Lake Park Campground and Cottages

Getting to Rapid City was a straight and easy shot from Sioux Falls on the eastern most part of South Dakota on border of Iowa along I-90. There was no problem following the route given by Map Quest and being on an early Tuesday afternoon traffic was light enough to leave my nerves intact. I was pretty anxious to check in and check out the place where I would lay my weary body and relax my mind, as if I really thought I could contain the excitement of being at the base of the Black Hills.

Of course, there had a be a glitch, traveling back and forth along Jackson Blvd trying to find County Club Blvd that would take me to Chapel Lane and whatever cabin would be my home for the next two weeks. Twice I reached a point where buildings became fewer and the twist of a bend found me where there were none.

After passing Sheridan Lake Rd and the Meadow Brook Golf Course and Country Club three times there still wasn’t a road labeled as it should have been. I was so intent on finding Country Club Blvd that frustration finally set in as I began to eagle-hawk every street and driveway along Jackson Blvd. Finally, there was a small, white on green street sign that read Chapel Ln! From there it would have been a quick walk to the entrance of Lake Park Campground if I hadn’t been riding in a four-wheeler.

If I hadn’t been astute to the surroundings, I might have missed the entrance, but there it was with ivy covering part of the sign that told me I had reached my destination.

The office was easily identified with an ice bin, which I would soon find was no longer stocked. Sherry was behind the counter, quick to remember the name from a couple of conversations we had a few weeks prior to arriving. We were a day earlier since we had left a day earlier than planned and drove straight through the first night of travel.

Sherry was very friendly, made us feel welcome and actually gave us the choice of two cabins, both next to each other, one decorated in the mode of a hunter’s abode with an animal’s head hung on the wall, etc. The other cabin had a less manly feel about it but Cabin 11 was the winner, only because the TV was aligned for viewing from an easy chair and a sofa bed. Other than the positioning of the TV the cabins were identical with the same amenities yet in reversed order.

Two bedrooms, a full kitchen, a large cloakroom adjacent to small bathroom with the basic washbowl, toilet and stand-alone shower. In the cloakroom the best friend a traveler can expect was a hot water heater! For us alone, no attached cabins where sharing would have affected water pressure and available hot water. What a pleasure!

The kitchen was equipped with dishes; silverware; glasses; coffee maker, cups and filters; a window air conditioner and a gas heater; refrigerator; basic cable; and pots and pans. There were enough towels for a family of six and a huge supply of quality toilet paper, which saved the rolls I had brought along… just in case Of course, there were plenty of And an outside gas grill – a real one, not some chintzy piece of metal housing. Clean and neat with no acception.

Upon arriving, I had asked Sherry if there was a microwave. Yes. She explained it wasn’t including with any promotional information, including the Inet, because it pleases people to find more than what they expect rather than falling short of expectations. Outside the cabin, next to the grill, was a full-sized picnic table.

Sherry gave me fair warning that I would most likely see resident deer roaming the area, which there were. Without warning and without a camera handy, at one point two deer and three fawns passed next to the cabin, not more than five feet from where I sat in pleasant awe. The first week they were in sight often then they seemed to have disappeared, but Sherry suggested I just walk behind the cabin a short way where she had just seen them. They’re definitely accustomed to humans but still attune to their survival instincts. I saw then quite a few times afterward.

Lake Park Campgrounds and Cottages was the perfect place to lay my head to rest after each day’s adventures. There are other choices in different areas among the hills but the location gave me easy access to Rapid City with its restaurants, museums and a true small town feel of friendliness. Just the right size – not too big, not too small.

Mount Rushmore; a variety of caverns; Custer State Park; Hill City and Keystone, which are quaint tourist havens; Deadwood, where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane dwelled; Sturgis, where the 69th Annual Motorcycle Rally will be held the first week in August next year; and so many other wondrous adventures filled the days. These were less than hour’s drive away from the cabin. Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and the Mammoth Site downstate were within a two-hour drive.

Wherever a person travels along the roads, there’s no boredom as the scenery engulfs a person’s eyesight. Even the driver can enjoy the views without taking the eyes off the road – they’re all around!

Yes, Lake Park Campground and Cottages is strongly recommended to anyone visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota. It’s a temporary home, a haven of tranquility among towering trees with open views of the sky and the friendliest of people, Sherry first and foremost.

www.lakeparkcampground.com

Gas in the Tank, Money in the Bank

Heading to South Dakota gave some unreality checks on the price of gasoline. As the price was at about $3.80/gallon a month ago locally when I arrived in Rapid City the price was about $3.20! What a deal! But wait… that was for Regular unleaded grade (85 octane) but Super unleaded (87 octane) was 5-cents cheaper. Premium was a dime higher than regular. Cashiers inside the quickie-marts weren’t able to explain the pricing.

At the time I left South Dakota, Super was selling at $2.99.

There is still a large difference in each of the state’s gas rates. With the assistance of Google, checking those rates, those sales tax rates are 4% in SD and 6% in FL. Gas taxes are $.24 and $.33, respectively. Niether has a state income tax.

Currently those conflicting rates are $3.08 compared to $2.91.

Regardless the reasons for such a discrepancy of prices, the money saved stays in the bank.

Falling Into Summer Vacation

The original departure date to leave from Spring Hill, FL, to Rapid City, SD, was marked as September 22, the first day of fall. After careful thought, a mere four days prior to that date, it changed. First it became a day earlier on Sunday. A day later the final decision had been made for the 20th.

