Thursday, December 7, 2017

These Snowbirds Flew South!


They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is the case, these four pictures say a lot…..



We had planned/hoped to stick around South Dakota for a few more weeks but the weather Gods had other plans. Despite all our efforts to stay thawed, the temperature dipped down into the low teens the other day and we had a water line freeze up again. Actually those efforts were not in vain as we did not freeze up totally as in the past, this time it was just one line. The hot water line to the kitchen. We had water, hot and cold, everywhere else but no hot in the kitchen. I tried tracing it from the hot water heater but it disappears into the frame somewhere so I will have to do it when we have time and much warmer weather.
We were sad to go but we will be back soon enough
So we hit the road on the 5th and headed south 200 or so miles to Sidney Nebraska where we spent the night in Cabela’s parking lot. We even got out of there without spending any money!
Then it was on to Lamar Colorado for an overnight stay where it got down to 7 degrees and that same waterline froze up.

It has been a long time since we have been on the road. By that I mean traveling to sight see with no real destination. Thinking back it has been since last April. Since then we have had specific long term destinations; South Dakota, The Farm, Pasha Lake, back to The Farm and then our property. Now we are on the road, no real destination in mind other than warmer weather. That hardest part so far is getting used to the noise at night. The other thing different about this trip is that we are traveling together. We left the jeep and 4 wheeler in South Dakota. Since we don't have a specific agenda and we don't plan on staying anywhere long term we decided to leave them both behind.

We were able to get out for one last adventure before we left. Although we were less than 20 minutes from Wind Cave National Park, we have never took the time to tour the caves. So the day before we left, we headed over there to take one of the tours. They offer a limited tour schedule during the winter and for $10 each we had our own personal tour guide. We were the only two on the tour. It was very cool as we took our time and had more of a conversational tour rather than the formal tour on busier days.
Although the sights and formation in the cave was interesting, what we found most interesting was the stories behind the scenes. When asked if the caves were haunted our guide responded “I have stories if you want to hear them”.  She said that the caves seem to have an energy of their own and there are times when the cave “just does not want you there”. She told us stories of voices in the cave when there was no one else around. Shadowy figures following some of the employees around and one story where two employees were walking the cave after hours and the hair on the back of their necks stood up at the same time and they knew something was watching them. Interesting and scary all at the same time!

These box formations were pretty cool
She said these box wafer formations could be up to 8 feet thick
Our ultimate destination for this week is Amarillo. Research showed that there are several potential boondocking spots in the area. We don't want to go any further south at this point as we may have to run back to South Dakota when our shed arrives. 

Checking Passport America we saw one park that was only $13.50 a night so we thought we would stay there for the weekend while we got acclimated to the area and decided where we wanted to stay long term. The AOK RV Park is anything but its namesake but it will do okay for the weekend and at least we are not froze solid!

14 comments:

  1. We always enjoy a good spelunking. Safe travels and enjoy the high plains.

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    1. Nothing like traveling the flatlands knowing the mountains are just to the west!

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  2. Hi Jim, I can be the second to recommend Palo Duro State Park, just south of Amarillo. It is one of our favourite places that we've stumbled across.
    Detra and I are in the RGV this winter if your travels bring you this far south. We know of a micro brewery on South Padre Island, just sayin'

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    1. I just checked with the tour guide and she said we will be in North Padre and South Padre right around New Years. We will keep you posted!

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  3. Glad you finally saw the light and moved your house WITH WHEELS to warmer parts:) Yes, Texas is real close to SD in case you need to RUN back!! Haha! Too funny!! Love the cave! We've never visited here either. I've never seen anything like that box wafer formation. Very unique!

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    1. We will have lots to see when you come to visit! There is one tour that Barb wants to go on called "The crawl tour" where you go through many small passages and tight places. Not for me, but she is going to do it.

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  4. Did you see how they got the concrete into the cave to pave the pathways? That was my favorite takeaway from Wind Cave, Jim.

    They most likely put the 'A' on their OK to be first in the phone book. 😉

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    1. No we missed that part, now you have me wondering! We did see one of the silver dollars that the workers put into the cement however.

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  5. Good timing heading out when you did...the snow is falling here in Blue Ridge, Ga...beautiful but will be in the 20’s for the next week!!!
    We loved going thru the Wind Cave..lucky you to have a private tour...

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    1. Wind Cave offers more tours during the summer, I will have to attend those when we get back.

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  6. We missed Wind Cave when we were in those parts. it was kind of eerie that after reading your cave stories, when I looked at that last picture I immediately saw skulls in that box formation. Look again, ceepy huh?

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    1. Very creepy! I am sure there are a lot of places in the area with similar stories, we will have to check them out when we are back in the area.

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  7. Jim and Barb the fishing has been great on the coast! Would like to meet up with you guys while you are in Texas!

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