Black Hills

After we left Montana we headed to Rapid City, South Dakota for the weekend. We originally were going to have one more overnight stop before getting to Rapid City, but since we stayed 2 extra nights in Yellowstone, we were trying to make up time. So, we drove 6 hours this day. Our campground was right down the road from Mount Rushmore and there were a lot of different attractions in the area. I have to say, I really had no idea that this area was such a tourist attraction. The campground was very nice and had a lot of things to do like mini golf, all different games and they had events scheduled throughout the day. When we arrived, we set up and decided to go to a local sports bar to watch the Stanley cup Playoffs and have dinner.

The next day we went to Custer State Park. I highly recommend you checking out this park if you are ever in this area. It is huge and has a lot to do. I thought that once we left the Rockys that we were done with steep windy roads for a while, but those Black Hills brought us into some steep and narrow roads. It was a beautiful drive in, and at least we were not pulling our camper! 😬 We decided to first do the wildlife loop, then made our way through needle highway where we drove through tunnels, and had beautiful views up high. We then went to Sylvan Lake where we hiked around it and had lunch. The weather was perfection. We made our way out of the park and headed to Mount Rushmore. It was pretty busy, and we didn't feel like going in to walk up to see it, so we just drove by to see it from the road and I took some pictures. ( Cheaters!! I know. 😆) We headed back to relax a bit then went into the historic town of Keystone to have dinner.

The next day it was time to pack up and leave. We still had one more night to make up to catch up with our scheduled itinerary, so we had a couple long driving days ahead. First stop was Oacoma, South Dakota where we stayed at a campground right off the highway. We could see the Missouri River from our spot, but it was pretty loud with the highway right there. At least the site was very level, so we decided not to unhook and we walked across the street to get some groceries. It was perfect just for a quick overnight. The next morning it was back on the road to head to Welcome, Minnesota. Welcome is a super small town but the campground was really nice. We had a beautiful spot under trees and wide open space all around. The town pretty much just had a Casey's. If you know, you know...so I had to order a pizza for dinner. Once again we had really nice weather, so we sat outside and relaxed and enjoyed the sunset. Next day, long drive to Genesco, Illinois. Another small town, and our site was right next to a huge corn field and along a river. After we set up and had dinner, we went for a walk along the river then watched all the lightening bugs come out over the field 😍. We don't have lightening bugs ( fireflies, for those that call them that) in South Florida so it was fun to see again. It was another beautiful midwestern sunset. The next day is another longer drive heading to Michigan for the long, 4th of July weekend.