Getting ready to go

Posted on September 7, 2014 by liv2rv

With just 3 more days left at Crazy Horse, we have been busy packing up our stuff, checking the roof for debris, putting Makena’s kennel back in the truck (she was very excited to see this) and inflating the tires. Saturday (9/6) we had a huge crowd at work for the night blast to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Crazy Horse and the birth of Korczak, the sculpture of Crazy Horse Memorial.

Wednesday morning we will be leaving for Wisconsin, and if all goes well, we should arrive Thursday night at “Camp Meyer”, which is Makena’s favorite
“campground” (Dan’s sister and brother-in-law, Linda and Doug). We will be parked there for 2 weeks, and then head down to Campbellsville, Kentucky, for another season at Amazon. We have a start date of September 30.

We will not be online for a few days, as we will be returning the Wilson 3G cellular booster that Phil and Rudee have so graciously allowed us to use this summer. Without it, we would not have had any cellular telephone service or internet at all. We will be looking into purchasing a booster, but have been waiting as the 4G boosters are just coming on to the market.

I still have several more blog posts to do, and will try to get all caught up with South Dakota stuff before we leave for Kentucky.

Quote for the day: “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” – George A. Moore

4 other spelunking tours

Posted on September 2, 2014 by liv2rv

The Black Hills area offers six different cave sites for your spelunking pleasure. We were fortunate to have enough time to visit all six. If you have limited time, we would recommend Wind Cave and Jewel Cave, both operated by the National Park Service. We have previously blogged on those caves. Now we will catch up on the other four.

Wonderland Cave

Of the four privately owned caves, we enjoyed Wonderland Cave the most. The cave is located near Nemo.

we found Nemo!!

The cave was discovered in 1929 when two brothers were searching for their lost dog. They could hear the dog barking, and followed the sound into a hole and discovered the cave. The cave is on land owned by the U.S. Forest Service, and in the 1930’s, the Civilian Conservation Corps worked on exploring and mapping the cave, along with constructing the steps and paths in the cave. It is surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Wonderland Cave

The cave has only had two owners, which run the cave tours through a special use permit from the USFS. As such, the cave is fairly well-preserved. This cave is a “wet” cave, and has the only living Helictites formation in the area.

Helictites

We have never seen this type of formation before. Helictites are found in limestone caves and are believed to have a capillary system. The formation starts out as a stalactite, but over time the growth may twist and turn, defying gravity. The one we saw was growing out and up. Our tour guide stated the dark spot was “the spine”.

stalactites, stalagmites and columns

The cave also has examples of Boxwork, dog tooth spar crystals, flowstone, and many stalagmites and stalactites, along with the columns that occur when they reach each other. We also saw an example of frost work, which can be seen in some of the other park service caves, but not on the basic tours. They do not have a light on it, to keep it preserved, but our tour guide did point it out with a flashlight. We did this tour at the end of August, as we were more “ho-hum” after seeing the other privately owned caves. This cave is certainly worth a visit (cost $14.50, and yes Madge, it was free with VIP pass). Our tour was about 90 minutes, but we are not sure if this is a typical length of time. There was a newspaper reporter with us, and the manager was giving the tour, so we felt we lucked into getting a more detailed tour. And it was just the four of us, which made for an even better experience.

Black Hills Caverns

The brochure for the Black Hills Caverns, discovered in 1882 by gold miners, and established as a tourist attraction in 1939, advertises itself as having the most complete formations of any cave in the Black Hills. However, we did not see any frost crystals or helictites on our tour (but they do have samples on display in their gift shop area).

here they are!

