Arriving at Crooked Creek Campground near Hill City in South Dakota on Thursday, we found a slightly crowded campground with open camping (put your tent wherever in the designated areas). Desiring isolation, Mandy and I drove around the campground until we found a more secluded spot. This just happened to be in the middle of the campground. We camped where the creek makes a backwards "L." We situated the tent and car so that it was just far enough away from the creek so no one would camp there. Selfish? Maybe, but I don't want to hear my tent neighbors snore. We then began to eat dinner: PB&J's. While eating, an older gentleman came over to our car and said if we help him move the picnic table in his campsite, we can have it wherever we want. I suggested we place the table next to the fire pit located between his tent and ours. Exchanging names and what brought us to Hill City, we decide to eat dinner at the table and chat with him. His name is Bill. He is a very awesome guy, so I am going to spend the next paragraph telling you about him. Throughout the three days we were there, we chatted with Bill a lot and exchanged hello's whenever we saw him.
At age 65, Bill is biking (as in bicycle) across the states. After starting in early June, his end goal is Montana by September 29th. Upon the request of family missing him, he will then stay home for a year and learn Spanish. Then his goal is to bike from home to the tip of South America. WOW!! Previously, he was a construction worker and single parent. After his last daughter graduated college, he decided to start traveling and taking back his life (basically). He lived alone on top of a volcano in Montana for a summer. Every 2-3 weeks, a man would bring him supplies on horseback. Bill meets many people on his cycling adventure, he said "Many of those people say 'they could never do what he is doing.' But that's not true. I believe that you can do anything you put your mind to." I admire Bill for having dreams and following them! He inspires me. If you don't have dreams, open your eyes to the many amazing possibilities! If you do have dreams, work towards them!
After eating with Bill, we left camp for Mt. Rushmore. To avoid the parking fee, we drove past Mt. Rushmore, parked less than a mile up the highway, and hiked back.
Driving to Custer, we saw Crazy Horse Memorial (from the highway). Since we got directionally confused, we saw Mt. Rushmore again...and again backtracking the right way that we thought was the wrong way. Waiting for fireworks to start in Custer, I had a Dairy Queen blizzard. The firework display was short, but I was impressed as it is such a small town.
Heading back to camp, we got lost and ended up driving through Custer State Park on Needles Highway. I drove 10-30mph the entire 12 miles of curvy road. It took a while. At one point, I mentioned my fear of hitting a buffalo. Which somehow led to seeing Bigfoot and if we almost hit him. I decided that hitting a hairy man in the road would be scarier than the other animals mentioned.
We eventually made it back to camp! Night #1 was lovely for sleeping.
We set out for Harney Peak around noon. Hiking by one, we enjoyed perfect weather for completing something on my bucket list. We found a small cave. The trails sparkle as if God threw glitter on them. Trees, boulders, and occasional creeks surrounded us. Cathedral Spires towered over us to our right. Reaching the top of Harney Peak, I discovered something more amazing than I anticipated. I wanted to go (not because it's the tallest peak in SD) because it looks like a castle. The view is absolutely amazing! We had lunch on top of a little stone water house. There was a small pond next to it. Deciding I would find the spring that feeds the small pond, I drank the rest my water. Searching for the spring, I realized it's a water reservoir fed by rain. Remainder of the hike, I had no water. In all, Mandy and I completed a 6.5 mile hike!
Leaving, we contemplated accomplishing another goal on my bucket list: crash a wedding. That did not happen though. We were sweaty, not dressed for the occasion, and there weren't many seats left.
Back at camp, we started a fire to cook a feast: hot dogs, soup, baked potato, and pancakes. Right after we got the fire going, it began to rain. There went our plans to hang out with Bill and it got harder to cook. In the end: our soup got warm; my potato wasn't edible except the very outer edge; I burned myself on my pancake and dropped it in the fire; our hot dogs were good. We then went in the tent while it rained. We played a super long game of war ending with a war. We read until it was too dark to read. Then at 9, we went to bed.
Night #2 was miserably cold.
At 5am, I joined Mandy in the car. We laughed about the unfortunate situation for half an hour. Back to sleep. At about 8:30, I woke up sweating with the sun on my face. Showered and camp taken down, we said goodbye to Bill and left at 10am.
At 11am mountain time, we stopped in Rapid City for food. We went to Murphy's Sports Bar and Grill. I had a delicious 1/2 lb burger with fries. After lunch, we went to Art Alley, an alley where you can graffiti legally. So awesome! Then we walked around downtown. We spent a long time in a really neat Indian art gallery.
Our next stop was Walldrug. We soon found a cute coffee shop. When I ordered an ice-blended coffee, the worker asked if I wanted a shot of espresso in it. When I responded with "Uhhh...," Mandy said, "Yes!" She explained that I was driving slowly which means I was tired.
We got home right before 7: just in time for church.
Though our trip had its ups and downs, I in no way regret going! It was a fantastic camping trip!
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