A Promise Kept.....after over 30 years

Ruthie has been asking for a very long time to take a minor detour off of our western travels, to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in DeSmet, South Dakota.  Little House on the Prairie, and all of her other books were favorites of Ruthie's; so DeSmet….here we come.

We checked out the Surveyor's House where the Ingalls family spent the first winter, and then visited the house that Pa built in town.  Hard to imagine a family coming out to South Dakota in the late 19th century, in the harsh Midwest weather to homestead.  Well worth the detour...





Then on to a rest stop for a couple of days at Sibley Lake in the Big Horn mountains.  A nice little National Forest campground that even had electricity.  Time to acclimate to higher altitudes, so camping at 8,000 feet was perfect.

Next to Bald Mountain NF campground positioning us for a very special visit to the Medicine Wheel.

We got out our E-Bikes and "pedaled" the 3 miles to the entrance, then a hike of another 2 miles to reach this estimated 1,500-6,000 year old native American Ceremonial site at an elevation over 10,000 ft.  The Medicine Wheel was constructed with 28 spokes (lunar days), 7 stone formations for the 4 directions, Mother Earth, Father Sky, and the Sacred Center.  To be on the peak of the Big Horn mountain range at this very special site was awesom  e.

After dropping over 5,000 feet with BIW, we made a stop at Big Horn Canyon.  Impressive, but not our favorite.  We had left behind the pine forests and the cool temperatures.

4 days and 1,500 miles across the Midwest

The drive to get to the West could be long and tiresome, but we had a better idea.  Even though we drove 400 miles every day, we always ended up at a great campsite and some great activities.

The first day ended at Outflow ACE campground in Confluence, PA.  This campground is right on the GAP (Great Allegheny Passage) bike trail, so we got out our new E-bikes and biked 25 miles before the sun went down.


The next day we ended our day at Pokagon State Park in Indiana.  We hadn't camped here in over 30 years ago.  Such memories of our cabin tent collapsing in heavy rains (from this experience, we decided to buy a pop up camper).   This time we pulled in our motorhome and setup, and the sun was shining.  Then off for some hikes on the park's many trails.

Day 3 was particularly special.  First we stopped at Bonneyville Grist Mill, which is the oldest continuously operating Indiana Grist Mill from 1837 to 1967.

Then a stop at Portillos for a "real" Chicago hot dog.

For the night we were invited to camp and spend the evening with Connie and Ross, new friends that we met on our Alaska cruise last year.   We camped in their driveway, had a pontoon boat ride on Lake Wisconsin, and had a very very Wisconsin dinner.  Thank you!

And tonight we're camped at Big Sioux campground near Sioux Falls.  A nice state recreation area.  In fact a very nice campground.  We took a side trip to see the Palisades before setting up for the night.

Loading up & getting ready to hit the road

Took BIW out of storage and brought it home to start the cleaning and loading in preparation for our travels.  But then some added complications.....

Morey & Ruthie had ordered a new couch and love seat back in April, finally cancelled when it wasn't to arrive before August 1st.  Well, gosh,  the new seating showed up and was delivered on Tuesday, days before our travels to begin.  So what did we do with the old couch and love seat...Why, put them on the curb and label "FREE".  The only item taken was the cushions off of the love seat.

So, Morey had no choice but to saw up the love seat (sans cushions) and bag in black plastic bags and put in the trash.
And then, he added to the Craig's Listing, "Better than Free." as he offered $25 to pick up the couch for free.  It worked.... Phew.....

Then the new bike rack required a hitch extender, but the one secured didn't work but locked into the rack making the new bike rack unusable.  So, Ruthie made a quick stop at a local bike shop for another bike rack that will hold E-bikes.



Now, all was good, and we split town...……..after a goodbye to our wonderful Jersey Shore!