Deadwood, SD

[sdgirl]

Good Morning all ~! Well, just a quick post as we are all trying to get up and get around this morning to go see Mt. Rushmore. So far, I have seen 3 Big Horns and 1 Sundance. One Bighorn in the A-OK RV park in Holbrook, AZ. A VERY nice park, I might say. Only stayed one night, but nice and OPEN!!! The second Big Horn we spotted going West on I-40 (?) in New Mexico, heading toward Gallup. Spent the night Saturday at a little park in Colorado Springs, don't remember the name now, but I'll get that later for y'all. Crowded and tight, but they sent someone with us to make sure we got parked okay. Very quite, but we got there around 7:30 PM and left the next day by 7:30 AM! Whew,, yes, this has been many hours on the road. The Sundance we saw heading South on the I-25, I think in Wyoming. We are now parked at Whislers Gultch RV park in Deadwood and there is a Big Horn just a few spaces away from me. LOL. Whislers Gultch is a nice park, we are in a small canyon and saw deer our first night here. They were up on the ridge above the park, but worked their way around and were maybe a few hundred feet away from us! Very cool and my Great Niece and Nephew were VERY excited! Nice park, no cable, but free wi-fi! They orignally had us in 3 back in spots (I'm travelling with two rented RV's), but the owner upgraded us for free to 3 pull thru's! NICE. So far, mostly wind and rain,, and very gusty winds. The Coach is handling extremely well and the surround sound is a big hit with my extended family~!
Gotta go eat breakfast with the family. Will write more when I can!

 

[Chuck Richard]

Hi Dena,

Sounds like a great trip, we would love to get to where you are. Montana is also a dream destination. I just picked up my 3055RL six weeks ago and have made a couple short trips here in Oregon. I have the same TV as you do but an '01 and have only been able to get 6 mpg and had been hoping for 8. I was wondering what you are getting since we should be about the same. We have the new ethanol blend in Oregon and I wonder if that is hurting my mileage also.

I look forward to reading your trip posts and pretending we're there.

Chuck and Debby

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Hi Dena,

Sounds like a great trip, we would love to get to where you are. Montana is also a dream destination. I just picked up my 3055RL six weeks ago and have made a couple short trips here in Oregon. I have the same TV as you do but an '01 and have only been able to get 6 mpg and had been hoping for 8. I was wondering what you are getting since we should be about the same. We have the new ethanol blend in Oregon and I wonder if that is hurting my mileage also.

I look forward to reading your trip posts and pretending we're there.

Chuck and Debby

We had the 8.1 in our last truck, an 01 2500HD. We had exhaust, air intake and throttle body spacer for engine mods. Power was fantastic but mileage was another story. Average towing between 7 and 7.5! Not towing, best highway was 12 average was 11. I loved driving that truck though. On the subject of Deadwood. Awesome area! I especially liked riding up and down Spearfish Canyon Road.

 

[sdgirl]

Gas Mileage

Hey Chuck and Debby,

We're right there with you,, around 7 or 7.5 MPG! We were really hoping for more, but on the way up here, we had some really good climbs and winds, so over all not to surprising. I wish you were here too, but you probably really aren't. As we were coming back to the CG yesterday from Mt. Rushmore it started to SNOW~ We have a winter wonderland here! LOL. The streets are clear but there is about 2 inches still on the ground this morning! Anyone know if there is any particular precautions I should take for my coach?? Only about an inch or 2 on the roof, so I'm not really concerned about weight. And as far as I can tell so far, no leaks (keeping fingers crossed!). TIA for any tips. Well, I'd better get out there and get some pictures! More soon. Dena

 

[jbeletti]

Dena,

Looks like you'll see freezing temps through 9am Wednesday, then a really nice warm up for the next couple days.

If you have slide topper awnings, I'd try to get the snow swept off them. Two inches of snow on that fabric could be really heavy and could cause it to sag, stretch or tear.

Make sure to use your furnace through Wednesday morning in order to throw heat into the underbelly.

If you have tank heating pads, time to throw that switch.

Your water line from the CG to the UDC may freeze. You way want to unhook it, empty it, coil it up, connect the ends together and bring it in the trailer for the night and use tank water and the water pump tonight.

I would LOVE to see Mt. Rushmore again. I have not seen it since I was a young child.

Jim

 

[Bob&Patty]

Hey Dena and Roy, glad your having a good trip. Pat and I will be in North and S Dacota the 2nd week of July. Saw Mt. Rushmore last year in April, but going to Deadwood this year. Be safe and keep us posted on your travels. Bob

 

[jimtoo]

Just in case some don't know about it, Mt. Rushmore has a lighting ceremony in the evening. If at all possible you need to stay and attend. It is an awesome show.

