TRAVEL DAY
From: Custer/Mt. Rushmore KOA Holiday Campground, Custer, SD.
To: Custer State Park, Blue Bell Campground, Custer, SD.
Day 357 – Today was an extremely easy travel day. We still had to pack up before leaving and unpack upon arrival, but the journey was quite short. The cats were happy to find they were only in the traveling room for a little less than an hour.
We were both feeling much better when we got up this morning. It was 39 degrees and it rained all night. We only had a short distance to travel – from the Custer, SD KOA to Blue Bell Campground in Custer State Park.
We departed at 10:55 a.m., stopped in Custer for gas in the RV and the Honda, then turned off Highway 16A east to south on Montana 87, a two-lane, winding road through the hills and rocks bordering Custer State Park.
We arrived at Blue Bell Campground in Custer State Park at 11:45 a.m. It was 55 degrees and partly cloudy. We had reserved in advance site #12 with electric hook-ups. The campground offered no potable water and no dump station. We’d filled our fresh water tank before leaving the KOA and emptied the other tanks. We’ll be just fine for our 4 night stay here.
There weren’t many occupied campsites when we arrived. More people came in later, but it definitely wasn’t as crowded as it was for Round-up Weekend. We unpacked and had lunch. The girls settled in immediately. They’d be happier if every drive we made was less than one hour long. But then how long would it take to travel the entire country? Not a question they could answer. Rob put the South Dakota sticker on the travel map – another state is covered.
This afternoon we drove back to Custer to the only grocery store in town, Lynn’s Dakotamart. We were surprised to find a regular fully-stocked grocery store with fresh produce. We stocked up since the next couple of weeks after Custer State Park will be in remote areas. After shopping we picked up a pizza from Pizza Hut to take back to the RV for dinner. We’ve been under the weather from the COVID booster – no cooking for us – good excuse. We’re expecting more rain; the skies were almost black when we got back to the campground. More people had arrived to camp. It’s still very quiet.