Living Our Dream

How We  Became Publishers
As many RVers do, we started blogging about our travels as a way to help our friends and family back home follow along in our new adventure. Neither one of us are into writing stream of conscience so it was predictable that over the past four years, the blog has morphed into a travelogue. It is always nice to hear from other travelers about good campgrounds, food, festivals, and sights to see. Therefore, we like to include that kind information along with some 'home improvement projects' and personal news.

We started publishing our blog using Typepad because we thought we would be able to copy the blog to a CD. Not sure where Margery read that, but about a year into blog writing, we found out that was not true.

However, we did find out that it was possible to 'slurp' our blog into a book format and have as many or as few books published as we wanted. That was when we decided to publish a book for each year's of travel. 

Blurb provides a high-quality bookmaking and publishing services for the beginner or the pro. The professional software is a free download, and there is no charge until you're ready to publish your book. Books are published in 7-10 days and start as low as $4.95 in professional, bookstore-quality, printing, binding, and covers.

Full color books are available in five sizes. You can use one of their 12 templates with step-by-step guidance, or you can skip the BookSmart guidance and design your own. Some of the templates include books featuring photos, recipes, poetry, yearbooks, and of course blogs to book.

There many ways to customize the look of your book. For instance, we chose a slightly larger print for the copy so that it'll be easy to read as we get older. You also have a variety of fonts, backgrounds, and themes to use, if you wish. The photo below gives you an idea of how your book would look while you are creating/ editing your book. You can also view a single page or as a two-page spread.

This past week our published book of our first year arrived, and we found it stunning!

With all the blog entries and pictures, it was 204 pages. We chose a hardcover with a book jacket which we designed.

Although we do not expect anyone to purchase it, we did make it public so that it can be previewed at the Blurb Bookstore. On the right sidebar of the bookstore page, there are a variety of categories of books that you can peruse. It's a hotbed of ideas for designing your own book.

Because our book is public, we had the opportunity to write something about the book. Here's our description: 

How did a couple of stick-in-the-muds make the decision to disengage from their lives as they knew it and begin to explore our great country as full-time RVers?

There were a lot of things to consider and a dizzying number of decisions that had to be made... and that didn't even include where we wanted to go first!

This book includes blog entries describing our experiences accompanied by a lot of photos of our travels. It concludes with an honest assessment of our first year of life on the road and the decisions we made.

We both feel that publishing our book has been worth the time, effort, and cost. Some day we'll be rockin' away browsing through our books re-living this wonderful time in our lives. Margery has begun editing book two, but it will take a while.

Before we left Bushnell, we stopped back at Coyote Rojo Mexican restaurant. This time Margery had a fajita steak taco salad, and Paul had a fajita steak burrito. Both were delish!

We were scheduled to leave Bushnell Wednesday morning. However, when we got up we realized that our English Springer Spaniel, Molly, was not doing well. We had noticed a distinct deterioration in her quality of life the past couple of weeks, but the past two days she had worsened. After an emergency visit to a local vet, we decided it was time to let her go peacefully. We loved on her while the sedative took effect, and she was no longer aware we were there.

We had almost 16 years with her. She was a great traveler and  loved going with her pack wherever we went. She particularly loved all the smells she encountered on our travels the past four years. She was a great companion with her unique quirks, and she will be sorely missed. Margery has posted some of our favorite pictures in a Facebook photo album.

We delayed our departure, and will now pull out on Thursday for points west. We look forward to sharing with you what we discover.

Durango Part II: Mining for Gold and Other Gems

Durango is a fairly large town. (Translation: They have a Wal-Mart AND a Dairy Queen.) We went downtown one day to have a look around and found the downtown area to be vibrant and thriving. It is the only downtown area we have run across recently that's big enough to have parking meters and pay parking lots, although parking rates are still fairly reasonable.

