Apologies for a 5 day hiatus in writing here. We arrived in New Hampshire in Sunday! The first day was a bit strange though — both the girls had been fighting colds for a few days prior, and since Grace was going to a week long theater session at her new school (great opportunity meet some of her new classmates), we wanted to be absolutely certain it wasn’t COVID. Getting tested took about 2 hours at a local urgent care place, but thankfully it was negative for both of them. Then, of course, Danica and I came down with the same cold while trying to catch up after two weeks of PTO. GREAT. This too shall pass.
Back to South Dakota! We stayed at what was definitely the largest KOA of the bunch – Mount Rushmore KOA. This is a camp that was created back in the 60’s, and then became associated with KOA in the 70’s. It was huge, with a lot of things to do. The girls both took advantage of one of the available activities and went trail riding on horseback the afternoon after we went to Mount Rushmore. Unsurprisingly, they had a great time.
We also drove into Mill City for lunch — really needing a cheeseburger — which is about 10 minutes away. We’d seen a lot of motorcycles, so deduced that OH, STURGIS. But it just so happened that there was a rally that day there. My old friend Pat Camp would have been right at home there. I’d never seen so many Harley’s in my life. Cool bikes, great people. We had Tigli, and I swear a dozen bikers said very untough sounding things to her. It’s her superpower.
Finally, I’ll leave you with a photo I took while the sun was going down at the park. I can’t say that I would like to life in South Dakota, but the Black Hills really are beautiful.
Columbia Gorge Dispatch 