Custer Travel Vlog

Okay, so we missed a few stops! From Dinosaur, CO, we headed into Colorado Springs for some maintenance work on the RV. They found some issues with the work done with the lift. You can check that out on our YouTube channel. We also stayed at our first Harvest Host site in Wyoming. Y'all! They had baby goats!! There is a video full of that cuteness on YouTube as well!

So that catches us up. Now we're in Custer, SD. This was our first time in this state and I gotta say, I was surprised at the scenery! The Black Hills are gorgeous! Well, once we could see them! We sat in fog for almost 3 days! Heavy, thick, won't go away no matter how nicely you ask, fog! We had started out our week boondocking off of a forest road on top of a hill. We ended up getting caught in a pretty funky storm. Stong winds, heavy rain - and the perfect combination of both caused rain to come IN to the RV around the windows! We also saw reports of a tornado passing not too far from us. It was pretty scary!

While in Custer, we did visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. It was pretty interesting to see. The museum is massive. And they had traditional native dances performed by folks from local Lakota tribes. But the place was packed. Like, uncomfortably full of people. We've heard that South Dakota was a little more relaxed with Covid restrictions - but we got to see it live and in person. We don't enjoy crowded places anyway, so we booked it through the museum. We were going to pay the extra fee to ride a bus closer to the memorial until the bus pulled up - loaded to capacity with all windows closed. Nah... y'all can keep your germy germs! Maybe we'll try another time!

We made a trip out to Custer State Park - definitely one of the prettiest state parks we've ever been to! We drove through Needle Eye Tunnel - we didn't go prepared so the tiny tunnel caught us off guard! And you can't see it until you come around a bend! I drove through it the first time (it's not as scary as it looks - but it is tight at only 8'9" wide! Then we hiked Cathedral Spires Trail in the park. Very pretty!

We drove the wildlife loop in the park. We honestly weren't expecting to see any animals. It was like 1 in the afternoon (best times are usually early morning or in the evening) and we've done these drives in other places and you never see the animals like they show in brochures! But this loop! Whew! Burros walking along the road and in between vehicles! Bison lining the sides of the road - sunning with the babies!! We also saw pronghorn and prairie dogs! Such a neat experience. And the landscape looks like one of those perfect computer background pictures!

Surprise! More fog later in the week. We went ahead and drove out to Iron Mountain Road, hoping the time we got there - it didn't! We still drove the road. With all of it's twists and turns. Tunnels and pigtail turns. This road is not well suited for people who get car sick - like my youngest son and I do! We had to pull over for some air along the way but we made it!

We drove past Mt Rushmore and couldn't see ANYTHING! ::shakes fist at fog::

Back in town, we checked out Big Rock Park and hiked Custer Skywalk. It's an unassuming-looking trial - but it'll get you! So. Many. Stairs! I was trying to focus on breathing so I didn't count, but trust me, it's a bunch! Once we got to the top, we followed a social trail to the Custer sign. That was pretty cool and offered goof views of town.

So that wraps up this week. Next, we head into Wall, SD!