Downtown Durango has many of the usual downtown businesses such as bookstores, lawyers' offices, banks, insurance agents, coffee shops, etc.; and they also have plenty of tourist shops selling Indian jewelry, T-shirts, art, and gifts. The photo below shows a section of Main Avenue.

Although Durango has retained a lot of its old-time charm, it has come a long way in a little over a hundred years since its founding. The photo below shows a mural on the side of a downtown building depicting Durango in 1890.

Adding to the old-time charm of Durango is the General Palmer Hotel, which is located on Main Avenue about a block away from the Durango & Silverton Railroad station. The General Palmer was built in 1898 and boasts Victorian elegance. The hotel is a real gem because they have maintained a Four-Diamond Rating from AAA for the last 25 consecutive years.

We enjoyed walking around the downtown area, but the real reason we went was to find the Zuberfizz Factory. Zuberfizz is a soft drink that is a product of the Durango Soda Company. The factory is located right downtown, although the entrance is on a back alley and is a little hard to find. But it turned out to be a jewel that was worth the hunt.

Unfortunately, we were just a little late to watch the bottling operation, but one of the co-owners of the company gave us a quick tour of the facilities. There's not much to see (a couple of tanks and the bottling machine), but he took the time to explain how they made their soft drinks with pure cane sugar instead of less-expensive, high-fructose corn syrup. They also only use glass bottles because they say cans and plastic bottles can alter the flavor of the sort drinks.

Zuberfizz seems very popular in the Durango area where even the Wal-Mart in town carries their root beer, but they don't seem to have much distribution outside Colorado. However, you can order their products online.

They also have a little soda shop at the factory where they serve soft drinks, ice cream sodas, and hot dogs. Zuberfizz has old-fashioned favorites like root beer, cream soda, and ginger ale. We got the opportunity to sample some of their soft drinks and ended up with a carton of key lime cream soda. Yum. :>)

One reason downtown Durango is so popular is they have lots of nice restaurants. Durango has almost as many restaurants per capita as San Francisco, which is known as the restaurant capital of the West. As we walked around town, we checked out menus that some of the eateries had posted outside. Many of the dishes sounded delicious; but unfortunately, most of the restaurants were out of our price range.

We did, however, find one affordable eatery that was a diamond in the rough. A little north of town on the way to the campground was an establishment called Serious Texas Bar B Q. Serious Texas Bar B Q is not fancy, but it has a lot of atmosphere. The decor is rustic with rough wood and corrugated iron. There is a rusty, metal sculpture of a mariachi band on the roof and plenty of pickup trucks in the parking lot. We have found the presence of pickups is usually a sign of good barbecue.

You order your food at the counter and carry it to your table yourself. There is seating at picnic tables either inside or out on the porch.

Texas Bar B Q serves delicious smoked meats like beef brisket, pork loin, Texas sausage, and turkey. The meats are served sliced, without sauce, on a sheet of butcher paper. There is barbecue sauce on each table in a huge bottle. The sauce is a delicious combination of the tart, vinegar-based, western North Carolina sauce and sweet, Kansas City style sauce that is a little thicker. The smoked pork loin is also served with pineapple-jalepeño salsa that Paul loved. They also have ribs and sandwiches. Prices are reasonable at $6.50 for a half pound of meat. The side dishes are so-so, but the smoked meats more than make up for them.

Durango, CO, was named for Durango, Mexico. The name comes from a Basque word "urango" meaning water town. The name is very fitting because the Animas River follows a C-shaped course through town.

The official name of the Aminas River is El Rio de las Animas Perdidas, which roughly translated, means River of Lost Souls. It was so named because several Spanish explorers who set out on the river disappeared and their bodies were never found.

Today, the river is a real treasure and is an important source of recreation in the area. Durango must have more than a dozen river outfitters. We saw their converted school buses everywhere with kayaks and inner tubes on the roof, towing trailers piled high with rubber rafts.

When we rode the Durango & Silverton Railroad, we saw many rafters on the upper part of the river below Silverton. This is where the outfitters take you if you want a little wilder ride since there is more drop to the river in the mountains and, therefore, more white water.

