Custer State Park

Greetings Friends and Family

Just wanted to post some pictures that we took as we drove through Custer State Park on one of our days off. There are different routes you can take through the park and the one we chose has three of those tunnels. The last tunnel shows Mount Rushmore in the distance, perfectly framed. There's also a wildlife loop, but we took Iron Mountain Road. Obviously, Laurie went crazy over the buffalo. They are quite magnificent. There are signs posted: Buffalo are dangerous, do not approach! We also saw some pronghorns. The animals are so used to tourists they just ignore the photographs.

I Survived!

Greetings Friends and Family

Well, I survived my first four days of work (21 hours). Wednesday and Thursday I worked 9am to 3:30pm, with a half hour lunch. Friday I worked 9am to 2:30pm, with a half hour lunch. And today I worked 9am to 2pm, with an hour lunch. I have the next two days off (Sunday and Monday), and then back to work Tuesday morning at 9am. Once the season starts I will be working Friday, Saturday, and Sundays 3pm to 11pm and Mondays and Tuesdays 6am to 3pm. My days off will be Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The Super 8 Motel has three floors and 43 rooms. The first two days were mainly spent setting up motel rooms on the first floor (cleaning the bathrooms, making the beds, dusting, vacuuming, etc). The third day we changed the batteries in all the smoke detectors, remotes, and alarm clocks on the first floor. We also took inventory of all the supplies so we know what to order before we open the motel on May 1. Today we cleaned and set up the lobby of the motel. And when I say cleaned, I mean I was down on the floor with Murphy's Oil Soap, cleaning the baseboards. After I cleaned the baseboards and they dried, I went back over them with Old English lemon oil. Talk about manual labor!

Right now there's only two of us workers (me and a guy named Steve). We were actually hired to work the front desk and occasionally pitch in to clean a room. But, in the beginning and ending of the season, everybody does everything. On May 1 we're supposed to have an actual full time housekeeper and on June 1 we'll have about four foreign exchange students working in the housekeeping department.

Super 8 - Keystone, SD

Front Desk - Lobby

Breakfast Area - Lobby

Double Queen Room

Vanity - Sink Area

Pool and Hot Tub Area

OOPS!

Greetings Friends and Family

As you know, we arrived in Keystone, South Dakota on Sunday and got all set up before the big snow. To keep our water lines from freezing or bursting we unhooked the water hoses and put anti freeze down the drains. Monday morning we hooked the hoses back up because our neighbor told us that the hoses wouldn't freeze if we left our gray water tank open and left the water running. I didn't have any water and Laurie couldn't get my tank open (of course Laurie said that I didn't put enough anti freeze in, I didn't have the heater in the bathroom, I didn't leave the cupboards open, blah blah blah). So, she says to turn on the hot water faucet and maybe that will melt the ice in the line, so I do that and go about my business. 

A little while later she's over her tantrum and comes over and says she's bored and wants to go for a drive. So, we take a drive to Hill City and then up to Mount Rushmore and then decide that we need some groceries (Laurie NEEDS Pepsi). As we drive back through Keystone on our way to Safeway in Rapid City, Laurie says, "Should we check on the kitties?" and I say, "Oh no, they're fine."

Fast forward a couple hours: As we pull up the hill and into our driveway I can see water gushing out the back of my motorhome. I say, "Oh my God, that's either snow melting or my motorhome is flooded." Well, it wasn't snow melting, folks. I walk into the motorhome, look to my right, and the kitchen sink is not overflowing, that's good. I look into the bathroom and the whole floor is covered with about two inches of water and the bathtub is overflowing, that's not good.

The cat box that I keep in the bathtub was floating like a miniature houseboat. Which immediately took my attention to the cats. I turn around to see where they are and if they're alright. Cookie, asleep on her cat tree. Tuffy, asleep on my bed. Gray Gray, sitting up on the overhead, looking directly at me as if to say, "It's about time you got home, I need to use the cat box, but I can't swim." "Oh no, they're fine, huh?" "What's your definition of fine?"

Who wants to guess how mad Laurie was? Yep, pretty mad! We started bailing water with a pitcher but that was taking too long so Laurie tried opening the gray tank again and finally got it partly open and was able to drain the tub. And, since it was the hot water I left on, I had to call the propane guy to come and refill my propane tank today (Luckily, he comes to Keystone on Tuesdays). And how was your Monday?

Mt Rushmore

After the snow

After the snow

To Rapid City

From Rapid City

From Rapid City

Creek by our campsite

We Have Arrived!

Greetings Friends and Family

Well, we finally made it to our destination of Keystone, South Dakota. Last night we stayed in Bayard, Nebraska at the city park, which was free. Bayard is a quaint little town of about 1200. It's most famous attraction is Chimney Rock, which is located 3 1/2 miles south of the town.  Chimney Rock is one of the famous landmarks of the Oregon Trail.  In 1956, Chimney Rock was designated a national historic site by the federal Government. 

Bayard, Nebraska

Chimney Rock

Bayard City Park

Bayard City Park

Bayard City Park

Bayard City Park

Back to Keystone, South Dakota, where we'll be spending the next six months. We left Bayard around 9am and arrived in Keystone around 1pm. We got here just in time because within an hour of getting everything hooked up it began to snow. Apparently, the weather forecast is calling for a foot of snow by tomorrow night. So, we made a quick trip to Rapid City, which is 20 minutes away, and got kitty litter, kitty food, and antifreeze for the water pipes.

Welcome to South Dakota

Casino just over the NE/SD border

View out front window

View out front window

Our RV site

Our RV site

My RV site

Laurie's RV site

View from my side window

On the way to Rapid City

I just wanted to throw in a couple pictures of Cookie and Tuffy doing what they do. Cookie lays around looking regal, as a queen should. And Tuffy likes to watch birds out the bathroom window and chatter away.

Tuffy, bird watching

Queen Cookie