On Thursday May 26, the plan was to camp on the “wall” near Wall SD. In order for that to happen we had to unpack, do laundry from our Portsmouth trip, re-pack, go grocery shopping, put the tent on the truck, get all our camping gear in the truck, make sure the house was ok to be left for another extended period of time and drive 8.5 hours before sunset!! No pressure there! We were already exhasusted from all the work on the boat and traveling – which of course was delayed at Newark! We landed about 7:30 Wednesday night, took an Uber home and tried to pull ourselves together.
We managed to get it all done and we were out the door by 1. Whew!! We are lucky that the sun sets so late this time of year…we barely made it to the dispersed camping area before it set. We found an amazing spot right on the edge of the wall and set up camp. We made dinner in the dark, watched the stars for awhile and then crawled in bed. The sunrise view we had in the morning was worth it!! We sat and enjoyed the view for awhile in the morning, took a short bike ride thru the camping area – its like 2.5 miles of area just for dispersed camping! Some really amazing spots!! Highly recommend tho it seems like it gets crowded!
We had been watching the weather reports and knew that it was going to be very windy on Friday. Being on the wall in that kind of wind didn’t sound real fun so we decided to try the Custer Crazy Horse campground – it was a little more protected. We got a great spot at the bottom of a wooded hill near the back. It was quite an uphill hike to the bathroom but we had our bikes to help!! We had horses for neighbors…they were beautiful but Bebe was NOT a fan! She growled and barked whenever they came too near.
Before heading to Rapid City on Saturday afternoon for wedding festivities to begin, we went for a long bike ride on the Mickelson bike trail. We highly recommend – especially starting at the Mystic trailhead, north of Custer!! There were tunnels to go thru – gates for free ranging cattle to open/close as we rode and waterfalls. The scenery is spectacular! We LOVE our pedal assist electric bikes! Our bikes don’t have throttles…but they make riding a bike feel like we are kids again! We have to pedal to make them go but it is just that little extra push that you need as an “older adult” on the steep hills! We ate lunch at the trailhead and then we all laid in the grass on blankets we got from Chad’s work friends and took a nap. So far, this retired life is amazing!
My freind Kellie’s daughter was getting married on Sunday so we all stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Rapid City. The hotel has a nice patio outside where we were able to have a drink and hang out with the family and friends. A group of us went out for dinner at a great Mexican place before hanging out again on the patio before bed.
Kellie and I got up early on Sunday to take Bebe and her Maxwell, to Woofers…Lily’s fav kennel in Sturgis. She takes her Milo there everyday while she is teaching and they seem to love him! Maxwell and Bebe, got to sleep with the owners in the “luxury suite” and had a great time! We got video from them to prove it! I’m hoping I will be able to attach it here. (Still learning) It is a great facility and the people were very nice!! Bebe got a bath on Monday before we picked her up – we were happy she cleaned up so well after camping!
Lily and Matt’s wedding was beautiful!! All the details were wonderful. Kellie has been very busy helping Lily put this together and all their hard work showed! The venue was gorgeous and the food excellent. The weather thankfully cooperated! It was a beautiful morning but rain moved in about 2 – stopped by 4:30 or so. The wedding was at 5, cocktails after and then dinner/dance under a closed tent – the rain started up again about 8. Chad and I had rain on our wedding day and have always said that rain on your wedding day was good luck!! We are coming up on 30 years in August so maybe its true! The wedding and reception were so much fun! Kellie grew up in Faribault and kind of randomly, I knew her brother and cousins pretty well, when I was in college. I hadn’t seen any of them for years – it was fun to catch up! Its such a small world sometimes. Dancing the night away is always a good time!
…Shelley wasn’t feeling well unfortunatly!
