October 12, 200:  Motel 6; Madison, Wisconson.

  We've been told that Madison is a pretty cool place, so we
decided to stop here for one of our motel stops.  Bill's out 
working on the camper - improving our home on wheels a bit more
and I'm taking the time to update our website.

  October 2-5: Black Hills of South Dakota.

  We headed out of Rapid City to the town of Deadwood...
Deadwood was a mining town and when the gold ran out, they 
turned to leglized gambling for their income.  Not being into 
gambling ourselves, we walked around town and looked at the 
houses and took advantage of the fact that it was Oktoberfest
weekend and got some brats and beer.   We then visited Mt. Moriah-
which is the town cemetery on a mountainside above the town.  
  Mt. Moriah is a peaceful place where many folks, famous and not
are buried.  Wild Bill and Calamity Jane being among the famous.  
What I noticed the most was how many young kids are buried there.
In stark contrast to the number of young people that I know have 
died. 

  The other cool thing about Deadwood is that it's the end of 
something called the Mickelson Trail - which is a "rails-to-trails"
project that runs for 109 miles (or so) through the Black Hills.  
I'd like to ride that sometime. 

  After Deadwood we headed toward Mt. Rushmore and Custer State Park 
on highways 285 and 16. On the way to Mt. Rushmore we stopped and took
in a game of Miniature Golf. I got 2 holes-in-one.  :-)  We saw Mt. Rushmore
and headed off to Crazy Horse - which we didn't go in a see either-
it's still in progress and we decided that $20 could be spent better
elsewhere...like Custer State Park.   

  Custer State Park is a beautiful park in the heart of the Black Hills of
South Dakota that has something for everyone.  There is alot of wildlife, 
sheep, deer, buffalo and wild turkey. Gus suddenly took a keen interest in 
what was outside the truck.  There are several lakes for fishing and boating
as well as a cool rock climbing area and lots of space to hike in.  There is
also much history as this was a very special place to the Indians (before 
we stole it from them) as well as it being explored by Custer and a group
of his men.

  Turns out it was the last big weekend for the park - and they were having
the annual buffalo round-up.  The park can support about 1000 buffalo and 
at the end of the year, they end up with about 1500 buffalo, so they round
up most of the buffalo (cows, calfs and young males) and check them out,
vaccinate them and then sell off some of the herd.  They also have a lottery
for hunters to hunt bulls that are over 10 years old.  For the previous 2
weeks the rangers herd the buffalo to a central area and then on the day 
of the round up, they drive the 1500 buffalo to the corrals and holding pens
where they separate out the buffalo to sell and those that will be released
back into the park.  

  In addition to the Round-Up, there are a couple of days of an art fair and 
other entertainment, but the Round-up is the thing that is the most exciting.
Even though we'd seen a small Round-up where they drive small groups into 
the area where they gather the buffalo for the final drive, I wanted to see
the "real thing" so Bill agreed to get up before dawn and drive out to the 
viewing sites.  I'm sure there were many more people there than buffalo, and
it was a party atmosphere while we waited.  The sun was welcomed as it provided
warmth that counteracted the cold breeze.  Then cheers erupted as we saw the 
buffalo and the cowboys on horseback and in trucks came over the horizon.

  The plan was to drive them down the hill and turn them in front of us
and into the corral.  You soon see that buffalo mostly go where they want.
What happened was that after they turned them, they didn't go toward the 
corral, but tried to go back the way they came in.  It took another try
and most went in (and some came back out) except for a small group.  
Of that small group there was one bull that out smarted and out ran everyone
and they just decided to let him go.  

  After the excitement of the morning we hiked to the top of Harney Peak -
which is the highest point east of the Rocky mountains (7442 ft) and took
in the views. 

 The next day saw us at the Needles climbing area.  We had 
a vague guide to the area, but were fortunate to meet another climber who
actually hiked around with us and showed us where some climbs were.  I 
kept wondering what the catch was, but he was just a cool guy who wanted
to share the area with us.   We climbed for most of the day and then hiked
to the top of "Little Devil's Tower" another peak in the Needles and Sylvan
Lake area.  We returned to our campsite (which had the best showers of any
park I've been in - and better than some motels!) and watched as a couple
of the buffalo they didn't bother to round up grazed right next to our
camper.

  I'd highly recommend this area to anyone - it's beautiful and full of wildlife
and friendly people.  Probably best in the spring and fall as I suspect it gets
alot of traffic in the summer. 

