Blasting across Nebraska - Sand Hills

Yesterday, Thursday June 28,  we started out at first light from Alliance NE.  Destination, Lake Lotawana, 600 miles away.

We passed through the Sand Hill region of Nebraska.  This is a vast sparsely populated area of rolling hills of guess what..plant covered Sand.  For miles and miles no crops are grown.  Occasionally a small herd of cattle will be seen grazing.  As an indication of the vastness of this area, a search reveals that this section of Nebraska contains 530,000 head of cattle.  However, you can drive mile after mile and see no sign of the existence of cattle.  This section of Nebraska sits on top of the Ogallala Aquifer, and small shallow lakes appear sporadically.  The rivers in this area run clear with sand bottoms.  But the overwhelming feeling is that of desolation and vastness.

We passed near the Nebraska National Forest.  This was a curios site.  It was sparsely populated with trees, but would not be considered a "forest" in other parts of the country.  After being home and having the luxury of high speed internet and a trusty browser, was I able to research this and find that it was an experiment, created in 1902 to determine if a forest could be created in the treeless plains.  The result was a 20,000 acre human planted forest.

Scout performed flawlessly during this course of the trip.  This is an amazing machine for long distance travel.  We change drivers every 2 hours and only stop for fuel.  With a cruising range of 400+ miles those stops are pretty infrequent.

Later, I will post figures for miles, mileage, and cost of the venture.

For now Scout is back and at rest.

The above photo is of the Nebraska National Forrest  

Spearfish Canyon to Alliance NE

We traveled through Spearfish Canyon Scenic Drive today.  Very scenic a lot like Colorado, with the road following  a crystal clear rushing stream. We decided to start heading back via the Nebraska Sandhills.  Very desolate.

We made it as far as Alliance NE.  Dusty,  hot and appears to be very poor.  At the Sunrise Motel and RV Park.  Dirty nasty place, but it does have electric, so we can run the A.C.  Highlight of Alliance.. Car Henge....need I say more?

Dispersed Camping

Last night we stayed in the Black Hills NF.  We were in a Dispersed camping area.  Translation.....drive down a gravel road..find a spot to pull over...voila...free camping.  Our spot was in a meadow surrounded by rocky hills.  Very quit and calm.   Did I mention free?  We awoke this morning to cattle graising outside the rig.   Off to Deadwood this AM.  Then who knows where.

Badlands

Last night we stayed at Sage Creek Campground in the Badlands

Mt Rushmore

Wind Cave NP. Hot Springs SD

Visited the above.  Saw more bison.

See photos.

I
Tomorrow off to Mt Rushmore.  Then into the wild.  Black Hills NF is huge and has 29 NF campgrounds and thousands of acres of dispersed camping.  A briefing...NF campgrounds are typically small say 9 sites and have little or no facilities. .say a pit toilet or so.  The price is right about $10 per night.

Dispersed camping is free, you just find a level soot and settle in.  Fourteen days max.

Photos if they load are bison at Custer SP, and a waterfall in downtown Hot Springs.

Off the grid for a couple of days, catch you on the flip side.

Monday...Change of plans

We are a little road weary this morning.  To rest up a little, we are going to spend another day at the Spokane campground.  Taking it easy this morning, we are going to venture out in a little bit and head south to Wind Cave National Monument.  After that we plan on heading to Hot Springs SD.  I would swim/wade/wallow in the warm water.  We also need a few supply items if we are going to head up into more desolate country in the Black Hills, so we need to do some shopping.  Basics wine/water/coffee...what more do we need.

We had a little RV excitement last night.  We were cooking a Stouffers frozen dinner in the microwave.    The box instructions called for about 20 minutes of cook time.  At about the 15 minut mark the microwave just stopped.  No attempts to restart it worked.  Frustrated/confused and hungry, we made it to the camp store and picked up a pizza.  Not bad pizza, I might ad for being basically 30 miles from any civilization.

It appears that the problem was that I was running the shore power off of a standard extension cord.  I added a smaller, lightweight power cord for connecting when we did not plan on running the air conditioning.  It appears that the high level of resistance in the cord upset the microwave and it choose to retaliate mid supper.  We switched the cord to the heavy duty 30 amp cord.  Let the microwave settle down and it now appears to be working.  These are the types of problems that come up periodically when you are out on the road.  We plan on heading up into the Great Lakes region for a month in August and we plan on taking two months in 2014 and heading up to Alaska.  Hence, we see this as kind of a shake down cruise for the big trips ahead.  So this morning all is good and Scout seems to be happy.

Sunday at the Badlands

Last night we had a very sudden storm pop up.  30+mph winds, pounding rain.  I really felt sorry for the tent campers in our area.  Scout was very comfortable and secure.

Woke up at sunrise and headed out.  Destination the main area of the Badlands.  At about 6am at the Sage Creek overlook, we encountered the main herd of Bison.  I estimated that there were 200 or so of these creatures milling about, blocking the road and generally acting like they lived in the area.  A ranger later confirmed that the herd is 900 strong.  Hung out at the Park most of the day and pointed Scout to the Black Hills.  Arrived at Spokane Creek Resort and Cabins.  Nice clean place, $15.75 for the night with Passport America Savings.

Tomorrow, we are heading up the Iron Mountain Road and hope to do some camping in the dispersed area of the National Forest.  We will be most likely out of internet range for the next day or so.  We will try to update this when we are back in civilization.

http://www.spokanecreekresort.com/

http://www.ironmountainroad.com/

The above photo is of Scout and I in the Badlands.  Scout apparently does not color within the lines.

Lincoln NE to the Badlands Via Niobrara State Park

Today is Sunday.  We have been out of internet range for a little while.  Friday after watching the KU car compete at Formula SAE Lincoln (the KY team finished 4th out of 80+ cars) we ventured north.  We ended up at Niobrara State Park in northern Nebraska.  Pretty views of the Missouri River.

Saturday, we left and ventured across the Southern part of South Dakota on US 18.  That is called the Oyate trail.  You can read about it at http://www.oyatetrail.com/  Very desolate country.  Final Destination was Badlands National Park.

At Badlands we travelled about 15 miles on dirt roads to the Sage Creek dispersed camping area.  This area was very remote.  We watched as a group of 4 Bison wandered along a creek bed in the distance.  This was a very nice camping area.  I would highly recommend it if you like remote settings.  An added bonus...it was free.  This is the view from our campsite for the night.

In case you doubt that I live on the ragged edge, this is proof that I do.  The sign states "past this sign is wilderness"  See wich side I am on?

Formula SAE - Lincoln

Go KU

Lincoln NE

At home with the other big rigs

Wilbur Nebraska

At the American Legion Park.  Nice shady spot on grass.  Showers and electric.  Price is way right.  $7 per night with Passport America card.  Hot.  95 and glad to have the air on.  Wilbur is the self proclaimed Czech Capitol of America

Hello all, we leave this morning for our first adventure of the summer.  We have Scout loaded up, and will be heading north.  This is a small outing, week to 10 days or so.  The general strategy is to head north slowly to the Black Hills area, from the Kansas City metro.  We plan to visit the College Formula Car Competition in Lincoln NE.  This event is called Formula SAE West http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/west/

Also on the agenda, are to travel the Oyate trail through South Dakota and return via the Nebraska Sand Hills region.

Journey on!

This blog is about our journeys in Scout our 2013 Great West Van Legend SE