Platte County

We got an early start this morning, leaving Spokane Creek Cabins & Campground before 8:00a. Two reasons for doing so.

Since we had to drive through Custer State Park in the Cruiser, we wanted as few vehicles — especially other RVs — on the narrow, curvy roads as possible. I’ll admit it was less stressful doing the drive in the motor home the second time around. The best part ... two bison bulls were roadside to see us off!

Also, we wanted to get to our planned overnight stop early enough in the day that if we could not get a site with an electric hook-up there, we could look for alternatives.

It was just past 11:00a when we arrived in Edgemont, SD. Too early for lunch, really. But a good place for a snack and stretch-our-legs break. We found a picnic table near one of the French style guns and sat in the shade for a bit. It was then that I noticed a historic marker telling the story of Teddy Roosevelt’s visit to Edgemont in 1903 as part of his western states tour. Huh, and here I thought I had read that none of the presidents featured on Mt Rushmore had visited South Dakota!

We were back on the road by noon. An easy drive ... no road work, though there were a couple of one-lane areas in the construction zones that were managed by automated stop/go lights.

Around 3:00p we pulled into Lewis Park in Wheatland, Wyoming ... the same city park where we overnighted on the way up to South Dakota. The park was packed with locals enjoying a Sunday outing ... although how they could do so under the brutal sun is beyond me. We have two outside temperature gauges on the Cruiser. At the time, one was reading 97F ... the other was reading 104F. I’m guessing the actual temp was somewhere in between. Regardless, it was broiling hot 🥵

The good news? Of the six sites that have 30/50A electricity, two were still available. Less shade than the site we used last time, but beggars can’t be choosers ... especially when the site is free. We got ourselves situated quickly and got the air conditioner going full blast.

If we’d delayed our departure from Keystone, or dallied along the way, we would have had to look for an alternative campground as, by 4:30p, the remaining electric site was taken and the two campers that arrived soon after had to make do with the non-electric sites. Not having electricity is not such a good thing on such a hot day!

We’re planning another early departure tomorrow. Primarily to avoid Labor Day traffic, but also to get to our next campground early to beat the forecasted high wind and winter storm warning. Yup ... a winter storm in September!Read more