We also saw many people with rafts, inner tubes, and kayaks floating on the river through town. This is where the outfitters take you if you want a milder, more relaxing float trip.

Durango has made a sterling effort to take advantage of the recreational aspects of the river by building a paved bicycle/walking trail along the river most of the way through town. There are also several parks along the walkway. We took a walk a little way down the trail one morning and watched the kayaks...

...and rafts go by.

Mining for gold and silver is an integral part of the history of Durango, Silverton, and other small towns in the San Juan Mountains. We decided it would be interesting to find out more about mining so we drove back to Silverton bright and early one morning to tour the Old Hundred Gold Mine. Although it took three and a half hours to get to Silverton by train, it is only about 45 miles north of the campground and only took a little over an hour by car. Well, OK, it takes an hour and a half if you stop a bunch of times for photos.

Unfortunately, it was another cloudy day in the mountains, as many days seem to be. Except for the day we left Durango, there were clouds over the mountains even when it was mostly sunny in Durango. Even so, the mountain views are gorgeous.

We got a few glimpses of the sun, but the clouds still hung around the peaks.

This view across this lake was very picturesque.

We got to the mine just in time to don our raincoats and hard hats and make the 11:00 tour.

The reason for the hard hats was obvious - low clearances and the possibility a loose rock could fall on your head from above. The reason for the raincoats wasn't immediately apparent, but we got a clue when the guide handed us a towel to use to dry off the seats in the mine car. Then we all piled in and headed off into the mine.

As soon as we entered the tunnel, we knew the reason we were all wearing raincoats and the reason we had to dry off the seats. There was water, lots of water - not dripping, but pouring through the rock over our heads. Fortunately, the heavy water is only for the first several hundred feet and it subsides when you get further into the mine.

In 1872, three German brothers by the name of Neigold arrived in the Silverton area and staked a mining claim in Number 7 vein. Gradually, the Neigold brothers had assembled a large block of claims. One good claim located in 1892 was called Old Hundred

The brothers sold out their claims to a mining company organized in Maine that called itself the Old Hundred Mining Company. By 1906, the mine had built its own mill and was shipping gold to the Denver mint.

However, shortly afterward, the gold was mined out. The Old Hundred Mining Company never turned a profit and defaulted on their payments for the claims to the Neigolds. The brothers were unable to resell the money-losing mine and eventually lost it due to unpaid taxes.

During the 1930s, new owners worked the mine sporadically, and it was still unprofitable. In 1967, a Texas oil company took out a lease on the property in the hope enough low-grade ore could be found to be profitably processed by new, more efficient milling and processing methods.

After spending more than $6 million driving over 5 miles of new tunnels into the mountain, they, too, gave up. Today, the mine is an official Colorado Historic Landmark and is operated as a tourist attraction.

Once inside the mine, we began the walking tour. The type of mining done in the San Juan Mountains is called hard rock mining. This refers to various underground methods used to extract ores containing gold, silver, zinc, copper, and lead. Soft rock mining is used for soft minerals such as coal.

In the San Juans, quartz is the indicator for gold-bearing ores. When miners found veins containing quartz, there would be a chance of finding gold ore along with it.

As we started our walking tour, the guide first demonstrated hand drilling methods used in the early days. Holes would be drilled in the direction of the vein in order to plant explosives. In the photo below, the guide recruited a brave volunteer from crowd to hold the drill while he used the sledge.

Then, the guide demonstrated an early pneumatic drill. The drill was mounted to a jack post and advanced into the rock by means of a screw with a crank.

The noise echoing in the confined space of the mine tunnel was unbelievable when the drill was running! And the early drills didn't use water to keep the dust down so the mine would be filled with rock dust. Many coal miners suffered from black lung disease from breathing coal dust. Similarly, hard rock miners suffered from silicosis from the rock dust. Later drills did use water and were more portable with a pneumatic leg for support.