Black Hills Caverns ($12.50 for adults, free with VIP pass) has very large rooms, a lot of flowstone, narrow passages and lots of stairs to go up and down. The tour lasts 60 minutes.

large rooms

narrow passages on stairs

Flowstone “river”

Rushmore Cave

Rushmore Cave was discovered in 1876 when the Black Hills Mining Company was working nearby, and built a flume for their water on the hillside, for their mining operations. The flume leaked, but the water did not run down the hill, but disappeared into it. The miners went in search of the water, and discovered the entrance to the cave. It opened to the public in 1927, and was named Rushmore Cave during the time Mount Rushmore was under construction. In the 1950’s, under new ownership, tours were given 24 hours a day. The wear and tear from all the public visits is evident in this cave, as it has so many broken stalactites.

broken stalactites

The cave has a lot of stairs to go up and down, amongst the smooth limestone walls.

smooth limestone walls

The cave has now been turned into a bigger amusement type attraction, with the addition of the Soaring Eagle Zipline Ride and the Gunslinger 7-D interactive theater. The zipline is more of a chairlift that goes down the hill and back up again. The ride lasts 90 seconds.

Zip line chair

The gunslinger attraction is more like something you would find at Disneyworld, as you sit in a chair with 3D glasses and shoot at the animation on the screen. We had fun doing this, but mainly it was because we were the only 2 people in the theater at the time (we did this in Mid-May, before the tourists arrived). The cost for all three activities (cave tour, zipline and Gunslinger Theater is $28.00, free with VIP pass). The cave tour itself is $12.00. The cave tour is the best of the three attractions.

Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns

Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns was the most disappointing of all the caves we have visited, as well as the most physically challenging of the cave tours. We would not recommend this tour. The cave was discovered in 1929 by a couple exploring the above ground cave on their property. It is believed that Sitting Bull camped in the above ground cave. Nearby is the entrance to the below ground cave. It is a very challenging, very steep descent to get down into the cave. And it is even more challenging to climb back up these same steep stairs when exiting the cave after a short 45 minute tour.

very steep stairs

They do have a nice display of dog-spar crystals.

dog-spar crystals

During the great flood of 1972 in Rapid City, this cave was flooded and the owners have not cleaned out the debris that remains. So there isn’t too much to see on this tour. Cost for adults is $12.00 (free with VIP pass). Our advice: save your money!

We enjoy visiting caves, and are looking forward to visiting Mammoth Cave in Kentucky this fall. So stay tuned for our review on that!

Quote for the day: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.” – Joseph Campbell

Having a “blast” and Sturgis too!

Posted on August 8, 2014 by liv2rv

We have spent the past week listening to the roar of motorcycles, all over the Black Hills. The 74th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is in full swing this week, and we have enjoyed meeting riders from around the world who are visiting Crazy Horse during their stay. We also decided to take a few hours on our day off and visit the city of Sturgis. They say attendance is down this year, estimating 200,000 – 450,000 riders are attending this years rally. Since 2015 will be the 75th anniversary of the rally, they believe many riders are waiting until next year to attend. And if you are planning on bringing your family to the Black Hills next summer, you may want to avoid the first two weeks in August, as they are expecting one million riders next year!

During the week of the Sturgis Rally, Crazy Horse had several additional blasts on the mountain for our guests. You can view the blast from Monday, August 4th, by clicking HERE. The video clip will show just how small 750 tons of granite is, compared to the overall size of the mountain. We had thousands of visitors attending the blast on Monday. I work in the Indian Room gift shop, which sells items such as jewelry, pottery, paintings, and craft items hand-made by Native Americans. This week our visitors have been mostly male, and I have really come to appreciate how quick and efficient men are as shoppers!

I had one male guest try on one ring, and he said “I’ll take it”. I was explaining to him that women usually need to look through all the ring trays, then ask their family/friends what they think. It can take 15-30 minutes for women to shop for a ring. He laughed, turned to his friend and asked “Does this ring make me look fat?!!!”

We also had a visit last week from our good friends Mike and Sue, whom we have known since college. Their daughter Jordan had a cheerleading camp on the Eastern side of the state, so they ventured west for a few days. It was a lot of fun catching up with them. Hopefully we can see them more often on our travels! Go Jackrabbits!

Sue, Dan and Mike

I did have another unusual visitor this week. It is not everyday that a couple comes in with their pet parrot, “Miss Bubba”!

