Gillette, WY to Wall, SD

After a couple of great weeks in Rapid City, SD we backtracked to Gillette, WY for the big RV Rally sponsored by the Escapees RV Club.  We actually arrived two days before the beginning of the Rally to attend RV Boot Camp: a crash course in dealing with all of the RV’s systems (electrical, plumbing, tires, weight and load, hitching and unhitching, fire and life safety, driving, etc.).  Boot Camp was intense and we added quite a bit of knowledge to that already picked up through the school of hard knocks.

The Rally itself was a bit disappointing.  Many of the classes covered the same material as Boot Camp, and vendors, who had an agenda, conducted many of the other seminars.  The vendor show itself was small, but we were able to pick up a few things that will make our lives easier (quick connectors for fresh-water hoses) or safer (additional fire extinguishers).  One of the important things we did was weigh the rig and towed vehicle to make sure that the weight was (1) under GVWR, (2) balanced over the axels, and (2) under the GAWR.  We passed in every category, but are slightly imbalanced on the rear axel … this will be corrected with the installation of our washer/dryer in a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, most of the attendees were “Campers” …  we are NOT “Campers,” we are “RVers”.  The distinction being a matter of comfort:  “RVers” like and expect comfort and amenities, “Campers” don’t.  Most full-time Baby Boomers are “RVers”, while the beatnik generation (born in the 30s through 1945) is still emulating Euell Gibbons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euell_Gibbons)
and eating off the land, so to speak.  They are clearly “Campers”.

We did meet a couple of really nice people, one of which we will see again in Iowa at the Winnebago factory.  We are looking forward to a nice dinner with them.

From Gillette we returned to South Dakota (our home state) to the site of the world famous “Wall Drug Store,” in Wall, SD.  The story goes that a young pharmacist opened a drug store in Wall and was quickly going broke, when one day his wife suggested that they offer all of the travelers on nearby highways free ice water.  He put up “Burma Shave” type signs on all the approaches to Wall, advertising his gift of Free Ice Water and, later, five cent coffee (both of which are still available today), and instantly had great success.  The store grew to it’s current size (it takes up the whole block) and is now run by the second or third generation.  A really great success story! 

The main sign at Wall Drugs

Drug store stretches the entire block

Anyway we met Lynda’s brother Bob and his wife Mary in Wall and spent a really nice day with them before they had to return to Longmont, CO.  The drug store is unique; housing a western town offering a variety of goods from western wear to fudge, from Native American art and artifacts to toys, candy, and books.  It has a robotic T-Rex, stuffed bison, and a large collection of historic pictures and documents.  Of course there is a café with fountain drinks and ice cream, along with complete lunch and dinner specials.  Oh yes, did I mention that they have pie?  Yum!  It was a great day and we really enjoyed seeing Bob and Mary again.

Bob and Mary with "Jack-a-lope"

Robotic T-Rex

Two very cute miners at the mine exhibit and opportunity to pan for cool rocks

Lynda calms the fierce beast!

 Inside of the Western town that is inside the Drug Store

We spent the final day in Wall visiting Badlands National Park.  It is hard to describe the badlands in words.  It looks like an alien landscape in which the remains of alien cities, long abandoned by extra-earthly visitors, remain to remind us of something long forgotten and not yet remembered.  It is beautiful, colorful, and foreign all at the same time.  The Badlands got their name from a French explorer who said this place would be a “bad land to travel through.”  Indeed it would be!  Here are few pictures.

Like most national parks, Badlands has its share of wild life, from pronghorn to deer, from prairie dogs to sheep … and of course, bison.  Big and shaggy and belonging to this landscape today as their ancestors did for millennium!

Until next time … do what you love!