Along the tour, we saw the mine elevator and learned about the bell the miners used to signal the lift operator as to what level they were on and where they wanted to go. We also learned about mine lights from candles in the beginning, to carbide lamps, and to the electric cap lamps used today. The guide showed how the miners would use their lamps to signal each other because they couldn't be heard with all the noise. In the photo below, the guide has his cap lamp hanging around his neck. That way, it would be available if he needed it, but it wouldn't shine into peoples' faces.

Also on the table were several types of lunch boxes used by miners throughout the years. Miners call their lunch boxes pie cans, no matter what type they have. This is because there were many Welsh miners whose wives made them meat pies also known as pasties for lunch.

Then the guide showed an example of the hole pattern used for explosives and how dynamite would be placed in the holes. Specific charge patterns would be used and certain fuses would be lit first. As the explosions progressed out from a central point, the rock from subsequent blasts would have someplace to go. Later, the development of blasting caps with precise time delays made the job of sequencing the blasts much easier.

After large quantities of rock were blasted loose, the miners would lay rails for the loader to come in and load the ore. The guide demonstrated the loader, which, like everything else in the mine, was very noisy. It clanked, banged, and roared its way back and forth from the rock pile to the ore car.

We are learning that there are people who have truly very hard and dangerous jobs.

At the end of the tour, we all got back into the mine car and headed back out into the fresh air. Paul is waiting his turn to climb out of the mine car in the photo below. By the way, for Paul's former co-workers - he told the people in the office they had the wrong kind of hard hats. They needed to get MSA V-Gards because they're THE best. :)

 

After we got our raincoats and hard hats hung back up, we tried our hand at panning for gold. Margery has a fair amount of "color" in her pan.

 

Paul got into the act, too.

The light-colored specks at the top of the pan are some of the results of our efforts.

The troughs are supposedly "salted" with gold and silver. At the price of those metals today, we doubt there is much gold in the troughs; and if there is any silver in the specks of metal we found, the percentage is probably pretty low. But it was fun learning how to use the pan and to actually find something.

We took our time driving back to Durango, stopping for photos every now and then. The one below is looking down the road from the Old Hundred Mine.

And down at the end of the mine road, we couldn't pass up a golden opportunity to get the photo below of a beautiful scene of wildflowers beside a stream.

Between Old Hundred Mine and Silverton, we stopped for this photo of Mayflower Mill, which was built in 1929 to process ore from the Mayflower Mine and other mines in the area. The mill operated until 1991. Our tour guide at Old Hundred used to work in the Mayflower Mine before it closed.

In this closer shot of Mayflower Mill, you can see one of the overhead tram buckets that were used to haul ore from the mine on the hill opposite the mill. The mine was uphill from the mill, so gravity did most of the work moving the ore. At the start of each shift, miners would stand in the empty buckets to ride up to the mine. That was obviously before OSHA.

As we approached Silverton, we caught a glimmer of sun on the mountain. You can see just a little of Silverton at the base of the mountain.

We wound our way back down from the mountains; and just a little north of the campground, we stopped to see a hot spring along the side of the road. A family by the name of Pinkerton settled in this area in 1875 and started a dairy farm. The Pinkertons built a bath house so family and guests could enjoy the hot springs. The springs were known as Pinkerton Hot Springs. In the 1920s, Pinkerton-in-the-Pines Resort offered a pool for swimming, plus music and dancing. The photo below shows the travertine mound the spring has built up over the years.

We had the next day to relax before we hit the road for our next stop in Taos, NM. The campground has a large field completely enclosed by a fence for a dog run, so we took Molly over to see what she would do. Molly has never been very trustworthy off-leash because she usually has a tendency to take off. But she seems to have mellowed in her old age, and she didn't venture very far from us. While Paul was busy taking photos of the interesting sky and the clouds over the mountains (shown in the photo below), Margery walked around the perimeter of the field and got Molly to follow her.

