After an overnight stop in Ft. Collins, CO, we crossed into South Dakota for a four-day stay, one of which featured a half-day in Rapid City at the Toyota dealership!  The night before, squirrels/chipmunks(?) chewed a wire underneath our truck, and when Doug started it up in the morning, every warning light on the dashboard lit up.  The service manager at the dealership was great, fitting us into the schedule to get the repair made and giving us a free car wash at the end.  We did, however, have to stay an additional night at the Mt. Rushmore KOA, and cancel/change some reservations.   Just like during our cruising years, you have to be flexible when traveling because “stuff” happens.  Aside from this, we saw more beautiful and amazing sights during our stay in the Black Hills.

We drove through the park to the exit,  then re-entered at another station in order to avoid a narrow, low tunnel.  We wanted to see Sylvan Lake, and the tunnel on this other route was a little bit larger. 

Tomorrow, we’ll take the Black Hills Central Railroad 1880 Train for a round trip from Hill City to Keystone.  The Railroad was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

On Wednesday, we were up at 6 a.m. to drive to the Rapid City Toyota dealership for our 7:30 a.m. service appointment.  The  problem was diagnosed as a chewed wire at one of the wheel sensors, which caused ALL the warning indicators on the dash to light up – including the trailer tow malfunction indicator, imminent collision indicators, and the break problem indicator.  We were back on the road to Hill City around 1 pm, after getting our free car wash and grabbing some lunch at Panera.  On our way to the campground, we passed by Mt. Rushmore, then took a side route to see the profile view of George Washington.

On Thursday, we’ll make an overnight stop in Mitchell, SD, home of the world’s only Corn Palace.  🌽   Really.  🙂