Many of the “hard-core” bikers, are busy shopping for gifts for their grandchildren! It has really been a fun week of work. A lot of our visitors have commented that they never heard about our place, and were so thankful they stopped by. They were also thankful that Crazy Horse didn’t raise their prices like many of the other attractions have done during the rally. It is only $5.00 per rider, and many have been so overwhelmed during their visit, that they have made additional donations to the foundation.

I have told many of the riders the best thing they can do is tell others about Crazy Horse Memorial, because about 25-30% of the people who come to the ticket booth, refuse to pay and turn around. They don’t want to pay for something they can see from the road, or something that is “not finished”. They don’t understand all that there is to see and do, and think they are getting ripped off by having to pay. Trust me, you will get your money’s worth. So many people are so thankful for the memorial.

But enough about work, on to the fun and craziness at Sturgis! We drove up scenic Highway 385, which goes into Deadwood, and then on to Sturgis. It is about an hour drive taking this route, and we passed thousands of motorcyclists on the way. It was a blast seeing so many riders on the road.

Hwy 385

on the way to Sturgis

This wayside was a popular stop-off for the riders.

gotta go!

Downtown Sturgis had bikes lined up for blocks and blocks.

downtown Sturgis

blocks full of bikes

These were some of our favorites.

very patriotic

This one can sure hold a lot of stuff!

Motorcycle RV?

Always travel with your pets!

Shilo

There were many food vendors, selling all kinds of food (this is for you Mary Y!!!)

yummy!

We also took some time to visit the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum, but since this blog is already long and full of photos, I will do a separate post on that. Sturgis has a reputation for “anything goes”, and even though we were only there a few hours, during the afternoon, we did manage to see a few “unique” fashion accessories, as well as interesting apparel choices (note: these are a little more “R” rated photos, so proceed at your own risk!)

not the food pasties

supporting Breast Cancer!

Full body tattoos is very popular:

Many bikers wear chaps when they are riding, and there are certainly many looks with the chaps:

We had a great time visiting Sturgis during the rally. We pray that all the riders have safe travels home.

Quote for the day: “You do not need a therapist if you own a motorcycle, any kind of motorcycle!” – Dan Aykryod

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Posted on August 1, 2014 by liv2rv

After our first foggy visit to Mount Rushmore, we returned with our friends Forrest and Mary while they were in town. As you approach the memorial from Highway 244 out of Hill City, you enter past a turnout that displays a profile of George Washington. When we pulled in to the turnout, not a single person was looking up at George, and we quickly discovered what all the excitement was about. There were Rocky Mountain Goats on both sides of the roadway, We had these two right in the parking lot.

Mom and baby

And a more adventurous pair across the roadway into the hillside. These goats were introduced to the Black Hills in the 1920’s, and have adapted quite well to the area.

When Gutzon Borglum started carving Mount Rushmore, he originally planned to put Thomas Jefferson on the right side of Washington. After the workers started blocking out his face, it was discovered there was not enough good quality rock for carving, so they blew up what they hard started. As a result, it left a good profile of Washington.

profile of Washington

As you enter the memorial, you go through the Avenue of Flags, which has 56 flags representing all of the states and territories of the US. It also makes for a popular photo opportunity.

Dan, Forrest & Mary

The memorial has a Grand View Terrace, for excellent views of Mount Rushmore. Beneath the terrace if the Lincoln Borglum (named after the sculptors son), which contains a museum, theatre and bookstore. The museum has a photograph of what Mount Rushmore looked like prior to the construction.

prior to October 1927

After Gutzon Borglum died in 1941, his son Lincoln spent seven months working on the monument, but then Congress declared the monument complete on October 31, 1941 This is how the memorial looks today. The heads are 40 feet tall. (since we are working at Crazy Horse Memorial, I do have to note that all four heads of Mount Rushmore will fit on the side of Crazy Horse’s head!)

