Good news....PS

Last night we went to bed

exhausted!

I need a vacation 

from my vacation.

But..

much to my surprise...

the luggage fairy was here!

Our luggage was on the front porch

when George got up early this 

morning for work.

Just like the Easter Bunny...

or Santa..

or the tooth fairy.

all is back to normal..

we will keep researching

now with a vengeance..

towards that full time RV life!

Bad News, Good News

Bad News

Our vacation is over.

Good News

We loved South Dakota!

Bad News

Our flight Saturday was delayed

so long in Rapid City we missed

our connecting flight in Chicago.

Good News

The 4 hour delay allowed us

more time to visit a museum

in Rapid City called

'The Journey'.

It was a wonderful place, all

about the geology & history of

the Black Hills area.

We also enjoyed a great lunch at

a place called 'the Firehouse Brewing Co'

Bad News

By the time we got to Chicago, there

were no more flights to Wilkes-Barre, PA

Good News

Since it was a mechanical delay, 

our room was FREE  and

so we stayed at the same Doubletree

that we stayed in last Saturday.

We also got $30 food comp which

we used at the same restaurant

in the Doubletree that we ate in

last Saturday.

Bad News

 We are home

(that actually is bad/good news!)

But....

Our luggage isn't!

They put an APB out on it.

I was smart though.

I packed jammies, makeup,

medications, and a change of clothes in 

the carry-on.

Even our souvenirs were in this bag!

United won't get me down!!

Wall Drug and Mid-States Campers

Today is our final day of vacation...always so sad to have to leave, and on the other hand, glad to get back to a normal routine again.

Today all four of us drove to Wall, SD, to see the famous Wall Drug.

It was a fun place, with all kinds of shops, souvenirs,

and homemade donuts! They were pretty good..

We walked around and looked at all the 

pictures on the wall (no pun intended!)

and bought a few things.

George found what he wanted ;-)

Well, so did I...

Cute place!

So after that...we knew we had to find

an RV dealership. There has to be

many more of them in the mid west

than in Pennsylvania.

I looked one up, and it wasn't too far

out of the way on our trip back.

Some of you know that we had decided on a motor home.

Well...I think we've changed our minds.

We fell in love with a Montana.

We've set our sites on a

3665RE

George and I think this is the one!

Devils Tower

Close Encounters

So since we were within 2 hours..

we decided to take the drive up.

So we borrowed my parents car..

took off through the rain & fog..

and came closer..

and closer...

This monolith is amazing.

Despite the connection to the movie..

it's a very sacred place for the Native Americans.

There were a lot of  'prayer' cloths on the trees..

We hiked the whole loop trail and

got different sides to the tower.

 

We finally found our way around 

to the other side and back to 

the beginning. We found a kind soul to 

take our picture:

Certainly shows the perspective!

On the way back to Custer, we found

a great little grill in Hullet, WY.

Sat next to people from  Long Island, NY..

small world.

We made our way back..through the

prairies. The colors are starting to change 

just a bit..

Nice end to a nice day!

Mammoths - woolly & columbian

Today we took a ride to Hot Springs, SD.

There is a site there where in 1974, 

a man named 

Phil Anderson, while excavating for a housing development,

unearthed some fossils.

Those fossils turned out to be tusks & bones of mammoths.

This one was one of the almost complete set

of mammoth they unearthed.

The whole place is pretty incredible. I've always been 

interested in paleontology and archaeology.

I even got to help with a demonstration ;-)

They told us that you can sign up to help with the dig.

The organization works for 6 weeks in June-July and

always needs volunteers. I would love to do that!

Another thing for the RV to-do list.

http://www.earthwatch.org

After we were finished looking at bones...

we of course had to eat :-)

We found a place in Custer, called

The Buglin' Bull

Great food...and my Dad ordered a local

beer..which he said was thick enough to 

drink with a straw ;-)

He cracks me up!

Deadwood, South Dakota

What a beautiful place! We took a ride up Route 385 to Deadwood. It's an old gold mining town, one where Wild Bill Hickok was shot while playing cards. There are a lot of old buildings, not original, but rebuilt after a fire destroyed the town back in 1894.

