We have a lovely campsite at Angostura State Recreation Area. There are actually 6 separate campgrounds. On the west side of the reservoir is a small regular campground and a horse camp. On the east side, where we are, there are four campgrounds. We are in Cascade campground, the second from the north. Lots of trees, a very nice toilet and shower building, playground for kids, and access to a really nice bike trail make it a good choice. I took some pictures at night, but I haven’t taken any good day time pictures around they campground. I will try to do that tomorrow. Here is one with the full moon poking through the trees last night though.
We have taken some nice drives so far. We went to Rapid City for a prescription refill, and we went through part of Wind Cave National Park. It is a different view of the Black Hills showing the prairies that are intermixed with the mountains. Gorgeous!
We also went into Custer State Park to drive the Wildlife Loop toward Rapid City. It did not disappoint! Turkeys, prairie dogs, deer, pronghorn, donkeys, and, of course, bison.
The bison were actually crossing the road, and they caused a massive traffic jam. We were luckily heading north and only had 5-6 cars dead stopped in front of us. The road heading south was ‘bison jammed’ for at least a mile. Another interesting thing was that there were bulls in the middle of the nursery herd. They were definitely creating harems. The bulls aren’t often with the cows and calves – only when they are getting ready to mate. One big guy, on the right in the picture just above, had collected at least three cows, and he was giving low bellows trying to attract even more.
Today we just hung around the coach and took a quick trip into Hot Springs. There is an aptly named “Skyline Drive” we took toward the top of Battle Mountain. It was definitely a high clearance road due to the wash outs, but the view downhill was lovely.
This picture shows the old sanitarium, now a VA center, and a part of the National Cemetery. The red sandstone buildings are a feature of Hot Springs. Before our common pain medicines were known, hot springs were the primary treatment for most joint and muscle issues so there were a number of sanitariums in the area.
We also had a nice dinner cooked outside. Kevin grilled steaks on the Volcano charcoal stove, and I cooked potatoes and onions on the camp stove. Note mine just got put on the grill. I like medium rare;Kevin prefer medium. We added some garlic butter right at the end and it was delicious.
It isn’t a very big grill, but it uses only a few briquettes and works fine for the two of us. The whole thing, including an adaptor for propane, fits in a small bag for storage. Storage is important for traveling!
Tomorrow we intend on driving up to Hill City and wandering about that area some.