Mount Rushmore 7/2014

There is a walking path that takes you a little closer to the memorial, and down to the sculptors studio. In the studio, there is a 1/12th scale model of what Borglum had planned for Mount Rushmore. His plans were never completed. All of the Presidents were to be carved down to the waist.

1/12th scale model

The small museum near the visitors center has many photographs and articles that go into great detail on the history of the memorial. It also talks about the pointer device that was used to project the dimensions from the 1/12th scale model on to the mountain for carving. This photograph demonstrates an example of the pointer (Math is important!)

pointer device

We took the walking path around the memorial, and were able to get a nice photograph of the grand view terrace, and the amphitheater. They have a nightly lighting ceremony, which we plan on attending one of these nights. (admission to the memorial is free, but there is an $11.00 annual parking pass).

Grand View terrace & amphitheater

Mount Rushmore is a “must see” item if you are in the area.

Quote of the day: “Well, those figures were there for forty million years. All I had to do was dynamite 400,000 tons of granite to bring them into view.” – Gutzon Borglum

A year of reflection

Posted on July 25, 2014 by liv2rv

“To never take that first leap is the biggest failure many of us make”

It was one year ago today that I left my job as a CT Technologist at a Level One Trauma Center. Working at a hospital helps to really put life in perspective. Many people have plans to do things when they retire, but sadly, not everyone lives to see that day. This was one of the reasons we decided to throw caution to the wind, and live our dream now.

I have spent the morning pondering all the changes we have made in the last year, and trying to come up with a list of things we would have done differently.

Instead of getting both cell phones through Verizon, we would have had one from Verizon, and one from AT&T. That way we would have better coverage and internet options. We will probably make that change next year when our contract is up with Verizon.

Other than the cell phone, we would not have done anything else differently. Then I started to come up with a list of things that I don’t like about our new lifestyle.

Going to a new person/place every time I get a haircut is the only thing that I really do not like. As Dan has told me a few times, “Don’t worry, your hair will grow back”!

We have been asked many times over the past year if we had any regrets, and we have none. We have met so many wonderful people in the past year, and have seen and experienced many wonderful things. It is hard to believe that only one year has passed since I stopped working a regular job, and started working seasonal work-camping jobs.

The “perks” of work camping:

Crazy Horse Memorial

Taking time to relax and play is also important:

Learning new skills:

learning pottery

hmm, a potential workamping job?

learning to Poi dance

For several years, I have been following a number of blogs related to the RV lifestyle, and it has been fun getting to meet many of the wonderful folks who have been so helpful in sharing their experiences. Our fellow Crazy Horse co-workers, Phil and Rudee of Workin RVers, and Steve and Joan of FOSJ, fellow Amazon co-workers Karen and Al of Wish Upon an RV Star, Chris and Cherie of Technomadia, whom we met in Cedar Key, Florida. Someday we hope to meet up with Nick and Terry of The Gypsy Journal, as well as Howard and Linda of RV-Dreams. All of these great folks have the same thing in common, they are earning a living on the road, and enjoying their life to the fullest.

We have also learned to take time to watch the sunset..

Cedar Key Sunset

and appreciate it when you are around for the next day’s sunrise…

Quote for the Day: “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” – Robin Sharma

Fact or Fiction: High Altitude Baking

Posted on July 12, 2014 by liv2rv

Our campground sits at 5800 feet in elevation, which means we have to follow “high altitude” baking instructions. Or do we?

This is our first experience camping at a higher elevation, although I have not yet noticed anything different. I was curious about what changes are needed in baking, so I decided to do a little experiment. When I make a batch of cookies, I usually bake a dozen or so, and then freeze the rest of the cookie dough (much to Dan’s dismay!).

Since I had some dough in the freezer that I made a few months ago, I thought I would bake that up, and see what happens with the regular baking instructions. Here are the results. The cookies browned nicely, but were flat and a little doughy in the middle.

regular cookies

a bit flat

I also had a butter braid in the freezer, which is a pastry that my niece sells as a fund-raiser for her school. We have had these in the past, and they are excellent. I noticed the package had instructions for baking at higher altitude, so I decided to follow those instructions. The difference in baking required a shorter time for the dough to rise (6-8 hours instead of 8-12), a higher baking temperature (350 degrees instead of 325) and a longer baking time, by about 6 minutes. The result? Excellent!