Margery and Molly are returning from the far side of the field in the photo below. Molly followed on the way out, but seemed eager to lead the way back to the gate.

Back at the motor home, Molly rested from her long walk, and we finished up some chores in preparation for our departure the next morning.

Durango Part I: Durango & Silverton Railroad

Our last drive from Moab, UT to Cortez, CO was a short trip of only 2 1/2 hours, but the drive from Cortez to our next stop in Durango, CO was even shorter at just a little over an hour. We took our time getting underway, and we still arrived at Alpen Rose RV Park around noon.

Alpen Rose is located north of historic downtown Durango in a beautiful, wide valley lined with red cliffs. The campground is very well maintained and very well managed. It has wide, gravel roads; gravel pads; free Wi-Fi; cable TV; and full hookups. There is a section that is well-shaded, and the section where we were located for better satellite reception that has only a few smaller trees. The photo below is a view of our site at Alpen Rose.

The only drawback to Alpen Rose is they have side-by-side hookups. Side-by-side hookups make for close quarters on the driver's side of the RV; but if they are done right, they can make the living space on the door side of your RV more spacious. The space on the living side at Alpen Rose is pretty decent; however, you end up face to face with one of your neighbors, which means you have to share your living space. That's something Molly isn't too fond of. She figures anything she can see is her turf; and if someone (especially another dog) steps out their door right across from her door, she barks to let them know of her disapproval. But our first neighbors, who had a dog, were only there one night after we arrived; and the neighbors who replaced them were very friendly and even Molly seemed to accept them right away.

The primary reason for stopping in Durango was to ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Narrow gauge means the rails are 42 inches or less apart while standard gauge rails are 56 1/2 inches apart. Standard gauge is based on the width of the track of Roman chariot wheels. Whatever Roman chariots have to do with railroads, we don't know. :) But that's supposedly where they came up with the dimension for the spacing between the rails. Durango & Silverton uses a gauge of 36 inches. The narrower spacing between the rails means the tracks can be built with tighter curves, which is substantially less expensive for mountainous terrain.

We enjoyed our trips last year on the Grand Canyon Railway and on the Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway. We like the atmosphere of the old trains and the sounds of the old steam locomotives make, especially the character of a real steam whistle that can't be matched by a diesel horn. We have heard and read a lot about Durango & Silverton Railroad, and so we had been looking forward to experiencing it.

The town of Durango was founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1880. The railway constructed a line to Silverton in 1881 to haul gold and silver ore. In fact, the railroad has carried over $300 million in precious metals. Today, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad carries approximately 200,000 passengers annually in vintage cars behind vintage steam locomotives. The railway has been in continuous operation for over 125 years.

In the summer, Durango & Silverton RR runs three trains daily from Durango to Silverton and back. The route takes you through scenic canyons along the Animas River and through wilderness areas in the San Juan Mountains.

Although we enjoyed the trip, we thought the ride was a little long at 3 1/2 hours each way. The route is only about 50 miles, but the train travels slowly and makes several stops along the way.

One thing that we could have done to reduce the travel time would have been to take the train one way and the bus the other. This would have reduced the travel time by at least an hour and a half, and it would have probably meant more comfortable seats on the bus. However, the train fare is already pretty expensive at $75 for adults, and taking the bus one way would have added between $12 and $17 each depending on whether you were taking the train up or back. Besides, the idea was to ride the train. We just didn't realize the trip would feel THAT long.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's start the train ride from the beginning. We had to go into town to pick up our tickets the day before our scheduled trip. That also gave us the opportunity to get the "lay of the land" to find out where we were to board and where parking was located. While picking up the tickets, we noticed this sculpture in front of the station. The horses seem to all be looking right into the camera.

 

The building on the left is the train depot which looks about the same as when it was constructed in 1882. There is a hotel next door with beautiful flowers and patio dining.

