Nebraska & South Dakota Summer 2013

Since the last issue of Kim & Lynda’s Wild Ride we made our way west with a stop in North Platte, Nebraska to visit our granddaughter Nina and her husband Brian.  Also visiting at the same time were her parents, our son Jason and his wife Jen with two more of our grandchildren, Brayden and Brynn.  Jason and Jen run a school for English speaking Expats in Dili, East Timor (located close to Bali, Indonesia, and Australia).  We had a wonderful time with the kids and grandkids … plenty of meals out and good conversations!  Unfortunately, this will probably be our last trip to North Platte as Nina and Brian have returned to California where he will be teaching at Hesperia High School and she will be a social worker with a local charter school.  While in North Platte we stayed at Holiday RV Park.  It is conveniently located off of Interstate 80 and gives easy access to North Platte.  The park has packed gravel pull-through sites with 50 amp. service, but it was a bit noisy and cramped.  While in Nebraska we also were able to visit our granddaughter, Willow and enjoyed a nice birthday lunch with her (unfortunately we were having such a good time visiting that we forgot to take pictures … sorry!).  Here are some of the pictures we did get. 

In South Dakota we started out at Rushmore Shadows using our ROD membership, but also stayed at America’s Campground (Associated with America’s Mailbox), and at Hart Ranch (using Coast to Coast).  This is our second stay at Rushmore shadows (we have stayed using Coast to Coast in the past), and it did not disappoint (We would give it a 10 out of 10 on the Moore Campground Scale).  We had a very nice pull through site with full hookups including 50 amp. and really enjoyed our stay there.  At America’s Campground we opted for a dry site without hookups as we were also having a bit of work done on the coach and were moving back and forth.  We ended our stay with a week at Hart Ranch.  This was our first time at this campground so we will provide a bit more information on this Coast-to-Coast site.  Hart Ranch is beautifully laid out.  It boasts beautiful green areas and all of the amenities (restaurant, pool, mini golf, tennis, regular golf at their 18 hole course, etc.) and the majority of the sites have concrete pads with a large concrete porch attached.  Unfortunately if you are using Coast-to-Coast or RPI, etc (i.e., you are not a member of Hart’s Ranch) you are relegated to an area called “The Meadows.”  The Meadows is located away from all of the amenities down in a meadow where the sites are close together and have back-in dirt sites (my jacks sunk down 6 inches) without sewer facilities.  This is a park that definitely treats non-members like second and third class citizens …  even when they don’t need to as there were many cement sites available (but not for us!).  To add insult to injury, the park charges an additional $5.00 per night resort/utility fee + tax (our total for 1 week was $44.09), and if you wish to play miniature golf there is an additional $5.00 per person fee.  Not having sewer made our visit miserable (we are used to taking frequent showers and doing laundry in the coach – your experience my vary considerably).  Therefore, we give Hart Ranch a 1 out of 10 (with 1 = lousy and 10 = great) and put it on our … Don’t Return List.  One last commentary:  We have noticed that a number of C2C parks are following this same trend and placing non-park specific members off in an undesirable portion of the park.  When we first joined C2C the idea was that you would be treated like a regular member at all of the parks you visited, unfortunately this is not so … personally, we think this business model will eventually hurt both C2C and its member parks as the C2C membership will lose its appeal altogether.

While in Rapid City take time to visit all of the usual attractions:  Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Custer State Park, Deadwood, & Sturgis (during Rally week).  However after you have seen them all make sure you go to the Reptile Gardens and especially Bear Country USA.  At Bear Country you take a 45 minute ride and see wild animals throughout the park including wolves, fox, elk, deer, bison, and especially bears.  Also in Rapid City visit Fort Hayes Chuckwagon dinner show (a good meal and great entertainment at a fair price).  For the best piece of pie in Rapid City (and pretty good grub too) try the Colonial House Restaurant on Highway 16.  Here are a few pictures of Fort Hayes & Bear Country.

 Until Next Time Keep Doing What You Love!!