Black Hills -- Rapid City, South Dakota

   George and I are always happy to get on the road, especially having been in Gillette for well over a month.  We headed out July 7th eastward on I-90 and crossed into South Dakota with great excitement, looking forward to a visit at a private membership resort, Hart Ranch, with friends we had not seen in several years -- Mal and Marsha Knopf. 


   Hart Ranch was absolutely delightful -- a well planned park with lots of amenities.  The Knopfs had trained us back in 2008 when we began marketing and promoting as an advance team for the Carson & Barnes Circus. It was such fun to catch up with them, and we took off to explore some of the tourist attractions on our own.  


   Mount Rushmore had changed greatly since I had seen it last -- I think I was probably only in my teens.  Neither of us had been to the Crazy Horse Monument and Museum, so we drove out for a brief visit there before we ran out of time and returned to continue our visit with Marsha and Mal.  Marsha is an excellent artist, by the way.



   We enjoyed prime rib dinner at the on-site restaurant at Hart Ranch, and just missed Sharon and Don Del Rosario, who are also members there.  The rain seemed to follow us and we enjoyed a glimpse of a beautiful rainbow.  


   We left earlier than planned on Monday morning hoping to get a fix on an engine noise we had been hearing on the Mandalay.  The guys at Eddie's Truck diagnosed the problem but needed more time than we could give them to order parts for a leaky gasket on the exhaust manifold.  They assured us we could drive it safely to the Twin Cities where we needed to be for an important family event.

      After getting a late start from Eddie's we stopped at a rest area for the night in Chamberlain, South Dakota, where we had an view overlooking the Missouri River far below us.  The next night we spent in Sioux Falls at the Flying J so George could take care of some business with our insurance agent and mail forwarder.