17 Aug - Goodbye Wyoming, Hello Ellsworth Air Force Base Rapid City South Dakota

17 Aug - Back in the Midwest!!

This morning we pulled chocks at Sheridan WY about 0820 hrs and headed down I-90 towards Rapid City SD and Ellsworth Air Force Base, our 21st campground on this journey. Not many left!

The drive was uneventful and the scenery changed little until we got to western South Dakota where things greened up a bit and the red soil emerged.

Many terraces like this along the way

De Smet Lake

Mountains in the background

Miles of this!  Greener here, though.

Interesting terrain

The Best a Man Can Get!!

We saw quite a few oil wells and also pipeline equipment along the way

Finally, South Dakota!

We arrived at Ellsworth's FamCamp at 1259 hrs, traveling 4 hrs 39 minutes and 258 miles with just one fuel/potty stop in Sundance WY.  As expected, the levelers operated perfectly and we were done with our set-up including the tire covers and barbecue grill setup in about 20 minutes, which is almost a record!

This is a beautiful FamCamp.  Much nicer than many of the other's we've stayed.  We are in site# 38, below.  It is an end pull-through site with full hook-up so we have a huge yard right outside our door.  And it even has grass so Liberty is happy!

They have 51 full hook-up campsites with 21 pull-through's (sites 31-51)  and 30 back-in's (sites 1-30).  Free laundry facilities, free WiFi, modern and clean shower and latrine facilities, and free access to the base outdoor swimming pool.  Like the other bases, they have a base exchange and commissary, and retirees are allowed in the dining facility if they want to use it.  Security Forces routinely patrol the campground.  I did not get any pictures of the campsite yet nor did we place the South Dakota sticker on our RV map yet, but we will do that tomorrow and take some pictures.

Ellsworth Air Force Base is the home of the 28th Bomb Wing.  They primarily fly B-1B Lancer bombers, one of only two units in the United States to fly them.  There are other aircraft here and have several other missions, also.

We are here 17-29 August and plan to see Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower WY, Crazyhorse, Sturgis SD, Deadwood SD, Custer Park, Wall Drug, Badlands and the Eclipse!  We will also see the South Dakota Air and Space Museum which includes a tour of a Minuteman II missile silo.

My cousin Dean Cooper and his wife Donna recently moved here and we will have breakfast with them tomorrow.  I had some Amazon items and a warranty item shipped to their apartment so we will get them as well.  We also plan to take a few "down days" here and recharge our internal batteries a bit.