The Maine and Eastern Seaboard Trip, Just the Facts, Maam!

Us too Gary, but there is always the little stuff to take care of. Like the shower doors need to be adjusted now. But at least it gives me something to do to keep me out of trouble!

SargeW said:

Us too Gary, but there is always the little stuff to take care of. Like the shower doors need to be adjusted now. But at least it gives me something to do to keep me out of trouble!

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Yep....can't let him get bored....because then he just starts drinking! 

RVnChick said:

Yep....can't let him get bored....because then he just starts drinking! 

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I don't see that as a probblem.
Bill

I'll drink to that. 

After a great rally we left Yellowstone and headed to Billings for a 3 night stay at the KOA there. This is billed as being the ?First KOA? in the franchise.  The park itself is very nice as KOA's go. Many KOA campgrounds have dirt or gravel parking pads, and the sites are mostly grass. The roads in the park may or may not be paved. 

This KOA however was all paved roads, and the premium sites were gravel pads, but had good sized cement patios. Our premium site also came with a cast iron patio swing that seats two people, and a firepit. All of the grass in the park was green and well manicured. This KOA was definitely well taken care of. This was also designated as a ?Holiday? park. In KOA speak, that means that the park is one that could easily be used as an extended stay park considering all of the amenities.

The park itself had an on site BBQ restaurant (closed while we were there), good size pool with a smaller spa, mini golf course, and a good sized off leash dog area. It also had the usual kid friendly stuff common to KOA's, the playground, and bike/coaster rentals.  It was a big park with many extended stay residents there, but you never got the feeling of being in a ?trailer park?. 

A gate at the back of the park led to a city owned walk/bike path that we used to run on and walk the dog.  The park offered free WiFi and the restrooms were in good condition and well maintained. There is also good handicapped access.

We paid $50 a night for a premium site, and they had pull through and back in premium sites. The non premium sites had the usual gravel pads and grass sites. That also included the usual KOA discount we get a members.  I can recommend and would stay at this KOA again.


From Billings we headed to South Dakota for a week stay at the Elkhorn Ridge Resort.  This was a very well rated park with nearly 400 RV sites, tent sites, and rental cabins. The pool and spa are nice, the restrooms are new, and the park has great views.  One of the reasons we chose to stop here was it has a central location to Spearfish, Sturgis, Lead, and Custer State park.

Interestingly we made reservations to stay here several months ago, mostly because of being here over the Memorial Day weekend.  From past experience we have learned that we can easily get locked out of many places on any of the big camping days of the year.  Boy were we wrong on this one!  Even though we pulled in on a Wednesday,  we still expected the park to be fairly busy. Instead the park looked pretty empty.  So we expected the crowds to show up on Friday just before the holiday. 

We pulled in and went into the very big, modern check in building. The check in process was rocky at best. Because we had anticipated a crowd, Diane had nailed down the dates of the stay and the entire cost of the week stay. We also opted for a week as this park offered a ?pay for 6 nights and get one night free? deal.  Two young girls at the check in desk greeted us. We identified ourselves and started the process. Diane informed the girl that we had already paid for one night deposit ($60.45 a night) and we owed the balance.  The girl informed her ?That is wrong. Our rates are $70 a night. The computer will change that when I put in the rest of the information?.  As you may imagine this didn't go over well. Diane promptly informed her that we already had a receipt and confirmation showing the $60 rate, and wasn't going to pay more than that. The girl replied ?well, I don't have any control over that?.

Just about the time things were about to get ugly, the girl punched up the computer and it verified the total on our receipt confirmation was correct.  We hastily paid and walked out. We got thrust our paper work with no explanation of our site location, amenities, or further info on the park. Not a good experience.

We later figured out that the girl didn't take into consideration the week long stay deal, and spoke out of turn.  Interestingly through the whole week we were there, never more than 20 or so rigs were ever in the park at one time. Considering the 400 RV spaces, that math can't be adding up too well. As near as I can figure, the parks rates are just too high for the neighborhood.  There are several other RV parks in the area, and although they don't have the level of amenities as this park, it all comes down to budget for lots of folks.  This park apparently is also part of a ?planned community? by whomever is developing it. There is a golf course related to this park, and a housing development may be coming as well.  All that is well and good, but it still won't add rigs to your RV park. 

The parks Wifi was OK, but our Verizon air card had strong cell signal. The restrooms are ADA compliant, as were the other facilities. One thing I did see as a negative though was the design of the sites.  The pull through's were plenty long for the biggest rigs and toad, but the patio is about a 10X10 square. Then there is a picnic table sitting in the middle, which had to be drug off into the grass to have any room to put a patio chair.  And even though the park was built with some grassy berms at the front, it still sits right on Highway 85 and the traffic noise is plainly audible. As much as we like paved pads and patio's, I think if we are ever back this way I would check out other parks to stay in. 

We did do some sight seeing while here. We visited Deadwood, Spearfish, Lead, and Sturgis, and visited Custer State park.  Deadwood was really a cool little town with lots of eateries and shops to explore in the old town area. We had lunch and had a beer where famous western character Wild Bill Hickok met his fate while playing cards. He was shot in the back and killed by Jack McCall, another gambler. Hickok was allegedly holding "Aces and Eights" in hand when shot, which is became known as "the dead mans hand". 