The reason centered on the realization that if someone should ask “What did you do on your summer vacation?” I’d have to say it didn’t happen. So, although it was at the tail end of the season, the departure date had been changed to avoid a disclaimer explaining why it I had no summertime views of this land of natural wonders.

With a little stretch of the true facts, I can now say that I vacationed in the summer and the fall!

Still Depooperating

What an exciting, relaxing visit to South Dakota has been. Two full weeks among the Black Hills and all the wonderful sights that invigorated my already love and appreciation of nature had to be left behind as the inevitable return to my home and cats (actually, not in that order!) crept up with reality.

All went pretty well on the trip to the northern plains of America. I suppose I was very fortunate to have found motels along the way that were very accommodating for periods of badly needed rest. Sleeping in comfortable quarters surely made the days’ driving of a few hundred miles kept my mind and body well prepared for the exciting weeks ahead.

But, oh, those three nights spent heading back to Florida wore me down far beyond the energy that kept my being ready for one adventure after another. It was a far cry from the nights spent in the cabin at the base of the Hills.

Body aches from not-to-comfortable beds and by the time I finally reached the final destination in my round trip visit, I returned to find myself too pooped to do much other than wait for the time when I would regain my energy level. And it hasn’t quite yet achieved that degree of energy needed to get the groove back to attend to household chores and yard maintenance.

Fortunately, the house was left in a near perfect condition and with two cats for a neighbor to care for and the grass grew very little with the typical shortage (none) of rainfall. Roy, the Good Samaritan who actually thanked ME for allowing HIM to feed, clean the litter box and enjoy their company, even mowed the yard shortly before I got back just to even it off!

I had left Roy with a moderately money-filled debit card as a token gesture of appreciation for the duties he gleefully accepted. The day before I got back he used a bag of cat food ($7.95 plus tax) to make sure there wouldn’t be an immediate need for me to rush to Wal-Mart to keep the little critters’ appetite fulfilled! When I handed the card back to him after he welcomed us back and returned the key that gave him access to the backyard, he claimed he wasn’t sure it was meant as compensation for his maintenance fees. And yet, he was well aware of my intention the card was his to use as he wished.

(Roy keeps a key to the house in his possession at all times, just in case there’s ever an emergency where his assistance is needed when I’m delayed or unable to be at home to tend to my own responsibilities. We have a great degree of trust between us.)

Part of my exhaustion comes from the days of return to Spring Hill but a good part of it can be attributed to those very cats, Elvis and Sassy, that I missed so very much. Elvis is fairly innocent in the matter but there’s a certain amount of belief that he may be the actual reason why Sassy is extremely persistent in making sure I get up at a specific hour for the morning feeding.

Most of the clothes have been returned to the closet and dresser drawers but the souvenirs and relished pieces of printed materials, including brochures, sales receipts and bits of notes I scribbled on pieces of paper, that will assist my memory sometime in the distant future are left for another day or week when I become completely depooperated.

No Rush to Rushmore

Come hell or high gas prices, the 30-year anniversary vacation has been set and the countdown ends with the departure on September 22 and the return a couple weeks later. It’ll be a vacation when friends and relatives will wait another year to reunite. (It's incidental that neice Heather and fiance Phil will draw the family brood from Michigan to Orlando for the blissful marriage that will undoubtably see them through their lives together. They will wed on Valentine's Day 2009.)

The first “private and personal” vacation was during my life in Southern California in the ‘80s. I visited Yosemite National Park shortly after Labor Day when most people have ended their summer excursions and seen their kids back to school. Reservations weren’t required.

The peaceful solitude to explore the natural beauty of such a world treasure was the most memorable vacation up ‘til then. El Capitan and the Devil's Postpile were awesome. The nights were nippy. Rental rates were low. It was a leisurely vacation and the intimacy of other vacationers and local merchants rejuvenated this worker from life’s daily routines.

The next private vacation came in ’95 with a trip to the island of Kauai in Hawaii. It was kinda expensive but incremental savings over the previous year covered much of the costs so it was quicker, easier to pay down the balances due. The trip was taken the week following Thanksgiving and upon the arrival in Lihue it was evident that it would be much like the trip to Yosemite. Few people and, once again, nothing but friendly exchanges between vacationers and locals.

I felt I was being catered to as I primarily made daily adventures around the island, including views of Kauai from the cab of a helicopter, and some island hopping to the lava beds and farmlands on the Big Island. Their terrains are from different worlds!

This year, the vacation is a round-trip road trip to Mount Rushmore. The after-Labor Day vacation will have fewer crowds so that sense of camaraderie will again enhance the easy-going days of taking deep breaths of fresh air and the sighs of appreciation for the time to reflect, relax and easily relate to people and nature alike.

There’ll be the 19th Annual Buffalo Wallow Chili Cookoff in Custer National Park on September 28. The following day is the 43rd Annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup Day where “cowboys and cowgirls herd up 1,500 buffalo into corrals to be readied for the fall Buffalo Sale”. All this and the 3-day Buffalo Roundup Arts Festival to boot!

The following days will be filled with adventures in nature settings unique to the area. The Black Hills, The Badlands, Wind Cave National Park, a number of National Monuments and Memorials, the history of the Sioux Nation and Crazy Horse… And, of course, Mount Rushmore National Monument will be the highlight of just one small piece of American heritage.

Away we go! Freewheelin’ days straight ahead!

Although, come hurricane and high winds, the whole scenario changes.