There is a small casino in almost every building

with slot machines and table games.

We played a few slots and won a bit.

Dropped in to Kevin Costner's

restaurant/casino...the Midnight Star..

played a bit, and had a drink

at the beautiful bar.

We took a trolley tour of the town, 

which ended up at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery.

 

This is where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried.

The view from up on the hill is fantastic!

Of course the ice cream stop of

the day was at a little shop

right across from the casino:

The end of the day was topped off

stopping by a winery

that was on the way back to Custer, 

called Prairie Berry.

With some wine, cheese, 

and crackers, we

went back to our hotel 

and enjoyed it outside

by the fire pit.

We've both decided that this is one place

we want to stay when we have our RV.

There were so many campgrounds we 

saw along the highway.

Two more years!!

Indians to Presidents to Buffaloes

We are all rested, and ready to begin our vacation now!

We had a nice breakfast in the hotel we are staying in,

the Holiday Inn Express

in Custer, SD

We ventured out..stopping first at 

the Crazy Horse Monument

It's amazing how big it is, and the whole story behind it.

They've been working on it since 1948, and

probably another 40 more years for it to look like this:

I can't even imagine the work that goes on up there.

Next we went to Mt Rushmore...

It's amazing how big it is. Funny thing though, all 4 president

heads can fit in the hair of Crazy Horse. Wow!

George, me, dad  & mom

Of course, always can find ice cream..

After many pictures of the 4 guys on the mountain...

made our way to Custer State Park.

I was on a mission to find buffaloes!

It's windy, narrow road to get there. 

We stopped a few times along the

way to take more pictures..

I just love this picture!

Finally we made it to Custer State Park.

We saw buffaloes!!

and prairie dogs...

and cute burros..that stuck their heads in 

the windows of cars!

and a few antelopes..that were never quite close enough.

We headed back to the hotel after all the driving 

and sightseeing. Very tired...had a few bloody mary's!

and went to bed :)

Custer, South Dakota

Yay!

Finally made it to Custer!

After the horrible day in Chicago...

(umm, Saturday?, I've lost track already!)

We finally got a flight out into

Salt Lake City..on Sunday..

where we had a 5 hour layover..

nicer airport..

better restaurant..

sat and watched football and 

ate a terrific salad

 

Got out of Salt Lake at 5:30 pm

arrived in Custer at 7 pm to a welcome sight..

My parents there to greet us...and...

our luggage was actually there!

Day two...

Well...we're still in Chicago. Very nice Doubletree. Had a terrific dinner last night.
This was not supposed to be part of the vacation!
Spent all day yesterday in the airport, first for a 4 hour layover
then for delays due to weather, finally our flight to South Dakota cancelled.

Today we have a flight to Salt Lake City, then to Rapid City.
Weather is good, so we should get there by later today.

This is why I want to full time!!! No more airports!!

PS - the only good part of last night...great dinner, good wine, and great Morrocan waiter :)

Waiting at the airport

Well we are on our way to South Dakota! George & I are
meeting my parents there for a week.
Right now we have a 4 hour layover, so we ate breakfast
at Chili's (ummm yum?). There is a nice t-storm delaying
some flights. It should blow over before we take off.

More later...

4 hours later....our plane was diverted so it's
still not here :-(

Funfest

After cleaning, brake jobs, and

watching the  9/11 memorial on TV

we decided to walk down to

Funfest.

This is an annual event, same weekend 

every year.

There are carnival games,

carnival rides,

music, 

crafts,

and FOOD.

There is also classic

cars along the street to look at.

George likes those..

They block off the main drag in Hazleton,

and set up all the booths

for the whole weekend.

We had already eaten lunch.

But..we had to have

some carnival food.

We only had a corn dog.

Yum!

But...

Somewhere, there's always

ice cream.

This time Turkey Hill

was giving free samples of 

their frozen yogurt.

It was so good, and zero fat!

And it was free!