Yummy!

Next I made a batch of cookie dough, this time following the “high altitude” instructions. The change in the Nestle’s Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe required adding 1/4 cup more flour, reducing the granulated and brown sugar to 2/3 cup from 3/4 cup (this is a 1/12 cup reduction for Dan’s math geek friends) , and adding 2 teaspoons of water to the flour mixture.

Although from the photos below, the “high altitude” cookies don’t look much different, they were crispier than the non high altitude cookies.

high altitude

high altitude instructions

We also made some biscuits, which didn’t require any changes according to the box. I forgot to take a photo, but they turned out flat and doughy and took about 10 extra minutes of cooking to make them palatable. I think I will e-mail that company and advise them to change their directions!

This little experiment had me thinking why we have to adjust the time/temperature and ingredients. So here’s today’s science lesson:

The higher the altitude, the lower the air pressure. Therefore, food will take longer to bake.
Liquids evaporate faster at higher altitude, so flour and sugar is adjusted to prevent the batter from getting too gummy. If your cookies spread out, there is too much sugar.
Gas expands more at higher altitude, so dough rises faster.

Besides baking, we do a lot of cooking in the crockpot. The first few times of using it here, the food was overdone. So with a crockpot, I find the food cooks much faster at a higher altitude. This may be due to the evaporation of liquids at a higher altitude?

Quote for the day: “Why is a birthday cake the only food you can blow on and spit on and everybody rushes to get a piece?” – unknown

While my parents are away…

Posted on July 5, 2014 by liv2rv

Keeping my peeps informed!

Hi Everyone! I know I haven’t blogged in over a month, so I thought I would do a quick update, while my parents have been busy playing tourist again, during the 4^th of July weekend (what are they thinking, going out in that madness?!)

Last time we were “home”, my mom was showing my cousin Reagan my blog on the Ipad, so I know I need to keep my cousins updated!

Reagan follows the blog

The park we are staying at is nice, from my point of view. There are only a few other dogs staying here, but they don’t live near me, and they don’t come over to sniff me, if you know what I mean!!

There is no designated ‘off leash’ area, which is a bummer, but my parents have been taking me over to the tent camping area to play football (yay!!!) when no one is around. They talked with the other campers who are parked nearby, and no one has objected to me being off leash for 5 minutes a day so I can run around and play catch.

I was a bit concerned when a whole group of Boy Scouts arrived, but then they set up all their tents on the other side of the campground. Whew! That would have interfered with my play area.

Boy Scouts tent camping

The one thing that I don’t like about the Black Hills area is the weather! It seems to rain every other day. And there are always thunderstorms and hail to go with the rain! I just get so scared, especially with the hail – it is too noisy! And for those that have been following my blog for awhile now, you know that I have been unable to find a “safe” place to hide in the 5^th wheel. First I was banned from the shower…

Then from hiding under the recliner…

Makena banned

I really think whoever designs these recreational vehicles, should consider making a little cubbyhole where dogs and cats can hide out in bad weather. My dad thinks I should get some puppy headphones, so I won’t hear all the noise!

Other than that, I haven’t been up to too much. My parents have taken me out on a few long walks on the Mickelson Trail, but they are worried that I will do a ‘stop, drop and roll’ on the occasional horse poop that I discover along the trail!! (Remember this photo when I was left unattended for a few minutes?!)

stinky Makena

I did have a visitor the other day, Mia, which I enjoyed. I first met Mia last summer at the Heartland Owners Rally in Goshen, IN. Her parents, George and Iris, are visiting the area and went out to lunch and to explore Custer State Park for a few hours with my parents. Now I’m just waiting to visit with Cooper, so Fred and Donna need to venture out this way!

I hope everyone is doing well! If you get a chance, please come and visit me, as I love belly rubs!!

