Well, we knew it was inevitable. Our otherwise near perfect vacation had to incur a set back. After a pancake breakfast at the KOA Kook’s Korner (what can I say? I was hungry so I ate there despite my serious disdain for letter play), we headed back to our site to break down camp and hit the road. Today is Aidan’r birthday, so we were planning to do lots of kid-friendly things in “Rabbit” City (Rapid to the rest of us). We needed an early start. Camp was broken down and we were preparing to pull away when it happened. We blew the main fuse in the coach. Now without power, I can’t even boil water for coffee. Desperately, we began searching through the cabin for manuals. There were plenty of those, but we don’t speak “electrical.” Disheartened and afraid that the solution would require ordered parts requiring us to stay in Rapid City for days, we drove into “the city” for help. Thankfully, we found a great little RV dealership that fixed our problem within two hours.
While waiting for the repair, I had yet another run-in with a surly, frank, and hilarious South Dakotan. This time her name was Mary. Mary was the receptionist at this efficient little hole-in-the-wall RV store. While waiting to see the repairman, Mary and I struck up a conversation about tourism in South Dakota. She asked me what I planned to do in Rapid City. I told her that we were planning to take the kids to the Dinosaur Park. “Why would you want to do that? It’s a stupid little thing with a lot of stairs and some rinky-dink little dinosaurs at the top. It’s goofy,” Mary replied. Well, here we go again. I am beginning to think that maybe South Dakotans think their state is as strange and “goofy” as the rest of America thinks about it. She suggested instead Storybook Village, although she withheld a 100% approval rating. She said, “It’s ok, I guess. The kids might like it.” After the RV was fixed, we took off for Storybook Village. When we got there, we agreed that it was just ok.
Storybook Village was basically made up of weird little sculptures of pirate piggies and Pooh Bear and friends, etc. It was like stepping back in time…. To the mid-70’s and 80’s. Remember all those McDonald’s playgrounds with the Hamburgler and a super shiny Ronald McDonald? These things must have been made by the same people. Super shiny Dorothy and friends linked arms under a shabby little hut…. Definitely not Emerald City. The slides were taken straight from the Marshall County Rec Center. Remember the metal ones that get rust spots and burn your legs in the hot sun? The kids didn’t seem to mind though. They enjoyed the time out of the RV and a chance to just run and play. It was actually a refreshing break from the must-sees and State Parks.
When the kids were sufficiently satisfied by energy exertion, we loaded back up to look for a Wal-Mart. Yesterday was Aidan’s birthday and after spending half of it in the service lane of an RV dealership, we wanted him to pick out a new Wii game as a present. Setting the Garmin for Wal-Mart, Rapid City, we rode around for a good hour while the Garmin recalculated and recalculated again. This area of Rapid City was only fractionally navigable in the motorhome. When we pulled into the parking lot, Brent nearly had a panic attack. The thing was completely packed. We couldn’t even get past the door due to the number of people absolutely FLOODING in and out of the building. We must have waited 5 minutes. Finally, we had a chance to make a turn to the back of the lot to park when the RV stalled right in front of the building. Thankfully, it immediately restarted but not before triggering images of a tow truck attempting to pull us out of the overcrowded parking lot.
It took quite a while but Brent, Megan, and Aidan finally emerged from the Wal-Mart looking completely dazed and confused. Apparently, everyone in Rapid City had converged upon the Wal-Mart for their 4th of July needs. Rapid City was seriously losing its charm… quickly. A sudden and very lucky discovery of a nearby Starbucks managed to save the day from ruin.
All of this and it was still Aidan’s birthday. We had to think of something FAST. There, across the highway, was the glittering oasis of Chuck E. Cheese. Well, at least we knew what to expect. The kids didn’t care that we were taking a break from sightseeing or that we were doing something we could do at home. They just wanted to play skee ball. We ordered a pizza, a birthday cake, and two beers for $75. We couldn’t help but cringe as we realized that $75 was equivalent to two nights in a very nice campground. It’s weird when pizza is double the cost of your nightly parking spot.
Satisifed with their prizes and pizza, we headed to a campground on the Mt. Rushmore side of town. It was an absolute dump. We were packed in like sardines in a can and parked on fine gravel… no grass whatsoever. We toughed it out playing yahtzee until midnight.
We woke up early this morning and headed out for Bear Country, U.S.A. When we pulled up to the ticket booth, we were charged $53. We thought it was a bit steep, but it was still cheaper than an evening at Chuck E Cheese. Handed our map, we were told the drive through park would take anywhere from 30-45 minutes and that we were to keep our windows closed. Minutes into the drive, we spotted an enormous herd of elk having their breakfast in troughs along the road. Immediately after the elk, we drove past reindeer, timber wolves, and big horn sheep. The kids were squealing with laughter and shouting each new discovery. I have never seen them so excited. The animals were free to roam the large property but many were hanging out mere feet from the side of the road. It was a kid’s idea of heaven, I’m sure. Ella and Abby kept asking us if we could invite them into the RV for a ride. Aidan took some great pictures. Things were already exciting, but when we rounded the corner, there in front of us were dozens of bears. Some were eating, some sleeping, some playing in the ponds. The kids’ excitement reached a fever pitch. When the tour ended, we headed up to Babyland where they keep all of the park’s baby bears. The cubs climbed trees, wrestled, and lazed around the enclosure. Again, the kids were overcome with excitement. Bear Country, USA, was worth every penny.
Back in the coach, it was time to fulfill some more requirements. Mt. Rushmore was relatively interesting; however, we decided to park, take some pictures, and head out again. We really wanted to make Yellowstone tonight and time was no longer on our side. The Rushmore picture was snapped and Crazy Horse was waiting. We had to move! The road to Crazy Horse was narrow and curvy. It was a real test of Brent’s skills. He passed. We were skeptical from our first glimpse. The Crazy Horse Monument was only a face! We knew it was still under construction, but we thought surely there would be more to it than that. After paying $27 to enter the park, we felt that we had to get out and check out the museum. No surprise here…. There wasn’t much to it either. Aidan had a pretty good time though. He was excited by the fact that for $1 he could choose a rock blasted from the mountain.
On the way to the interstate, the Garmin led us astray. It was confused. We ended up driving through the entirety of the Custer National Forest. Again, Brent’s skills behind the wheel were seriously challenged. He had white knuckles all the way. When we finally made our way out of the Black Hills, we wound up back in RAPID CITY! I thought I was going to cry. Just then, I really got nervous when a warning light popped up on the dash…. “Water in Fuel.” NOOOOOOO! The idea that the Bermuda Triangle was actually in Rapid City passed through my mind. We had already spent more time than we ever wanted in South Dakota. The good news: we were almost to the exit for the RV dealership we visited only yesterday with the electrical problem. We pulled off the interstate and paid another visit to our pals at Dakota RV. They assured us that this was only a sensor issue and we should press on.
Eager to leave South Dakota in the rearview mirror…well, camera….. we hit the gas and sped away before Rapid City could pull us back into her Black Hole.
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