They said the "S word" on TV this morning...

No, not that "S word"... the young weather guy on the local morning show said, "A chance of snow in the Black Hills on Wednesday."

I knew there was a reason we are heading out today.

Little Izzy got to be outside while I put utilities away...

With the coach ready to go, I backed it up, then hooked the cargo trailer to the CR-V.  I gassed up the coach at the Hart Mart store, and we hooked the circus train together...

Lights checked, tow set-up double checked, we are ready to roll.  I checked the "All Honda Channel" to make sure everything was rolling properly...

There are two other channels on this in-dash TV: the All The Right Side, and the All The Left Side channels - they come on automatically when I use the turn signals.  ;-)

Today was supposed to be sunshine, light southerly breeze, 0% chance of precip...

We had overcast all the way, and a strong wind right on the nose... they did get the direction mostly right.  Checking weather along the way, some places were getting rain.  We missed out on that, but we could see the rain shafts to the west.

Leaving the Black Hills, we also said good-bye to the fall colors...

Into Nebraska...

Some might be surprised that Nebraska also has hills...

And, some color along the riverbeds...

Parts of western Nebraska top 4,000 elevation.  Some bluffs...

There is plenty of agriculture...

The traffic was mostly light, but we did go by a couple convoys of farm equipment heading north, and taking up more than their lane; backing up traffic in the other lane.

Joan went old-school today...

That is called a map.  In the days before iPads, there were books of these maps called an atlas.  Since we are on no schedule, Joan is looking for the scenic roads, with potential for nightly stops.

Fields that have been cut, dressed in fall colors...

We called it a day fairly early.  This campground offers Passport America... starting tomorrow (October through April).  Yeah, I asked - "I just work here, and I don't want to get in trouble with the boss."  The park is 90% empty.

We stopped to fuel up before going into the RV park - first time since we left Texas that we found gas for less than $2/gallon.  Good thing, that wind on the nose gave us our lowest MPG to date.

We'll be on Central Time tomorrow... early stop today, get out early tomorrow, lose an hour.  Yeah, no schedule.


-------------------------------

Izzy really wanted to go for a walk.  This ain't Hart Ranch... no paved sites, no asphalt roads, no large grassy area between sites.  This park has gravel roads, gravel sites, and weeds that have been cut so there is something that resembles grass between the sites that are really close to each other.  I tried to explain that to her - she didn't care.  So, we went for a walk...

Not sure what that weed is she's sniffing, but she really likes it.  And, she was fine with walking through the dusty gravel (more dirt than gravel).  She is now spending a lot of time cleaning between her paw pads, though.

A big coach with a color-matched trailer pulled in next to us.  It is beautiful...

I think his cargo trailer is the size of our coach.  The guy hopped out, pulled out a folding chair, opened the door for the exterior TV, and lit up a nasty-smelling cigar.  Smelled like someone shit in an old gym sock, and lit it on fire.  Fortunately, we didn't have any windows open on that side of our coach... where he was sitting closer to ours than his (I did mention that the sites are close together).  Then, started talking loudly on his cell phone.

Joan turned on our a/c - no smell and it muffles his noise.  No big deal - I'm sure the flies will drive him inside soon.  ;-)

Yep.

While out walking Iz, we saw another couple... he was walking the dog, she was walking the cat.  We didn't get too close, but I did comment, "I thought I was the only one walking a cat around here."

The lady said, "Your cat is much bigger than ours."

Hers looked like a kitten.  Izzy kinda puffed up her chest... "Yeah, I'm a big girl!"

I think the solution is obvious...

We need to buy more stuff.

Today is clean-up, pack-up day.  The weather weasels were calling for a windy day: gusts 25+... I wanted to get going on the coach washing reasonably early.  I didn't beat the wind, but I finished washing it before noon (my idea of reasonably early).

Joan cleaned windows and started arranging the cargo trailer.  She is the packer - she makes it all fit.  Once we had the scoots in and strapped down, she started filling floor space.  At one point she said to me, "There is some space up front."

I said, "Apparently, we need to buy more stuff!?!"  Not the answer she was looking for.  In the end, everything in its place, ready for the road...

Time for me to clean up.  While waiting for Joan, I considered checking my favorite sites on the computer... little Izzy had other ideas.

"Is this where you want to put that computer?  I bet you want to take me for a walk instead, huh?  Huh?  Huh?"

Yeah, we went for a walk.

One more trip to the store (nothing to do with that space in the trailer) after lunch out.  Joan was telling me this particular Walmart is really nice (I waited in the car when she went in last time).  Oh, my goodness... it was clean... bright (You know how some Walmarts turn off half their lights in the middle of the day?  Yeah, this one doesn't.)... space in the aisles.  It was downright pleasant - you could get get carts past each other.  The place was huge (biggest Walmart I've been in), and the shelves were all full and nicely arranged.  I have come to think of Walmart as necessary, but something to be endured... this was nice.  They had everything on Joan's list.

I have been in this particular Walmart years ago, and it wasn't this nice.  Or clean.  Or bright.  Someone in management is making a difference.