Quote for the day: “Dogs don’t rationalize. They don’t hold anything against a person. They don’t see the outside of a human but the inside of a human.” – Cesar Millan

Visiting museums in Keystone

Posted on July 1, 2014 by liv2rv

Dan and I both enjoy visiting museums, and our VIP pass covers many of them in the area. We opted to spend some time visiting two of them on our day off, Rushmore Borglum Story and The National Presidential Wax Museum, both in Keystone.

Many billboards advertising the Rushmore Borglum Museum state “best museum we saw in the USA”, so we had high hopes for this one. The museum is dedicated to the life of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore. Although very informative, it did not live up to its hype. The adult admission is $10.00 (free with VIP pass) which includes a hand-held audio device. You walk around the museum and punch in the code to each display, and there is a brief narrative on the items in the display case (photographs not permitted). At the end of the tour is a 20 minute movie that again goes over his life story. It took us about one hour to visit the museum. You are not allowed to take photographs of the exhibits.

Rushmore Borglum Story

Prior to Mt Rushmore, Borglum worked on Stone Mountain, in Georgia. He started carving that mountain, but got into a dispute and blasted off the images he had completed.

Borglum was a big fan of President Lincoln, even naming his son Lincoln. He did this statue of Lincoln that is on display in front of the museum.

hanging with Abe

THE NATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL WAX MUSEUM

After our visit with the Borglum Story, we headed over to the wax museum, and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of this museum. If you have any interest in the history of our presidents, this is a good museum to check out. Adult admission is $10 (free with VIP pass), which includes a hand-held audio device. You start watching a video that details how the figures are created, then go to each exhibit which has a lengthy description of the president(s) in the display, and what was happening in the country during their term. If you listen to every story, it will take about 90 minutes to get through the museum.

Presidential Wax museum

The museum covers every president, from the first…

George Washington

To the present…

Barack Obama

Some of the presidents are grouped together in displays, such as the five presidents who were never elected to the office of President. The five are grouped into two parts, the four who were elected to the Office of Vice-President (left to right – Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Alan Arthur, John Tyler).

The unelected presidents

And then there was Gerald Ford, the only man who not only was not elected as president, but was not elected to the office of vice president either. Ford became the first person appointed as vice president, under the terms of the 25th Amendment, after Spirow Agnew resigned.

Gerald Ford

You all remember our 9th President, right?

William Henry Harrison

He’s part of the reason for the creation of the 25th Amendment. William Henry Harrison was the first President to die in office. He refused to wear an overcoat during the inauguration, and died from complications relating to pneumonia, just 32 days after taking the oath. I guess when you only make it 32 days, you get a very small display in the museum!

Of the five original drafters of the Declaration of Independence, two became Presidents: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

drafting the Declaration of Independence

Grover Cleveland became the first President to marry during his term in office.

Grover Cleveland

William Howard Taft is the only man who was both the President (#27) and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (#10).

President & Supreme Court Chief Justice

They had a display on President Kennedy

Kennedy & John Jr

Along with a recreation of the scene on Air Force One where Lyndon B Johnson was sworn in as President, with Mrs. Kennedy, still in her blood soaked clothes, looking on. And did you know that Johnson was the only man to be elected as a Congressman, Senator, Vice-President and President?

Lyndon B Johnson

We were impressed by the quality of the wax figurines, with one exception. This display of Ronald Reagan with Mikhail Gorbachev. Reagan is just staring up and over his head. It seemed like he was going to be in another type of setting, and they just plunked him in this chair.

President Reagan

They also had a nice tribute to the first responders involved in the 9/11 tragedy.

9/11 tribute

After soaking up all this history, we worked up quite an appetite, so we headed out to the Circle B Chuckwagon and Cowboy Music Show, in Hill City. As part of our VIP pass, we received 50% off the dinner/show, which normally costs $26.00 – $30.00 depending on your choice of entrée. Although the food was good (we had the combo platter of beef, BBQ chicken and buffalo), we were glad it was half price! Unless you have children, I would not recommend getting there when the place opens at 4:00pm, as there is really nothing to do. They have a lot of activities for the kids, and there is a “shoot-out” at 5:20, with dinner starting at 5:30pm. The Cowboy Music Show starts a little after 6, and ends by 7:00pm. The musicians did put on a nice 45 minute show with some cowboy music and a few family style jokes.