We had tickets for the first train which departs at 8:15 AM. The railroad asks passengers to arrive a half an hour before the scheduled departure time. We arrived a little before that, so we had time to stop at Micky D's for breakfast. After breakfast, we walked next door to the station just in time to see the locomotive being backed in to hitch up to the rest of the train.

The train departed at 8:15 on the dot. The photo below shows the train a short distance outside town heading to Silverton.

As we got a little higher in the mountains, we caught some beautiful views of the Animas River like the one in the photo below. The tracks follow the river fairly closely all the way to Silverton.

As we mentioned, the train makes several stops along the route. One of the stops was at Soaring Tree Top Adventures. As the train approached the stop, one of the Soaring guides took off down a zip line while hanging upside down.

Soaring Tree Top Adventures features over one mile of zip lines strung among 32 platforms high in the tree tops. The only way to get to Soaring is by the Durango & Silverton Railroad. The adventure is a little expensive at $339 per person; but it includes round-trip train fare, 5 hours of zip line soaring with instruction and guides for the day, use of all necessary equipment, and a four-course gourmet lunch in the tree tops.

Another stop the train made was to take on water. The D&SNGRR uses 10,000 gallons of water per round-trip and 12,000 pounds of coal. The coal is shoveled into the firebox one shovelful at a time.

As we approached Silverton, at the base of a hillside there was an old mining structure that reveals Silverton's history of gold and silver mining.

The Silverton mining district was officially opened to miners in 1874 following the signing of a treaty with the Ute Indians. Two thousand men moved into the area that year. However, by 1875, there were only about 100 people living in the town of Silverton itself. The peak mining period was from 1900 to 1912. The population of the county in which Silverton is located peaked at about 5,000. The area boasted four railroads, three smelters, over thirty mills, and innumerable mines throughout the surrounding mountains.

Silverton is a Victorian town that sits in a valley in the San Juan Mountains at an altitude of over 9,000 feet. As you can see from the photo below, Silverton is fairly compact; and only one of the roads running through town is paved. It's the largest town we've ever been in that had not one traffic signal!

The train pulled into Silverton a little before noon. After we got off, we waited around a few minutes for the crowd to clear and got a good photo of the train.

And a fellow passenger took a shot of us in front of the locomotive.

There would be a little over a two-hour layover in Silverton allowing time to look around some of the shops and to grab a bite to eat. The train drops the passengers off on Blair Street which is where most of the restaurants are located. Blair Street was also the location of most of the saloons and brothels back in the old mining hay days. Even today, Blair Street is unpaved and retains that "rough and tough" feel.

The building in the photo below was built in 1888 and was the last operating brothel in Silverton. It closed in 1947. It is now the Shady Lady Restaurant and boasts root beer floats, home cookin', and family dining.

One block over on Greene Street, which is the only paved street in town, and on some of the connecting side streets, are numerous quaint shops selling Indian jewelry, gifts, art, T-shirts, and train memorabilia.

We walked most of Blair Street and up and down both sides of Greene Street. The photo below shows the courthouse on the far end of Greene Street.

The mountains around Silverton are pretty rugged, and we saw a lot of Jeeps and ATVs in town. The most interesting means of transportation we saw was this WWII half-track parked outside the Miners Tavern on Greene Street. It turns out the tavern was also the American Legion.

On the way back to the train, we stopped for some ice cream. It was quite warm In spite of the clouds, the threatening rain, and the altitude. Shortly after we got back to the train, the whistle blew, and we were underway.

The photo below shows an afternoon train leaving Silverton and heading down the valley toward Durango.

We were assigned seats on the left side of the train for both legs of the trip. Since the train is turned around after it gets to Silverton, we now got to see the view on the other side of the tracks. A little way from Silverton was this mountain view.

The views on the return trip were beautiful, even though we only caught a few glimpses of the sun on the way back. Here is another mountain scene.

The tracks cross the Animas River several times, so the river can be seen from either side of the train depending on where you are on the route.

There were quite a few rafters on the river.