We picked up a pizza at Marco's Pizza, for the road.  Gassed up the CR-V.  I'll do the same with the motorhome in the morning.  Back at our site, I admired how clean the motorhome looks...

Shiny!  Ready to squash some bugs down the road!

Our two weeks at Hart Ranch have been great.  Love this resort!  Izzy is particularly fond of it, probably because of the space we have off our patio - plenty of room for walking in the grass.  It has been relaxing and a great place to base ourselves for day trips.

-------------------------

I cleaned the scoots yesterday after our ride.  Joan said, "The forks are still grubby."

I said, "I put away the cleaning stuff - I'm done."

She said, "I'll clean the forks myself."

I said, "You can go fork yourself."

And that's when the fight started.

;-)

Just kidding.  Oh, the dialog is accurate, but we both had a good laugh.  Yeah, I cleaned the forks.

Last ride...

Well, for a while.  We head out Friday; tomorrow is "clean up, pick up" day.  Today was a scooter day!

We discussed the options and decided to head south: we'll take the road we rode on a few days ago, but continue south, through Custer State Park, the town of Custer, then back north.  We topped off fuel before leaving Hart Ranch; when we got to Neck Yoke Rd, it was time to make a decision: turn right and take the highway south, or turn left and take that great scooter road that was recently oiled.  Last chance to ride that road, so left it is.  My head tells me the road is dry; my eyeballs and puckered up hindend tell me it is wet...

You ease the brakes, don't lean over too far into a turn... until you know there is some grip to that surface...

Another one of those damn orange signs...

There was some loose gravel in places, but it wasn't bad.  This got my attention...

A group of deer right beside the road.  Eight to nine miles down that road, we drove back onto un-messed-with pavement...

That is definitely mo-bettah!  It didn't last long: another couple miles down the road, and it was back to the oiled crap...

Once off of Rockerville Road, we turned west, heading for Keystone...

We stopped in Keystone for lunch; an outdoor table again... beautiful day, but not a lot of activity in Keystone.  With bellies full, it was south to pick up Iron Mountain Road again...

The light traffic in Keystone gave us hope that there wouldn't be much traffic on this road.  Best scooter riding ever!  We passed a couple cars going the other direction, but never got caught behind anything on our side of the road!  Whooohooo!

Pigtails, tunnels, and splits, oh my!

I mentioned in a previous post about how these roads were designed for their scenic beauty; I didn't mention that they are designed with great banks and ideal crowning.  Through the National Forest part, the curves are tight - like they were designed for a modern motorcycle... decades ago.

As you leave the National Forest section, and before heading into Custer State Park, there is privately owned land; the road opens up - not as forested, with wider, sweeping curves.

Into Custer State Park...

Colors and curves...

Oh-ohhh...

The road construction wasn't bad, and they waved our side through.  After all those miles with no traffic, we came up on this...

Ha!  That was light!  I forgot that this weekend is The Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup and Arts Festival... it is a BIG deal!  People come from all over the world to see the buffalo roundup, maybe bid on an animal.  The expectation is for 10,000+ visitors for this.  Custer State Park has one of the largest buffalo (American bison) herds in the world; there will be around 1,400 rounded up.

The vendors are getting set up...

Another day or two, and this road will be bumper to bumper traffic.  Good (lucky) timing on our part.  It would be interesting to see the round up, but no desire to deal with the crowds.

Heading out of the park, then into Custer... I have been craving a Texas Stop Sign (aka Dairy Queen), but the one in Hill City and the one in Keystone were both closed.  Custer's DQ is alive, well, and open.  Then, time to head for home: more choices... highway all the way, or take the ... well, it is still a highway, but not as heavily traveled, road past Mt. Rushmore...

That mountain carving on Joan's right: Crazyhorse.

When we first moved to the Black Hills (1977) I thought this "mountain carving" was a scam: they'd charge by the carload, and once or twice a season, they'd set off some dynamite.  When Korczak Ziolkoski (the original sculptor) died, his kids went after it with more purpose.  Oh, they still charge an entry fee ($28 per carload) - no federal funding.  Free parking (more on that later).  They have been working on the mountain since 1948.

Heading towards Mt Rushmore...

The profile...

About the parking fee I mentioned earlier: there is a reason they mention "free parking" at Crazyhorse... in carving Mt Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum stipulated that there could never be a charge to visit the Memorial.  Powers that be got around that when the grounds around Mt Rushmore were "renovated," starting in 1989, a parking ramp was built.  No charge to visit the Memorial, but a $10 charge to park.  (now: $11)  At first, there was a free parking area, located quite a distance away... they have closed that, so your only way to stop and see the Memorial is to pay the parking fee.  I don't think Gutzon would be happy about that.

From there, it was back to Hart Ranch.

Joan made the sides while I grilled the steaks.  Another absolutely gorgeous day in the Black Hills.  Tomorrow, we'll start the packing up, heading out on Friday.  This may have been the best day of scooting since we bought the PCXes.

Yes, Izzy got plenty of outdoor time this afternoon/evening.  We're all happy.