JimM

 

[Chuck Richard]

Thanks for the info, hope the snow clears and you can not have to worry about that. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Chuck and Deb

 

[creeper]

We'll be leaving for that area next week. There will be one more bighorn there. Keep an eye out for GA plates from Bryan County.

 

[sdgirl]

Thanks all ~

for all the tips~! I was soo darn busy with the family, I never did get back on-line while in Deadwood. We have been running the furnace every night,,, BRRRr, but no problems with lines freezing, Thank Goodness, cuz today is the first time I have been on-line in a week! LOL
Once we left Deadwood, we drove to Yellowstone where we spent 5 great days! NO wi-fi in the national parks and I only got cell phone signal twice! Still had quite a bit of snow on the ground, but we did get to see lots of animals! Wow, the pictures I have! BTW, Fishing Bridge CG IS very tight, but doable. Thankfully, they were NOT full, so we had a great time. If that CG is full, I don't think it would be much fun, but we were told they were the ONLY CG in Yellowstone that could take a coach as long as mine. Hmmm,, doesn't seem right, but oh well. In Ogden, UT tonight, staying at the Century Mobile Home and RV park and it STINKS. Nice park, a bit tight, but okay, free wi-fi AND cable ( but you have to have your own cable to hookup to your coach). It's the SMELL. First, all I could seem to smell was propane,,, now all I can seem to smell is fresh asphalt... which is probably not their fault as there is major freeway work going on in the area. No Heartland sightings from West Yellowstone to here.

 

[snuffy]

I would LOVE to see Mt. Rushmore again. I have not seen it since I was a young child.

Jim

From what I understand, they've added three more faces since then.

 

[pmmjarrett]

From what I understand, they've added three more faces since then.

ROFLOL........That's gonna leave a mark!!!!!

 

[Larryheadhunter]

Hi y'all,
Today we are beginning our travel plans with another Vietnam Vet and his DW to travel to Bass Lake, CA then on to Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore in S.D. If Deadwood is closeby we are checking it out. From Bass Lake we were considering going thru Yosemite on route 120. Has anyone traveled that road or is better to go around Yosemite rather than thru it?
On the way back to SoCal we are trying to figure the best route back to San Clemente, CA, maybe even going thru Colorado or all the way down to Carlsbad Caverns in N.M., with as much site seeing as possible, but are open to all suggestions from u experienced campers. Probably take 3-4 weeks for this trip and hope the weather is OK. We just joined a cheap campground membership thru a reseller, so I am not too concerned about campgrounds as it includes RPI Preferred, Coast to Coast, NACO, CRA, Enjoy America and Happy Campers, however, with my limited skills, hope we survive the back-ins. I figure if Dena and Roy can do it so can we. LOL! Anyone with any ideas let me know. I am trying to figure out the best way to route ourselves to get the most out of our first major trip. I figure there will be alot more opportunities to see more in the future. We are part of AAA and Good Sam. Should we use them or is there other methods that I am missing? We are so excited about adding a few more states travelled to our map.
Also, is it better to travel the major highways or the side roads?
Thanks in advance for all the great advice!

 

[htneighbors]

Larry - and everyone else...

I can't help you with highway info in that part of the country, but if you end up on I-25 needing to spend a night (or a month!) near exit#111, 100 miles north of Cheyenne, WY - this place has no trees larger than a twig, but they do have large (about 40' wide x 85' long), gravel spaces. There are plenty of trees a few hundred yards away at the lake. They get busier from Fri - Sun, but so far they have always had plenty of spots. I'll be here until Oct? Nov? Dec?...whenever the project I'm working on near here is complete! Let me know if you decide to stop by!

Glendo Lakeside RV Park (they put the photo I took of my Cyclone on their website! )

 

[Larryheadhunter]

hey micah,
we will be around rapid city the last week in july so i will pm u when we are around. going to be staying at either Hart Ranch or rushmores shadow resort. hope to cya a friendly face.

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

I can't tell you where/how to go but I can tell you we prefer traveling the secondary roads. We like looking at the scenery, quaint little towns and prefer the slower pace. Traveling the interstates I see billboards, fast traffic and the unfriendlier side of traveling. We also use rvparkreview.com to get some idea as to the quality of the parks in the area we want to stay in. I usually look on the map to see where we want to go to next then start researching parks. We usually travel no more than 250 miles in a day and mostly much less than that. We belong to Passport America, Escapees and Good Sams and try to utilize these to keep the costs down.