Black Hills National Forest


Last night we went to the theatre in Spearfish.  We saw a show called Phantom of Mathews Opera House.  It was a spoof of Phantom of the Opera.  Nice little theatre…the show a bit wacky…it was a farce…which of course Americans will not call it because that is a British term…they call it slapstick!

Today we traveled through the Black Hills National Forest.  It is touted as being an example of the US Federal Government preserving nature.  For the entire 200 kilometres that we traveled through it, we saw ‘zero’ wildlife but saw lots of other things that made us wonder exactly what nature they were preserving.  We saw clear cut logging.  We saw houses and more being built.  We saw cattle grazing and farmers baling hay.  We saw campgrounds and all sorts of other businesses.  We saw a Lake, but it was actually a reservoir created by a dam built for flood protection and availability of water for Rapid City and the nearby Military Base.  Overall, it was a nice drive with lots of Pine forest.

A bonus today was leaving ‘motorcycle madness’ behind.  Two days ago, I referred to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally as the biggest in the US.  I was mistaken.  It is the biggest in the world.  It is the 79th annual and the area is expecting about 500,000 motorcycles over the next week…no bloody wonder they think that they own the area…they do!

We have moved further south and are staying in the Hot Springs KOA.  To say that it is quieter than the Spearfish KOA is an understatement.

Distance Traveled = 227 km.  Wildlife Sightings = Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Mourning Dove, Goldfinch, Pronghorns (after we left the National Forest), Campground Rabbits.


Black Hills Reservoir...a not so natural Lake


Motorcycles in Custer...this is a highway and these 2 were just wandering across as if we did not exist


Prairie Berry Winery...good lunch place


Mathews Opera House, Spearfish South Dakota

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