The peak flow of the Animas River is in June and is 4 to 5 times what it was when we were there in August. The river a little to the south of Silverton at its peak flow is almost a continuous series of Class IV and V rapids and is home to kayak races during Animas River Days in late June. What is a fun ride for novices in August is best left only to the experts in June.

A little farther along, the river drops into a deep canyon and the tracks run right along the ledge of the cliff.

From the shot below, you can see how close the train is to the edge.

In our opinion, the better views are on the east side of the train (right side going up, left side returning). From our experience and from the experience of another RV couple who are work-camping in the area and whose blog we follow, clouds and thunderstorms frequently develop on summer afternoons in this part of Colorado, especially in the mountains. Even though the train gets turned around for the return trip and you get to see the views to both the east and to the west, we recommend trying to get seats on the right side going up because it is more likely to be cloudy or raining on the return trip.

We rode in a vintage coach, but there is also seating available in first-class parlor cars, in observation cars, and in open-sided cars. The open-sided cars provide a less obstructed view; however, keep in mind the possibility of rain (and, depending on the time of year, possible cool temperatures) when selecting the type of car you want.

A great service offered by Alpen Rose RV Park was dog walking if you were going to be away from the RV for an extended time. We were grateful to have this available. We're trying to keep Molly's bladder infections at bay by letting her out every 4 hours. We were concerned about leaving her for 10 hours. The lady who does the dog walking stopped by the night before to meet Molly and pick up the keys to the motor home. We ended up with a perfect solution. Carol was not intimidated by Molly's barking when she came to the door and quickly won Molly's trust. For $10, Carol came twice to let Molly out, giving us peace of mind on our all-day excursion. We also were gratified to hear that Molly was a model client. :)

Durango is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts; but even though we aren't into rock climbing, white water rafting, mountain biking, or fishing, there is still more to see and do in the area. We're off to do some exploring. Check back soon, and we'll let you know what we found.

A couple of other things we visited included the Wildlife Loop, also part of Custer State Park, which passes through grasslands and rolling hills that harbor pronghorn, deer, bison, and mules...we met  some of the wildlife along the road.  Here's a link to more information about the park: Custer State Park

To think that  over a million buffalo roamed these hills  and were a  valuable  resource  that the Native American used judiciously, but the white man slaughtered, skinned, and left to rot.  What a tragedy!

We also visited Deadwood while they were celebrating their "76 Days." Deadwood is where Wild Bill Hickok was killed in Saloon #10. The  story goes that when Hickok  joined a poker game on August 2, 1876, he made a rare mistake by sitting in a chair that left his back to the door.

A drifter by the name of Jack McCall circled the table, walked behind Bill, drew a rusty revolver and fired. Wild Bill folded - forward. His lifeless hands let fall black aces and eights, known forever more as the "Dead Man's Hand."

"76 Days" are celebrated with a parade and a rodeo. It was 110 degrees the day we were there so we passed on the Wild West re-enactments and the rodeo. The parade did not have the sophistication of a Pittsburgh parade, but it had its moments. :)

It seemed like all that was in Deadwood was casinos.

After a week in South Dakota, it was time to move on. Our next "port of call" is Branson, MO traveling across Minnesota, down through Iowa (to visit the Winnebago plant) and into Missouri.

There have been a few bumps...it took a week and three trips to Wal-Marts in two different cities to get a prescription filled (I'm on Paul's plan now and we're still learning the "rules.") Molly got a bladder infection, and we had to take her to an emergency clinic in Rapid City. The warranty work we had done on the Vue before we left Wexford was not a fix, but the Sioux Falls Saturn dealer was most hospitable and helpful. We had to stay overnight to wait for a part to come in, but all is well now. Our first phone bill since we went on the road was $181+ because even though we thought we had Verizon in-calling, we didn't plus we were on hold a lot with DirecTV. But, in spite of the bumps, we have seen God's provision and care. We even got all the DirecTV  bugs worked out...it was a nice 38th wedding anniversary present. Now the next hurdle will be for me to get a haircut from a stranger. :)

For those who have inquired how Molly is doing, here is picture of her in her travel seat.

