Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Valentine, Ne

... We had some time to kill and thought we would check out Rapid City, we found a brewery to stick with our brewery in every state mission. It wasn't one of our favorite city as of yet. Other than the beer, Rapid City pretty much gets two thumbs down! After we left Rapid city we're headed back to Mt. Rushmore. Every night they do a lighting ceremony and show a short film about the mountain and the presidents. Seeing it all ...

Another sunny morning, around 64F when I left. Rolling from flat farmland to more rolling hills with wind. Not much of a problem until the road construction forced both ways to one side of interstate for ... miles. That meant nice gusty sidewinds combined with many strong gusts from semis and rvs. Lots of fun so not a surprise that I chose the first motel in Chamberlain. All ...

We stayed in a Hotel for the first time on our trip while we visited Mount Rushmore. The drive though the Black Hills of South Dakota is worth every moment. I would love to do it on my Motorcycle. Deadwood is a turn of the century town with all of it characters. <br>Our time spent at Mount Rushmore ...

... and wind was amazing, and the lightning added to the whole destructive scene, when it was over the water was inches deep around the RV and the kids were riding their bikes on the road in water that reached their axles.<br>Just before the storm hit we visited a welding shop and had a new bracket made for the bike rack.<br><br>At 7 pm , we were all at the rodeo, a corner of the arena was under water, so you can imagine the spray when the animals and ...

... systems that go for hundreds and hundreds of yards.<br><br>I was lucky enough to witness this feat, crop dusting! This guy was a real pro, swooping up high and then dive bombing to get the mixture on the crops and not elsewhere.<br><br>These little puff balls, along with the Black Eyed Susan&#8217;s are along the road side, just waiting for the next strong breeze to send them flying.<br><br>As I pull into Valentine, on time ...

After surviving the "sewer slew" night we went to a place called Mitchell, which is known for its Corn Palace. For over 100 years this town has been celebrating their crops of corn by decorating a very russian looking palace sort of building. At first it was just decorative but then became very elaborate murals depicting events and places in the USA. It takes months to strip it down and redo it for the next year ! Needless ...

From Yankton, we travelled back into northern Nebraska and west to Valentine, NE. This took us to the Niobrara National Scenic River (another National Park Site). Seven ecosystems come together in this area. This river draws a lot of canoes, kayaks, and tubes, much like the rivers of the Ozarks in Missouri. Unfortunately, it was a little ...

... trek across the Great Plains; bringing only ourselves, some camping gear, and our tank of a van. The size of our van proved to be useful for the long journey. My brother and I were allowed to play with our Legos on the floor as long as we were occupied and not asking, "are we there yet", which we had asked initially until we realized that the question was futile. But little did we know that this seemingly ordinary mid-summer's trip would become an annual ...

... a man and woman in a boat catch a very large catfish. The fish pulled them around in the boat for over 20 minutes before they finally got him in the boat. Opal and the boys drove over to the boat ramp and took pictures of the couple with the fish. I told the boys that there were fish in the lake and this guy caught his right in front of our campsite. Had hot dogs for supper. Prepared the camper for early departure. Heading to South Dakota tomorrow.

... here also. Highway 2 in central Nebraska is a scenic byway and is really worth the time spent along it. Right in the middle of all this rolling grassland is a pine forest known as the Nebraska National Forest. All of the trees are hand planted. Hand planting continues to this day. I would like to have spent some time here but we had to keep going. Finally saw our first antelope. Chris spotted the first one off in the distance ...