Sturgis was a bit of a surprise for me. I think I expected more of a built up downtown area, considering the huge motorcycle event that draws thousands here every year in August. Instead it looked a lot like any other mid-western map dot city.  Not in bad shape, just not that remarkable. One of the most well known of the towns biker draws, the Full Throttle Saloon, burned to the ground last September after the rally, and was not insured.  But 9 months after the fire, there is still just a flat slab of cement where the old building stood, and lots of burned out and rusted motorcycle parts laying around. It's anyone's guess if this place is to be reborn or not.  We saw several large ?RV Parks? in Sturgis that were basically dirt and power pedestals. I am sure that they get 99% of their yearly business during the rally week by drastically increasing their prices.

We also drove through Custer State park. It was $20 for a weeks admission pass, but the scenery and unique rock tunnels (6 of them) make it worth the price of admission. Forget driving your high profile vehicle through the park though, as most of the tunnels are no more than 10' tall and 8' wide at best.  And there also many switch backs that were challenging in a Jeep, let alone a RV.  Many places in the park also had signs posted for ?Extremely Hazardous Conditions For Motorcycles?  due to a lot of loose gravel on the roadway. We did see some brave souls on motorcycles though, just not going very fast.  All in all though, if you are in the area, I can highly recommend Custer State Park.

I am probably the only one you will ever know who was in Sturgis area during bike week,by accident. We were at Yellowstone and decided to see Mt Rushmore. Started calling campgrounds and finally found space at Heartland RV Park & Cabins, Hermosa. Not a bad location as several roads 40 and 36 to 16A. I think 16A is the road that you talked about I know I wouldn't take a RV on it.
The lady said "ge we only have a couple of spaces left" so I said here is my credit card. Had a good time, got to see lots of bikes.
If you get a chance the town of Rapid city is interesting as it has a (on main street) a statue of a president or famous person on every street corner.
So yes I have been to bike week.
Have fun.
Bill

Not sure if you guys have packed up and left the Rapid City area yet, but if you are still there and looking for something to do, Jewel Cave National Monument is excellent.  Great tour of the cave.

Look forward to seeing you in IL next week.

Yeah Bill, I have known lots of people that have been to the Sturgis rally, but none by accident!  We have toured one of the caves out here in the past Scott. But the 50 mph wind gusts will likely keep us close to home today. Maybe go back into Deadwood for lunch. We have 2 of the slides pulled in as the toppers were really taking a beating.

While not much of an interesting place to go unless you're a golfer The Elks south of Rapid City is built on my uncle's old dairy farm. And there's a neat little short track (1/2mi I think) on Jolly Lane, if you're into dirt racing.
It' been 30+ years since I've been back to the old neighborhood, probably not much left but memories.

Corky

Yeah, things have changed quite a bit in the area. We just came back from touring the "Historic Adams House" in Deadwood. Neat old mansion for the day, but some of the really cool stuff were all the old photo's on the walls that pictured Deadwood at the turn of the 20th century. It was truly a mud pit mining town back then.

Diane just updated her blog with lots more info on the attractions we visited and pics, stop by if you get a chance.

I'll make sure I have that chance tomorrow morning.  Really enjoy reading her blog
and seeing the pictures she posts.

Great blog and photos.
Did you guys exit Yellowstone at East Gate and go over the Bighorns?

No, we didn't go through the park when we left. We drove highway 191 through Bozeman and picked up I-90.

We did a string of short stops working our way through South Dakota, Minnesota, and Illinois.  Unfortunately, none of the campgrounds were memorable.  Two of them were KOA's, which are usually pretty good. However there are exceptions.

We had a few worries pulling into this KOA when the first thing we saw pulling in was a  long entry road about 100 yards long was all dusty dirt. Not gravel and dirt,  just dirt. We pulled in to find that there were only 5 sites in the park that were 50 amp, and we didn't get one. And only about half of the sites had either water, or sewer, but not both. There were a few full hook up sites, but none were available. The grass was long and needed mowing, and the site was all fairly soft dirt.

While setting up one couldn't escape the unmistakable hum of the giant wind turbine next door.  When the wind slowed, the next surprise was the invasion of black flies. It seems as though the property right next door is a pasture for a large herd of cows.  And along with cows, comes the fragrant odor of cow manure. Fortunately this was a two day stop, but we did pay a way too high $45.74 a night for an electric and water site.  You know that what the campground is like when one of the FAQ's in the campground brochure is: Question, Does the wind blow all the time here?  Answer, Yes, all the time!

This stop was not a total loss though as we went to the next day to visit the semi famous Mitchell Corn Palace. Yep, the whole outside of the place is decorated with 13 different shades of corn cobs. Diane will have several great pics in her blog.


We drove from South Dakota to another KOA, this time in Hayward, Minnesota. Our hopes of getting into a better cared for campground quickly evaporated when the first thing we saw pulling in was a ?For Sale? sign on the park.  Fortunately this was another 2 night stay.

