced. There is also a newer section with a dozen or so paved pull-throughs and full hookups. We opted for a pull-through, even though we didn't need full hookups for only one night, because we didn't want to unhitch the toad. The pull-throughs were also a little farther from the lake and seemed a little quieter.

 

We were on the road a little after 9:00 the next morning on our way to Snake Creek Recreation Area in South Dakota. Driving 125+ miles across the bottom of South Dakota to our next stop presented us with one of those unexpected discoveries about our "home" state. The South Dakota we explored two years ago conjures up a mental image of the Badlands, Custer State Park, Needles Highway and the Black Hills where you see Mt. Rushmore and where Crazy Horse is being carved out of the mountain. We weren't prepared for the acres of farmland for as far as the eye could see. From tilling to planting to fertilizing to harvesting, we saw men working hard in the fields. There were also ranches raising cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. Although these ranches were huge, their homes were modest and many homesteads were abandoned. Many of the farmers were using John Deere equipment and having some knowledge of the different pieces from our trip to the John Deere Pavilion, we had a better understanding of their different purposes.

Researching South Dakota on the internet, we learned that the Missouri River travels through the middle of the state. Almost one third of the region west of the Missouri River, a semiarid, treeless plain, belongs to Native Americans, most of whom live on reservations. Much of the remaining area is occupied by large ranches where cattle and sheep ranching provide the major source of income, with soybean and wheat farming second in the production of revenue. In the more productive region east of the Missouri, livestock and livestock products are the primary sources of income. Actually, it was the rumors of gold in the Black Hills in the late 19th century that stimulated cattle ranching in order to feed the large influx of people seeking  their fortunes in gold.

Snake Creek Recreation Area is located on Lake Francis Case which is on the Missouri River. There are 115+ campsites, a few of which are tent sites with no hookups, but most have electric. We didn't know there were two campgrounds until afer we got there. We had reserved a lakeside site in what turned out to be the older section (north). The north campground has a mix of paved and gravel pads with 30 amp electric. The south campground has all paved pads, 50 amp electric, and smaller trees so there is almost no problem with satellite. The sites in both campgrounds are widely spaced and the campground was fairly quiet during the week, although we can imagine it gets fairly full of young families, boaters, and fishermen on the weekends. The photo below shows our lakefront site...

...and this was the view of the lake from behind our rig.

Snake Creek Recreation Area is out in the middle of nowhere. We needed to keep our rooftop antenna plugged into our cell phone to barely get service with one bar. It was a good time to rest up in pleasant surroundings, although the mosquitoes were a little fierce. Paul was getting over his chest cold, and he couldn't resist sharing it with Margery. She was now up at night coughing, so the daily naps were good for us both.

We spent three days at Snake River then moved on to Spearfish, SD. When we came to South Dakota our first year of full-timing, we didn't have time to make it to Spearfish. Spearfish is about 2 hours from Gillette, so it made a good place to stop for a few days just before the Escapade in Gillette.

We stayed at Chris' Camp in Spearfish. The campground has paved interior roads and gravel pads and there is a small patch of grass between sites. The campground has quite a few trees, but when we told the owner we needed an unobstructed view of the southern sky for satellite, he immediately knew what we needed and escorted us to a great site.

The next morning we drove about an hour west into Wyoming to see Devils Tower. Devils Tower was proclaimed the first national monument in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt. Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion, which means it was molten lava that flowed upward into sedimentary rock layers. As the magma cooled, vertical cracks were formed. The cracks later created the columns that can be seen along the sides after erosion of the surrounding sedimentary layers left the magma tower exposed. The tower rises 867' from its base and stands 1267' above the Belle Fourche (pronounced Bell Foosh) River, which runs nearby.

Devils Tower is the name given to the tower by Col. Richard Dodge in 1875. Bear Lodge is one of many names given to the tower by Native Americans. According to Kiowa legend, the vertical marks on the sides of the tower were left by a bear trying to climb the tower while chasing seven sisters.

Devils Tower can be seen rising majestically from the landscape from several miles away. From the Visitor Center, there is a 1.3 mile trail around the base of the tower. This trail is not to be missed as it provides up-close views of the tower from all angles so you can see the changing shadow patterns on the vertical columns as you walk around the base.

 

We are pleased to announce that Margery was able to make the walk easily. Look Ma, no scooter and no walking poles!

The tower is popular with climbers; but since the tower is considered sacred to many Native American groups, climbers are asked to refrain from climbing during the month of June, which is traditionally a month of Native American ceremonies. The first ascent of the tower was made on July 4, 1893 by William Rogers and Willard Ripley. Paul is using one of the sight tubes to spot the remnants of their ladder on the side of the tower.

The photo below is a telephoto shot of the ladder, which is the thin, light line running down the center. It doesn't look like it would have even been sturdy enough when it was first built!

The site of Devils Tower National Monument also has a 40 acre prairie dog town. As you look out across the field, you can see dozens and dozens of prairie dogs popping up looking back at you. Of course, these cute little animals aren't dogs at all. They are rodents which are closely related to ground squirrels. They get their name from the barking-like warning sound they make.

This little fellow below walked right up to Paul. Seconds after the photo, with the sound of gravel crunching under Paul's shoe, the prairie dog took off like a shot.

After returning from Devils Tower, we took a drive down Spearfish Canyon, which runs south of Spearfish into the Black Hills National Forest. Spearfish Canyon was carved through three layers of rock by Spearfish Creek. The upper level is tan PahaSapa Limestone, the middle layer is mauve Engelwood Limestone, and the bottom is brownish Black Hills Sandstone. Unfortunately, it was late evening when we drove through the canyon so we didn't get to see the full colors. However, on the occasions when we rounded a bend where the sun was still shining on the rocks, the views were spectacular.

Spearfish is a pleasant town with an older, picturesque downtown and a more modern suburbs. The town is small and easy to get around. In this area rolling prairie ranch land meets the Black Hills, which provides some beautiful and diverse scenery. We needed to head on to Gillette for the Escapade, but the Spearfish area is definitely on our list for further exploration.