Rapid City, SD

Sara’s here!!




But I’m getting ahead of myself… Like eating dessert before dinner. Which I love doing actually…



Our day began in the western portion of Rocky Mountain National Park. And it was freezing. There was a layer of frost on everything! I realize we are at high elevation and all, but come on, it’s only September 1st...



With the cold morning, we decided to postpone the usual hair washing process… Kinda fun process actually. Whether we are in the middle of the woods or smack in the middle of a Walmart parking lot, I don dad’s old red “Beach Feet” sandals and open up the outside storage compartment of the RV. In there we have a 5 gallon plastic bladder with a spout. The whole thing is only a few feet off the ground. So I’d imagine it would probably be pretty entertaining to see this giant of a man doubled over in the Walmart parking lot, washing his hair. Has to be done though…



But this morning, we just donned our hats and headed over to the trailhead. For today’s hike we had decided to do a relatively flat 7 mile hike to the site of Lulu City along the upper Colorado River. I need to do a little more research on it but what we know is this. Lulu City was settled in 1879. In 1884, the entire population of 200 people picked up and left… Now the city site is a trail destination. Plus the trail would take us along the Colorado River. Weird that we’ll be seeing it again in a month or so, only in a slightly larger capacity…



It turned out to be a nice morning hike. No one on the trail because tourists don’t get up as early as we do. We walked past fields, marshes, and the river…

The Lulu City site was supposed to only be 300 feet above where we started. We were deceived, however, and had to go up 600 feet and then down 300 to get there… But shortly before this, we passed by an old homestead foundation…

And then the city site itself, which is basically just a field by the river…

But definitely a sweet view!

And a signpost to mark the spot…

So not much to see, but interesting that there was once a town there. Made me wonder all the way back whether the park service would allow a group of people to try and duplicate their efforts, 130 years later… I think it would be a fun project. Besides that whole living in the middle of nowhere thing. And it might get bothersome to have hikers stopping by every day…



We got back to the RV in good time. Hadn’t seen any animals since it was so early in the morning. But it was definitely a nice trail.



We took advantage of the now warmer weather to wash up. Then packed up and headed back over the mountain pass. This time, however, it was midday and the construction crews were out… So it took a lot longer to go across than it should have, but hard to feel bad about traffic with this kind of view…

On the way down, a helpful sign reminded me that I could use a lower gear to slow down as opposed to my brakes. So much better! All the cars behind me hated me by the end, but meh… We got back to Estes Park, CO and had lunch. Then hit the road for Rapid City, SD!!



But first Wyoming. Which somehow managed to seem more desolate than eastern Colorado had…

Then South Dakota!

We were only a little bit late in picking up Sara, but we got her. Excited about seeing the girlfriend regardless… Headed into town to the Walmart, grabbed the dinner that we had neglected while driving, figured out the plan for the next day, then promptly passed out…



The decision?? Badlands National Park! With a quick little stop at the Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD. Never heard of it?? Oh man. You’ll see…