 
October 6-7; Hot Springs, South Dakota.

  This was a relaxing stop for us, a couple of days to regroup and take advantage
of the hot springs in this town.  The springs are actually more warm than 
hot, but there is a bath house that pumps the water in and heats it and 
has massages and other spa services on site.  That was our hangout for 
a day. 
  We also took in the Mammoth Site which is basically a big dig where
they have found many (53 so far) Mammoths in one place.  They theorize that
this was a sinkhole that mammoths went up to for some easy eats and fell in
and were trapped.  This was found during the initial construction of a housing
development in the '70's and the developer was enlightened enough to sell 
the land for his cost to a conservancy which has erected a building/museum over
the dig site.  The stuff you see is the real thing and it is a site in 
progress.  Whoever does the displays at this place has a sense of humour too - 
I've got an example in my photos.  All in all a pretty cool place.

  We left Hot Springs heading east to Omaha and camped at a Nebraska state
campground called Cottonwood Lake on the way.  We were the only folks there
except for the few cars that drove in and out.  Presumably, this is the local
necking spot.  ;-)  This was a very relaxing evening, with the sounds of flocks
of red-winged blackbirds, the mooing of cows in the field across the road
and an occasional hoot of an owl.  
  We've kept Gus on a leash most of the time due to the fact that he likes
to chase small critters which is only annoying - but he also likes to chase
bigger stuff like deer which is a definite problem.  In the morning before we 
left, Bill took Gus with him to take some pictures of a bullfrog in the lake.
But, Gus turned back toward me and looked and thinking he was waiting for 
me, I said "go on"...and he did, like a rocket in the opposite direction 
from Bill.  Bill and I must have both seen what he was after at the same
time, because we both broke into a run after him yelling "GUS, NO!, LEAVE IT!"
Gus of course ignored us, because he was on a big time hunt, he finally had 
his chance at a buck and a little bit of yelling wasn't going to stop him.
Thankfully, the buck just ran off and the only damage done was a scrap between
the eyes from the barbed wire fence that Gus went through at 3o mph.  Yet another
scar to make him look distinquished.  


October 8;  Omaha, Nebraska

  On to Bill's place of birth and youth.  It was the first big city in awhile and 
we checked out the house and neighborhood where Bill grew up.  I think I heard 
Bill say "This is incredible" about 40 times.  Things have grown up there in the
last 25 years.  We checked out the downtown area called the "Old Market" which
is very similar to San Diego's Gaslamp area.  Our "Food event" for the evening
was dinner at "Spagetti Works"  (think Spagetti Factory) which has different
pasta and sauces -  beer cheese...yum.  
  For those of you keeping track, a house in Bill's old neighborhood, goes for 
about $115K now.

  
October 9, Ames, Iowa

  Another blast from the past for Bill.  He went to college in Ames and so we
checked out where he used to live (demolished about 4 years ago) and the "Pizza
Pit" where he worked - still there and looks like maybe the same guy is managing
it too.  (Some things never change)  It was homecoming weekend so the place 
was packed, but unfortunately, the Cyclones lost to Texas A&M, 34-3.  :-(

October 10-11;  Devil's Lake, Wisconson

  Devil's Lake is a camping area that also has some climbing.  We rolled in late
after stopping along the way as we crossed the Mississippi and calling home to 
check in with all the relatives.   The campground was fairly crowded due to 
Columbus Day holiday - but cleared out the next day.  We hiked around looking 
for some climbing - but by the time we found some we decided we were too lazy
to actually do any climbing so we relaxed in the sun.  That night we were 
visited by the local racoon population, who seemed completely unconcerned by 
us.  

October 12-13:  Madison, Wisconson

  So here we are in Madison.  College towns are fun and offer a bit more cultural
diversity than the rural areas we've been traveling through.  We walked around 
the campus of the University and found an Afgan restaurant for dinner - then 
drove to the other side of town where we found a bar that had "blues and brews".
There was a band with an ever-changing membership that had a couple of guys
that reminded us of friends at home.  John Durkin and Bryan Harding - you have
alter egos who play blues in Madison.  

  We're looking at the weather and deciding which way to go next.  We seem to 
be in the only area where it's not raining right now.  That is a first for us
on vacation - it's usually the opposite.  :-)  North is looking pretty cold for
the next few days and south is looking rainy...hmmm, choices, choices.

All for now.

D- and Bill