April 23 thru 29, 2024, Brookings, South Dakota

It was probably a bit early, weather-wise, to travel north to Brookings, South Dakota, (246 miles) but it fit our timeline. It was another tough driving day with constant winds of 20 mph and gusts over 30 from the front driver's quadrant. There were many times the coach stayed in fifth gear to maintain 55 mph. On the way, we passed through Sioux Falls so we made a quick stop to pick up our mail. Knowing we would be stopping, Joani took the opportunity to load up on Amazon orders so there were quite a few packages. When we started in the morning, our trip computer had estimated plenty of range to reach our destination but the wind reduced our mileage to the point we had to stop for gas to make it.

Joani found us a nice city park and booked us for 7 nights. The weather was beautiful for the first couple of days with temperatures in the high 60s and springtime was clearly in the air. Unfortunately, the nice weather did not hold and most of the week was overcast, rainy, and windy. There was not a lot of excitement in Brookings and we saw most of their sights when we were here a couple of years ago.

We were able to accomplish some important tasks, however, so now I can legally drive outside of daylight hours. They reissued my license without the daylight restriction. It took less than 30 minutes - why can't every DMV be as efficient as the one in Brookings?

Adding Joani to the motorhome title required a trip to our home county finance department in Sioux Falls. We drove directly into 30 mph headwinds all the way. It was ironic that these same winds would have been tailwinds when we were driving the coach a few days before. At least in the car, it was much more manageable. The line at the courthouse was not bad and we made a day of it by visiting Falls Park and having lunch at The Attic. 

By Friday the rain kept us inside for an entire day - I'm not sure how I managed to record 750 steps on my Fit Bit, maybe there was some pacing. When the rain paused on Saturday we walked to the South Dakota Art Museum on the SDSU campus. It was less than a mile through a well-established (old) residential neighborhood. We made it back to the coach just before it started raining again.

Two years ago we visited Dick Termes' art studio in Spearfish, SD. It was a nice surprise to see the spherical art, which he named Termespheres, in the museum. Many spheres were painted inside and outside on clear globes creating visuals bringing to mind the artwork of M.C.Escher. 

Sunday we braved the rain for a meal out. We discovered and highly recommend Cubby's Sports Bar, a popular Brookings hangout where we enjoyed the Philly Cheesesteak Nachos. The picture below was indicative of the weather outside, but somehow, missed showing the crowd inside.

By the end of the week they had recorded more than one and a half inches of rain (that's a quarter of Mesa's annual rainfall). Hopefully, we will dry out at our next stop.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018, ACA National Rally, Spearfish, SD

I think I already mentioned Elkhorn Ridge RV Park was a very nice place. The sculpture below was one of many scattered around the well kept common areas in the park. The resort and the surrounding area made a great location for the ACA National Rally with the only downside being the limited space available for gatherings.

I always love to see a long arc of beautiful American Coaches lined up at our rallies.

Debbie, our National Membership Chairwoman, preps the ambassadors to meet with rally first-timers. Each new attendee had an ambassador to introduce them to rally activities and to help with any questions or concerns.

The first night's menu was simply "heavy hors-d'oeuvres" but I'm pretty sure everyone had enough to eat. I know that because, as the last table to head to the chow line, we found that the caterers had run out of a lot of the more popular selections. We still managed to find enough to fill ourselves up.

Bob, our rally master and ACA vice-president, emceed the member's meeting along with our president, Tony, on the right.

Representatives from REV Group, the parent company of American Coach, gave members a rundown on new initiatives and the future of the company.

Social hours are the most popular part of a rally (unless you count the catered meals which might be just as popular). Everyone brings an appetizer or snack to share and their favorite beverage for an afternoon of catching up with old friends and making new ones.

I think the look on Bill's face, below, fairly represented the mood of the happy hour crowd - everyone seemed to have a great time!

A couple of 2019 coaches were on display along with a handful of vendors to make sure we had shopping options. I couldn't quite see myself in one of these new Heritage Edition American Eagles just yet - maybe next year?

Who doesn't love a good ice cream social? Especially when the toppings were as delicious as they were plentiful. I know I shouldn't have indulged but just one bowl couldn't hurt that much - right?

Before our last night's entertainment, we had a couple who wanted to tie the knot in front of 200+ close friends. The minister performed a short ceremony, which he repeated in Navajo (a first for me), as we finished our steak dinners.

The evening's entertainment was a magic show that included select members from the audience to provide a bit of light-hearted humiliation with the illusions.

I think the sunset shot below, over an American Coach provides a nice close to this rally post.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018, Deadwood, SD

Just a few miles south and over the hill from Spearfish, is Deadwood, SD. The town bills itself as "The Place where the Wild West Lives." The cobblestoned Main Street surely harkened back to an earlier time, but it did not make me think of the same wild west we saw a few years ago in Tombstone, AZ.

Of course, we could have watched a shootout re-enactment that might have provided more of a wild west flavor, but Sam is not a fan of gunfire so we avoided those.

I'm pretty sure I saw more than one place claiming to be the "Original Location" of Saloon No. 10 where Wild Bill Hickok was shot down in 1876. I was probably just confused.

It was always easy to identify depictions of Wild Bill with his long flowing mustache.

We will have to give Deadwood more time on our next visit to the Black Hills area, but we did not want to miss out on the rally fun, so we headed back early after barely scratching the surface of this interesting and historic tourist trap.

Saturday, August 18, 2018, Move to Elkhorn Ridge, ACA Rally

Our drive today was ridiculously short - from Spearfish City Campground to Elkhorn Ridge Resort and Campground just east of Spearfish. It was 7.6 miles (89,639.1 total) but the most interesting thing was our entire trip consisted of right turns - not a single left turn today! Even better, every turn was nice and wide so there was never an anxious moment. I doubt that will ever happen again.

Even though we were early, check-in went quickly since nearly all of the rally attendees were already settled in. Some folks had arrived a week or more before the rally start to extend their time with friends. The attendance was limited to 120 coaches because the largest room at the resort could only accommodate 250 people. So, it was either limit the number of rally guests or eat meals in shifts (no one would want that!)

I was a little disappointed to have missed so much pre-rally fun, but then we did thoroughly enjoy our past week exploring the sights in Spearfish Canyon.

Friday, August 17, 2018, Spearfish Falls Hike

The docent who could not be photographed (see the earlier Aug. 17 blog entry) gave us directions to Spearfish Falls. I only asked about it because we saw it in a movie about the area at the museum. We parked and found quite a few others looking for the falls. There was not much to see from the parking area. We were at the top of the falls and everything was obscured by thick foliage.

A nearby map showed us there was a 3/4 mile trail to the bottom of the falls. It seemed a bit odd that the trail skirted the outdoor seating at a restaurant along the way, but we certainly could not ask for better views along the trail.

The view of the falls from below was well worth the hike! I think this was probably our favorite falls in the canyon.

 

You know what they say about stopping to smell the flowers along the way. Well, if you can't smell them you can at least enjoy a picture of a few of them. We also saw some camera-shy deer along the way but you will just have to take my word for it since they were too fast for a picture.

Driving home through Spearfish Canyon we were struck, once again, by just how beautiful the Black Hills of South Dakota are.