The Chuckwagon show

Quote for the day: “No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it.” – John Adams

“All Aboard” the 1880 Train

Posted on June 8, 2014 by liv2rv

One of the longest running steam trains remaining in service, the 1880 Train, was on our VIP pass, so we spent a few hours taking the 20 mile round trip from Hill City to Keystone. Ticket prices are $28.00 round trip for adults, and we received complimentary passes.

1880 Train Hill City, SD

All Aboard

The train travels through the scenic Black Hills Forest where you can see many rock formations, Harney Peak, and (let’s be honest) a lot of run down trailer homes with a ton of junk in the yards.

Harney Peak from the train

the other scenic views

The train has your choice of open air cars and cars with windows. We opted for the open air car, as it was a nice day outside. The 1880 Train was used in the filming of the Gunsmoke television series. Our engine was number 104, which was built in 1926. They use water and oil to power the engine, which creates a lot of white smoke.

white smoke

Since the Black Hills has many changes in elevation, the train has to maneuver 4 – 6% grades, which is very difficult for any train. After we departed Hill City, the train quickly encountered a steep 6% grade, and we were barely moving on the tracks. Many of us in the back began chanting “I think I can, I think I can” to encourage the train to make it up the hill! When going up a hill, they add sand to keep the engine from overheating. This creates a brown smoke.

brown smoke going uphill

We had an enjoyable time on the trip, and it was interesting to see how the “well to do” traveled back in the early 20^th Century. There were remnants of old buildings along the way.

old mining building

There are some old telegraph poles along the way, with their glass insulators still intact.

telegraph poles

When we arrived at Keystone, the engine unhooked, moved down to the water tower to refill, and then drove around the train to hook back up in the front.

water tower

“refueling” with water

The engine we had for this trip was built in 1926 and was restored by the 1880 Train company.

Engine 104 from 1926

When we completed our round trip back to Hill City in just over 2 hours, the engine was again disconnected and taken back to the shop for maintenance before the next departure. They seem to take good care of these antiques.

back in Hill City

I firmly believe that you are only as old as you feel, so I couldn’t resist heading to the “kiddie” train area for some fun.

I can fit in this

We had a nice time, the weather was perfect for the trip. If you love trains, this would be a good trip to take.

Quote for the day: “The introduction of so powerful of an agent as steam to a carriage on wheels will make a great change in the situation of man.” – Thomas Jefferson

Wind Cave National Park

Posted on June 1, 2014 by liv2rv

One of the benefits of working in the tourism area in the Black Hills is the V.I.P. pass that we receive. The pass is for Visitor Industry Partners (VIP) and allows us free or reduced admission for many of the attractions in the area. This way when a visitor asks “what else is there to do”, we can tell them about the other attractions from our own experience. It’s a very smart marketing idea, and we plan on taking full advantage of our pass on our days off.

Our first stop was to Wind Cave National Park. The park offers five different cave tours in the summer. As part of the VIP pass, we received a complimentary Natural Entrance Tour (normally $12.00 per adult), which is the one tour available year round. Admission to the park is free, and they do have a campground.

Wind Cave

Wind Cave covers over 29,000 acres, with 70 percent natural prairie grassland and 30 percent forest. It is home to many species of animals, including a growing herd of bison. But the main attraction are the cave tours. The cave was first discovered in 1881 by two brothers, Jesse and Tom Bingham, who were out hunting deer. When they heard a loud whistling noise, they followed the sound and discovered a hole in the ground that was blowing air so strong it knocked Jesse’s hat off. The original entrance to the cave is no longer used, as it has a 90 degree turn right when you enter. As such, there is no evidence that bats or animals have entered the cave, because it would be a difficult entry way. At a constant 58 degrees the cave is also too warm for bats to live because they need colder temperatures to hibernate. Dan’s Mom would be happy to know there are no bats in the cave!