Again we found dirt sites and dirt roads. Except that it had been raining here, and much of the place was mud. When I deployed the jacks, I drove them about 2? into the off camber site. After adding jack pads I was able to level and open the slides.

We got a 30 amp site, and I had to prop up the electric pedestal to keep it from falling over when I plugged the cord into it. We had water, but the pressure gauge on the rig showed about 20# with no faucets open. When a faucet was opened the water was a trickle. And it had a mysterious odor to the water, kind of like it had been sitting in rusty pipes for a long time.

They also claimed to have campground Wifi, but I didn't try to hook up to it. The Verizon air card worked OK here. I didn't get a chance to check the restroom facilities as we got a pretty good rain storm that turned the whole place into a mud pit.  The sites and roads had no gravel at all, so things got pretty squishy after the rain. With the place for sale, it was apparent that the owners were not planning on putting any money into it for improvements. At least it was not quite as expensive at the last  KOA. We paid $30.87 a night with the KOA discount for a water/electric site. 

We did find something to do our second day however, we went to tour the Spam museum in Austin.  Yep, and I don't mean the kind that fills up the in box of your email account. I mean the ready to eat, cooked in the can, packaged meat product that the Government has been feeding to soldiers since WW-2 (and millions of people around the world).  Pretty interesting actually. Do you know it is still a major seller in Hawaii? 

Giving the KOA's a rest, we pulled into a nice Corps of Engineers park (COE) in Hampton, IL. The sites are a nice size, and  many are right on the Mississippi river. The site had 50 amp electrical to the site, and water faucets were dispersed throughout the park.  A dual dump station is at the entrance and is included with your space rent.  The roads as well as the sites are paved, and each site includes a gravel patio and a picnic bench.  All of this and the spaces rent for $20 a night. 

There is no included WiFi at this location, but the restrooms are in good shape. Of course with all the good parts there has to be a down side, right?  Well we figured it out pretty quick the first  night at dusk. We got a quick lesson on the local nuisance, the May Fly.  May fly?s are little brown flying bugs that are basically harmless.  Except for the fact that they breed in the fresh water of the river, and live to mate, hatch, swarm,  and die.

While they don't hurt you it's just a bit creepy when trying to walk around and these things are flying erratically everywhere, running into you. Oh well, they only hatch from May until about October...

The cool part about being here was we met and got to spend some time with forum member ?Jagnweiner?, Scott and his wife Jennifer.  We met one night and went out to dinner at a local Pub, where Scott's brother Kent joined us.  Afterward Scott gave us a tour of the town in his all original 1925 Dodge Touring Car! It was amazing how well it rode, and how big the rear seat room was.  We also stopped in and visited Kent at his home, and got to tour Kent's vintage 1970's era GMC dual axle motor home. It is in remarkable condition, and Kent is still going to make a few mods to return it to it's original showroom condition. 

The next day Scott was nice enough to show us around his work facility, The Army's Rock Island Arsenal, on Rock Island.  We looked as some of the original stone residences that were built for soldiers and the base Commanding Officer, and the remarkable Rock Island Arsenal museum.  What a great day, thanks Scott!

We also dropped by one of the the ?Pickers? store in Iowa.  If you watch the show ?American Pickers? about the 2 guys that travel the country buying old stuff and reselling it, you are familiar with ?Mike and Frank?.  Didn't see the guys, but the store was pretty cool, and we did recognize some of the stuff in the store from the TV show. 

I have rambled long enough, and we are looking forward to our next location in Battle Ground, Indiana. Prophetstown State Park. 

Marty, I understand that Mike, Frank and Danielle aren't at the store very often, although we did get to meet Mike's brother Rob.

Too bad we did not know you were stopping in Mitchell, SD.  We have friends there and stopped at that Super 8 Campground for about a week last year.  http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/south-dakota/mitchell/super-8-motel-r-r-campground-rv-park  I think we paid $15 per night and while it was not high on amenities, the park was sufficient for our needs with full hookups. We plan on stopping there again this year on our way through.

HappyWanderer said:

Marty, I understand that Mike, Frank and Danielle aren't at the store very often, although we did get to meet Mike's brother Rob.

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Yeah, that is what we understood as well.  We didn't really expect anyone from the show would be there. The folks working the stores are very friendly though. We were going to pick up a small souvenir, but the prices for the trinkets was pretty steep! I guess they gotta pay for all that overhead now.

Sr Fox said:

I think we paid $15 per night and while it was not high on amenities, the park was sufficient for our needs with full hookups. We plan on stopping there again this year on our way through.

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We had stayed right next door there before too. Last time we stayed it was a Passport America park. For the money it was worth it, but it's not PA anymore.  The rates now were about the same as we paid at the KOA. The Super 8 park is right on the freeway though, so we picked the KOA.  Not better.

We greatly enjoyed our visits with Marty and Diane.  They are delightful to spend time with.  If you have a opportunity to get together with them on the road, take it.

On a related note, if anyone is passing through the Quad Cities (Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island) area on I-80, let us know and stop for a visit.  We are 20 miles east of the QC, right off I-80.  We do have some nice "mayfly-free" CGs in the area and if anyone wants to boondock for a night or two, I've got some land available.