Rapid City , SD

June 3, 2015
We left Kent just after noon, destination Rapid City SD, eventually We spent the night in Moses Lake. We spent the night of the fourth in Missoula, MT. We spent the of the fifth in Billings, MT. We arrived in Rapid City, SD on the sixth. A drive of almost 1300 miles in total. We are sure there is a more direct route than we took but that would be too easy. A little sarcasm there. We stayed 3 nights at Hart Ranch just south of Rapid City. It's a large beautiful park that has everything needed, except the first day, nicer weather. It was cloudy and windy with some thunder in the distance.  The forecast is good for our three nights here.  We had a nice dinner and sat out by the fire until about 11. Tomorrow out to Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument and the city of Custer.

June 7, 2015
After a good breakfast we drove about 20 miles in the sun to Mt Rushmore. This is our first time here and we were impressed. We hiked about 250 steps to the closest point you can go to view the faces.

We were going to go see the Crazy Horse Monument but they charge $11 each to visit the site and charge for virtually everything once you get in. We could see all we wanted to from the road.
Then it was on to the town of Custer. It was a beautiful day so there were lots of motorcycles on the road and in town. Gail commented that as noisy as it was here it must be a constant roar at Sturgis in August with hundreds more bikes going through town.

June 8, 2015
We left the park mid morning to see Deadwood, SD. We walked the town which is full of historical facts about the town and it's residents. There were many stores selling t-shirts and other memorabilia. quite a few of the businesses were closed for renovation prior to the tourist season. We didn't hang around for the traditional street gun fights because they are later in the afternoon. Some of the old hotels and casinos were pretty nice. Then it was off to Sturgis. Not much going on at this time year. We went to the Knuckle Saloon for lunch. It's hard to imagine how crazy this place could be during the motorcycle rally. Especially this year since it will be the 75th year.

Then back to the park to do some laundry and chill. I went to the pool for a quick refreshing dip. We had a simple dinner and sat out by the fireplace. Tomorrow is a travel day to Worland, WY for one night.