This is the original entrance to the cave.

Original entrance

The wind, which gave the cave its name, is created by the difference in barometric pressures inside and outside the cave. On the day we visited, the wind was blowing in to the cave, as demonstrated by this Park Ranger’s red piece of tape.

winds blowing in

The Bingham’s told others in town about their discovery, but there is no evidence they explored the cave further. In 1890, 16-year-old Alvin McDonald began exploring the cave, using candles and string (so he could find his way back out). He kept a diary of his daily explorations, which the Park Service has, and uses to document the history of the cave. The McDonald family blasted open passages to the cave and offered tours for a fee, along with selling specimens from the cave. In 1893, Alvin traveled to Chicago to display specimens at the Columbian Exposition, and to market the cave for tourism. Alvin came down with typhoid fever at the Exposition, and passed away in December, at the very young age of 20.

A land dispute erupted between the McDonald family and a mining company (there was no gold found in the cave), and eventually the government stepped in and took control of the cave. In January of 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt established Wind Cave as the seventh National Park (and the first cave), forever protecting the park for future generations.

Studies of the barometric pressure of the cave have estimated that only a small percent of the cave has been discovered. The Park Service is continuing to explore the cave, and it has been “growing” as they continue to find new passages. Right now, there are 141 known miles of the cave, all covering just one square mile of surface area. (ponder that math fact…!)

Wind Cave is famous for formations of Popcorn, Frostwork and Boxwork. Ninety-five percent of all the known Boxwork in caves around the world is found at Wind Cave. On our tour, we saw a lot of Boxwork, and a little Popcorn and Frostwork. The Popcorn and Frostwork is more prevalent in other parts of the cave that can be seen on other tours. Stalagmite and Stalactites are not common in the cave, as it is considered to be a dry cave. The visitor’s center has excellent specimens of the Popcorn and Frostwork, so the following are photographs of the specimens.

Popcorn is formed when small deposits of Calcium Carbonite seep through the limestone.

Popcorn crystals

This is the Popcorn that we saw on part of our Natural Entrance Tour:

Popcorn in the cave

Water seeps through the porous rock, evaporates, and leaves behind aragonite crystals, called Frostwork.

Frostwork formations

We saw one area that had a little frostwork:

frostwork inside the cave

The Natural Entrance Tour that we took is about 90 minutes in length, and has about 450 stairs to negotiate. It was a rather easy tour to navigate, and we did not feel too enclosed. We would recommend this tour as it was very informative. There was a part in our tour where the Park Ranger turned off all the lights, and lit a candle, so we could see what the early explorers were dealing with. For those so adventurous, they do offer one tour that is strictly by candlelight, so you can experience what touring the cave was like when it was first discovered. They also offer a very strenuous four-hour tour which involves a lot of crawling through narrow passages, so you do need to meet certain “width” restrictions!

The Natural Cave Entrance tour has some narrow passages….

watch your head!

But also some large rooms where everyone can fit, and the rangers will spend several minutes talking about the history of the cave.

wide open rooms

Boxwork is what this cave is known for, and we saw many examples on the ceiling of the cave. Boxwork is a honeycomb formation of thin calcite fins that protrude from the walls and ceilings of the cave. The Park Ranger explained that when they were first exploring the cave, using candles, the Boxwork initially looked like giant spider webs. That is what is documented in the diaries they have of the early cave explorers.

Boxwork formations

Photographs of caves are not the best way to see a cave. We definitely would recommend a visit to Wind Cave (remember…no bats!)

inside wind cave

Quote of the Day: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. Fear of the unknown is our greatest fear. Many of us would enter a tiger’s lair before we would enter a dark cave. While caution is a useful instinct, we lose many opportunities and much of the adventure of life if we fail to support the curious explorer within us.” – Joseph Campbell

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