I love the Black Hills (South Dakota) and lived only 3 hours away in Wyoming until a few years ago. However, when I visited this area I came up from the south and stayed mostly in the eastern section. Beautiful but a bit touristy during the summer due to Mt. Rushmore visitors. A good friend of mine used to live in Spearfish, SD (northwestern side), and he offered to be my tour guide to this section of the Black Hills. So, we took advantage of my travel schedule and met in Spearfish yesterday. My friend often talked wistfully about Spearfish Canyon and the hiking trails off the Forest Service roads. He made Spearfish sound like an unusually beautiful place. Paradise. Darn near picture perfect. Sure, yeah. The Black Hills are nice, but the best of the outdoors?

Well, after 33 hours and the best tour guide ever, I agree. The Spearfish area is fantastic. We headed out to Spearfish Canyon and visited two waterfalls. We hiked through a side canyon, along a creek. We drove on back roads all through the western section of Black Hills National Forest. We found two remote, primitive campgrounds off roads that Blue Moon can easily travel. The Spearfish City Park has a fish hatchery and lots of historical stuff. Lots to do here for old folks like us and families. The Sturgis Rally was last week, but this week is extremely quiet. Traffic will pick up again, but never like the “main” parts of the Black Hills. We are off the beaten path.

What a find! Spearfish and the Black Hills National Forest are now in my top destinations. (others include: Rocky Mountain Front area, south of Glacier Park, in MT;  Priest Lake, ID;  Point Reyes National Seashore, CA; Spearfish, SD; Cedar Key, FL. Also high on my list of favorites: Smoky Mountains, Morrow Bay, CA, Collegiate Peaks, CO, Taos, NM. I could go on forever! So many beautiful places.

For the next few days, it is all about the Black Hills. Because of the abundant aspen trees, I would love to be here in the fall. Since I need to be in FL by Sept 6, I will have to wait until next fall. Don the tour guide says OKAY!!!! I would stay at one of the primitive campgrounds for the max 14 days, while he would only want to be out there for a few days. It would work great, really. When I get out in beautiful mountains, I prefer solitude.

We have met a mixture of people. We see a few remaining motorcycle folks out and about, but they keep to themselves. We talked to a few folks in the campground, mostly from this area. Don, as always, is Mr. Friendly and always finds something to say to strangers.

We both leave first thing Weds morning. He goes back to North Dakota, while I jump on the Great River Road at LaCross, WI.

By the way, today marks one week on the road, which makes me feel reflective about the experience of traveling/RVing full-time. I love it so far. I have not planned ahead much, except for my general route. Sometimes my side journeys work out, other times they are a bust, like the so-called scenic drive that ended in Anaconda, MT (largest Superfund site).  Still, I always see something interesting and learn something new. I  had one scheduled meet-up with Don here in Spearfish, which makes me feel a bit pressured to “get there” rather than wander. It was worth it to see him, though. I have another scheduled meet-up, this coming Sunday, to visit family in OH. After that, nothing scheduled until I arrive in FL in Sept. I am looking forward to being back on my own schedule, or lack thereof!

Since I lived in a RV park, in my camper for a few months before taking off on this adventure, I am already used to my new space. I figured out through trial and error where everything needs to go, and I got rid of even more stuff.  Everything is now just how I like it (more on that later).

Warning: if you don’t like reading about RV toilets and holding tanks, skip this paragraph! My biggest challenge is my sewer drain hose. It has a leak where it attaches to the holding tank drain pipe. I  bought several kinds of “seals” and nothing works for long. The RV guys sold me an expensive hose and a 10 -foot extension (Thetford) because the one that comes with a new RV is crummy. Now, a few months later, it leaks. A seal works for a while, then it leaks again. The fix is not difficult: get a new drain hose/fittings, for about 30 bucks. I just hate replacing something so new and so expensive. Everything about full-timing has a learning curve.

More fun in Spearfish today, including another hike and then a trip to the local quilt shop. I am planning to buy ½ yard fabric in small shops all along the way to Florida, then make a quilt out of all the fabric over the winter. At some point I will share photos about my sewing set-up in the camper. It is slick!

Thanks for reading my blog!!