Northern Plains Roots: Family & friends

We returned again to our roots in the Dakotas: My father grew up with his family in North Dakota. Our kids grandfather was born in Dakota Territory. Jim and I lived in South Dakota from late 1973 until mid-1995 and gained many friends during our tenure. Son Kevin & his family live on a ranch in SD and son Jay recently moved back to SD. Needless to say, we're always glad to return for a visit to see family & friends.

We arrived in Springfield, SD on July 9th at the home of friends/former work colleagues Dallas Schneider and Renee Peters. Their house is situated on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, providing us gorgeous views from our window. We enjoyed our time in Springfield, catching up on the latest news in the town and seeing some old friends from the community. Dallas and Renee were great hosts, despite their busy schedules and getting ready to leave on their own vacation. Jim and I even managed to golf twice on Springfield's beautiful 9 hole course - the best in the Dakota's- finally using the few clubs we hauled with us in the RV.

After our visit in Springfield, we headed to North Dakota on July 14th, making a stop in Vermillion to see an old friend, Larry Hudson and his wife Susan and daughter, Luci. We enjoyed chatting for an hour or so before we headed towards family in ND.

In search of a 'real' map, we made a brief stop at the Fargo-Morehead Visitor Center and were thrilled to see the wood chipper used in the movie "Fargo" on permanent display there - complete with a foot sticking out of it! (The movie - a classic - is one of our favorites). We arrived in Hatton, ND and enjoyed seeing my aunt, Beth DeLano, cousin Gordie DeLano, and his wife, Sharon. We even got in a short visit with Amanda DeLano, daughter of Gordy & Sharon, before we headed back to SD. Although Aunt Beth, 90, is now in a nursing home, she recognized us both and seemed genuinely glad to see us. The feeling was mutual. Gordy and Sharon were wonderful hosts and it was fun to hear updates about both their daughters.

Traveling south and west, on July 16th, we found a RV park in Herreid, SD where we were awakened during the night by strong winds and rain. The RV rocked & rolled and we actually thought it might be a tornado. Yikes! The next morning, however, we found little evidence of any damage around the RV park or in town.

We arrived in Pierre and found a spot to camp right along the Missouri River at the city's park. The temperature, however, continued to climb during our time in the Dakota's - reaching a high of 114 degrees on July 20th. Neither of us do well in the heat, but fortunately we were able to keep our A/C on in the RV, helping us and the dogs manage the weather. Both dogs enjoyed being able to walk and play in the park and along the river. We enjoyed seeing old friends, including Mike & Kathi Mueller; Dennie Pfrimmer & Cheryl Stone; Ulises Pesce and Pat; Sandy Schmidt and Bob Anderson and Mike Schmidt. I even got a new (to me) bicycle after I seriously crunched my derailleur into my back spokes. Too bad I didn't take a photo of the damage, but I was grateful not to have crashed when the bike abruptly stopped as I was climbing a small hill.

We departed Pierre on July 21st and drove north again to the small town of Faith. We decided to camp at the city's park so that we would not tax the electrical system at son Kevin & Buffy's ranch. Kevin picked us up and drove us out to their cattle ranch where we were able to see Buffy and our grandkids - Kailyn, Harland, Hugh and Kaycee. The kids & Buffy had just returned from Wyoming where Kailyn had competed in the National High School Rodeo Championship. Buffy & the girls were heading out the next morning for an AAU basketball tournament. Phew - this is one busy and active family! We were grateful to have had a few hours to see the kids and chat with Kevin & Buffy.

We made our way west and south through the Black Hills - stopping in Sturgis briefly. Sturgis is the home of a major Harley Davidson motorcycle rally and the town was making preparations for the event that will start August 8th. We've visited during the rally in past years and it's an interesting event to witness. We drove through historic Deadwood, but opted not to stop as we've pretty much seen the sights there in the past. We arrived at son Jay's home in the very small town of Hermosa, which is south of Rapid City just east of the Black Hills, which are visible from Jay's house.

While in Hermosa, Jay took us into Custer State Park and we drove the wildlife loop, enjoying views of the bison herd, deer, prairie dogs and even a marmot. The next day, Jim and Jay returned and fished in Legion and Bismarck Lakes within the park, returning with a lovely trout caught by Jim. When the kids were young, we made many camping & fishing trips to the Black Hills, so it was a nice reunion with the area.

We departed South Dakota on July 25th, driving north through the Black Hills, making a roadside stop at the Crazy Horse Monument to see its progress. We arrived in Medora, North Dakota later that afternoon. Once out of Belle Fourche, the terrain became a bit boring, however, it seemed to green up and change when we arrived in North Dakota.

We parked in Medora, ND and toured the south portion of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP), which was absolutely wonderful! While we love the Badlands of South Dakota, which are beautiful and desolate at the same time, the ND Badlands (in the TRNP) are much more green and lush compared to those in SD. We were also thrilled to see more wildlife, including a newborn bison calf with it's mother during our drive through the park. We capped our visit by attending the "Medora Musical", which various folks encouraged us to attend. While we enjoyed the event, and recognized the amazing talent and energy of the cast & crew - it wasn't really our "cuppa tea". The special attraction, "Flight Crew" (a jump rope ensemble) was amazing with their skills and choreography with jump ropes. We highly recommend a visit to the TRNP for all.

Now into the wild west....and home soon.

The Missouri River - from Dallas & Renee's home in Springfield