It's Thurs. already! We were on the road all day yesterday and 'landed' near Rapid City in a GREAT campground...for 3 nights. Anyone planning to camp this way, mark this one down...Hart Ranch Campground. It's an upscale resort campground complete with hot tubs, swimming aerobic classes, a restaurant and a pet play area....oh, an WIFI. We are ALL happy here ; ) I met a gal in Hill City (before our dinner at the Alpine Inn...yummm) who owns a shop there and she was originally from the Phila. area. I asked her a lot of questions...where to go, what not to miss, etc....and she asked where we were staying. After telling her, she said 'very tony'....I asked what 'tony' was and she said 'rich'. I said, 'oh no...actually this place gave us a better deal than the others and we couldn't resist!' We learned a new word and now use it as we laugh about it.

After dinner last night, we went to Mt. Rushmore to see the lighting of it and a short movie. It was great seeing it again. I had seen Mt. Rushmore as a little girl and it is unforgettable. The difference this time was the huge entrance and a big parking garage. Before, there was just a scenic overlook. The faces out of rock remain the same....forever.

Today we are going to see more of the Black Hills. The Weinhardts told us to view them when the light is best....sunrise or sunset, for the best pictures. I am afraid this is not going to happen...today anyway. We all agreed that entering this area from the East to the West has been quite thought provoking. We went through many hours of plains to get here. We imagined the settlers coming across and finally arriving to the more lush area of woodlands and mountains. It is beautiful, no doubt.

I am missing my email connections with you. I appreciate the emails that are being sent to me (Terri's especially....Janis, where are you? Others??? At least post a comment from time to time...thank you, Kathy! Don't be afraid....I love the connections anyway I can get them...ha.) Remember, I can receive emails but can't send them...ugh. Any advice to me would be appreciated.

I am hoping to get my pictures sorted through and get some up here soon. I must find a photo place first...drugstore, etc. We've gotten lots of them so far. Sure wish I was better at this blog thing. Have a wonderful day....it's going to be 80 here and 50's at night. Not bad.
Mary

Tuesday, Sept. 8 -
It was hard to say goodbye to my family. They spoiled us for our short visit. The memories we shared will always be close to our hearts....until the next time.

We started out from Des Moines at 8:40 a.m. and after traveling through the state of Iowa and half of South Dakota, we stopped at a CAMPGROUND outside of Chamberlain, SD at 4:30 (8 hrs. of driving). It was amazing to see the plains of SD and to suddenly come to view hills on the side of the Missouri River (where the Lewis & Clark expedition traveled). As we sat at a quaint restaurant in the town of Chamberlain tonight, a storm came through the area. It was intense and quite different from what we are used to. The view is endless and the lightning covered the entire horizon. It was certainly our entertainment, while dining, for the evening.

We will see Wall Drug tomorrow (a tourist attraction in Wall, SD) and will be in Rapid City. I will be posting more pictures soon. For some reason I am able to receive emails (so keep them coming to me or post comments here) but I am unable to SEND emails....not sure why. I have several waiting to be sent but with my luck, you will get them when I return home (Terri, Paula, Kathy, etc...) and they will make no sense at all then...ha.
Mary

Days 1 - 2
I am still trying to figure out the layout of this blog....seems kind of hard. I don't mean to confuse you. This entry is for all those Walmart (camping) fans. We stayed at our first Walmart the first night. We were so tired that it appeared that nothing would matter or get in the way of a good nights sleep (14 hrs. of driving...700 miles)! The Walmart was near Notre Dame. It appeared to be a very nice area and we had 2 other R.V.'s staying over along with some truckers. All through the night I heard: cars squeeling wheels, ambulances, police sirens, store carts banging into one another, people walking nearby and talking, racing cars, diesel trucks, and more. The lights overhead created a daytime effect. I am not a fan (nor a happy camper)...yet. I am sure we will try again and hopefully we will go to a 'winning' Walmart! We did shop there.....and got a roasted chicken for dinner and along with the salad I made ahead of time, it was a delicious feast!

After the second day of driving, we are now in a nice campground outside of Des Moines. We had a wonderful dinner with Bill (my Bro.) and Nancy. Bill has a new smoker and served the BEST 'experiment' ever....pulled pork. And Nancy's 'experimental' pie (chocolate/pistachio) was great too. They are spoiling us and we are loving it. Oh....and I slept like a rock in a nice quiet campground! Have a great Labor Day today. We will be here and will head out on Tues. for the Badlands.
More later....
Mary