There are additional pictures in the South Dakota Wrap-Up Photo Album. After being on the road one full month, we are in the process of putting together our impressions which we'll share next time.

Within 1 1/2 hours of our home base, we could find both the spires along Needles Highway and the desolation of the Badlands.

Located in the Black Hills, Needles Highway curves and winds through 14 miles of magnificent rock formations called 'needles.'

On the other hand, the Badlands are a moonscape on earth that includes jagged cliffs, deep canyons, and sharp buttes a portion of a giant salt water sea whose floor was pushed up by volcanic activity.

Just before entering The Badlands, we visited an original prairie homestead built by a "sodbuster" in 1909. One of the few sod dwellings intack today, sod homes were built into a hillside with walls made of prairie buffalo grass because of their densely tangled roots. These homes were built by homesteaders following the enactment of the Homestead Act. The original act  declared that any citizen or intended citizen could claim 160 acres - one quarter square mile - of surveyed government land. Claimants must "improve" the plot with a dwelling and grow crops. After five years, if the original filer was still on the land, it was his property, free and clear. Although there have been many changes over the years, we were surprised to learn that it remained in effect until it was repealed in 1976.

We  could only imagine the hardship that these strong, independent people endured living on the edge of The Badlands...especially in the early 1930's. However, we were struck, too, by the civility of their homes. There are additional pictures in the photo album showing a wall-papered "living room" with a Singer sewing machine in the corner. Although the livingroom had a wood floor, the kitchen/eating area with a  bedroom behind had a dirt floor...all the while with china dishes on the table.

It wouldn't be a trip to The Badlands without a stop at Wall Drug...so named because it was built on the edge of the northern extension of the "badlands wall." Their claim to fame (besides the Wall Drug bumper stickers you can find just about anywhere in the US) is free ice water and donuts. We had two people tell us "you have to try the donuts." They were good but nothing spectacular but as I think about it...for 85 cents who wouldn't have a donut on somebody's recommendation? :) So the legend lives on. :)

We were surprised when we actually walked in to a real drug store (if you can call one two-sided shelf with aspirin and sundry other items a drug store), but in all fairness, it does have a pharamcy and a soda fountain. The rest of Wall Drug is actually an indoor mall designed like a typical western town and full of souvenirs, leather goods,a boots and western clothing shop, a bookstore, and even a traveler's chapel. And you know why you see so many Wall Drug bumper stickers across the U.S.? They're free!

I can't help but contrast the pioneers like the Sodbusters who homesteaded and Ted and Dorothy Husted who opened Wall Drug...both on the edge of the Badlands... with Paul and me. We are pioneers of a sort since our lifestyle is a bit unconventional. However, reading about these pioneers, the  common theme is a desire for independence and freedom.

It has been thought provoking to reconcile this drive we have with the sermon we heard on Sunday...that our true freedom is in Jesus Christ and independence is a dangerou illusion. We need to  embrace the truth that as God's son and daughter, we are secure and safe in our Father's heart and therefore we can trust His plans for us.

One more posting should wind up our time in South Dakota. Today we were able to relax and get some things done around "home." Molly got a much needed grooming, (she no longer looks like a melted hot fudge sundae!), Paul got the cell phone antenna booster installed in the motorhome which required drilling a hole in the roof! Yikes! and we took a bike ride on a nice trail that runs through the campground. I'm really enjoying being able to bike ride since my bad knees make walking pretty painful. The new folding bikes we got are great...although Paul misses his mountain bike...but as you can see, it's challenge to put the bikes back in the car when were done. :) Pray that we'll find a easy way to do it...Paul's threatening to put a "For Sale" sign on his! :)

Until next posting...blessings.

Paul and Margery

"Here4Now"