After spending 2 weeks getting acquainted with our new RV, it was time to hit the road. We knew we wanted to head west, but where exactly was undecided. During our time at River Forks Campground, Randy started researching work camping jobs. Work camping in RV life means working part time somewhere in exchange for a free RV site. Some jobs can include additional pay as well. Many of these type of jobs are seasonal and since it was Spring it was a good time to look. Randy applied for positions 6-7 different places and received a message back from one. He scheduled a conference call with the owner of Black Elk Resort to discuss the position. Black Elk Resort is a property located in the Black Hills in South Dakota that has 12 seasonal cabin rentals, 8 RV sites and an on-site Taproom, where they serve local craft beer and wine. They were needing someone to work 20-25 hours a week doing miscellaneous tasks including few shifts at the taproom. After researching the area, we realized it was in an amazing location to explore and hike for the summer and the resort looked like a beautiful place to stay as well. Randy agreed to it and we started planning our trip across the country to South Dakota.

Tennessee

We decided our first stop would be Louisville to visit with friends, so we booked a campsite in Clarksville, IN, just across the bridge from downtown Louisville. We still needed a place to stay for one night before reaching Louisville, so we checked out Harvest Hosts and found a place called Beans Creek Winery in Manchester, TN. Harvest Hosts is a membership site/app where you can locate places to stay in your RV for free. They’re typically breweries, wineries, farms and parks and once you pay the yearly fee, you have access to these places. They ask you to support your host in return by purchasing, beer or wine, tickets, items from the gift shop, etc. We stayed one night at Beans Creek Winery and sampled a good amount of their wine before purchasing a couple bottles. From Manchester, TN, we headed to our campground in Clarksville, IN, where we stayed for a little over a week.

Louisville/Indiana

Our Lou./Indiana stay went quick. While there, we had our first ever tornado drill in the RV. We asked the campground where we should go in an event of a tornado and we were told to go to the hotel down the road. Sure enough, at midnight we heard the largest ever tornado siren and groggily got our shoes on and grabbed the dog and jumped in the car to head to the hotel. We spent the next 2 hours in the hotel lobby waiting for the weather to be over. Tornadoes did touch down in Louiville, not far from where we were so it was a good idea to evacuate the RV. Other than that excitement, we were so happy to get to visit with our friends Jeff and Andrea.

Our next stop was going to be Illinois, so we checked Harvest Hosts to find an overnight spot along the way. We found a brewery in Columbus, IN, called 450 North Brewing Co. & Simmons Winery. We had a short drive from Clarksville to Columbus and arrived early in the afternoon. We were the only RV staying in the large gravel lot next to the brewery. Once settled in, we visited the brewery for a couple of beers and a large Bavarian style pretzel. Our stay was nice and quiet since we were literally in the middle of farm land.

Illinois

We had booked a long weekend at Prairie Pines Campground in Rantoul, IL. While there, Randy did some troubleshooting on our levelers. We had blown a hydraulic hose while staying at 450 North Brewery and were unable to use our levelers until he fixed it. He found the hose and replaced it with a new one. It wasn’t an easy job since it was a very long hose than ran the length of the RV and he had to crawl under the RV in order to run it. With that done, we were ready for our next trek.

We had plans to stay at a campground near Cedar Rapids, IA, and again looked to Harvest Hosts to help fill than one night gap on our way there. This time, it wasn’t a winery or a brewery, but a zoological park.

Located just outside of Peoria, Wildlife Prairie Park is 2,000-acre zoo with 150+ animals in a natural setting with hiking, biking, fishing, lodging & train. We visited the park for the animals which consisted of 60 different species and over 180 animals, many that were rescued and rehabilitated but could not be released back into the wild. Our favorites were watching the bison, black bear, wolves, cougars, owls, eagles, and fox. We walked through the animal trails twice and got to see the porcupines, raccoons and badger being fed which were all hiding on the first lap. The RV parking was a large spacious area across from the park and we had it all to ourselves. This was such a cool place to stay and so peaceful. A perfect overnight stop on our way to Iowa!

Iowa

After our overnight stay at the park, we headed toward Cedar Rapids, IA, where we planned to stay at Wanatee Park for a few nights. While there, we caught up with friends we met while living aboard at Snookbight Marina years ago. Todd and Sharon were our boat neighbors there so it was really nice to catch up with them in their hometown. They showed us around town and we stopped at Big Grove Brewery where I became hooked on Easy Eddy IPA.

After our stay was done there, we spent one night at another Harvest Host, Soldier Creek Winery in Fort Dodge, IA. Our favorite winery so far, Soldier Creek is a family owned and operated winery. The wine was amazing. I did a flight with 5 reds and I loved them all! Best of all, the night we were there, they had a live music act that was fantastic. Not a bad night for being on the road.

South Dakota

From Fort Dodge, we made our way to Sioux Falls, SD, where we stayed at a park in Tea, SD (just outside Sioux Falls). The weather wasn’t cooperating and was still cold and rainy, but we did manage to get out one day and headed into downtown Sioux Falls where we discovered how the town got that name. The Big Sioux River tumbles over a series of rock faces in Falls Park, which includes an observation tower and the ruins of the 19th-century Queen Bee Mill. The falls literally flow through the downtown area.

Sioux Falls to Rapid City was possible to make in one day, but it would be a long one. We decided it’d be best to stop overnight somewhere halfway and found another spot on Harvest Hosts in Murdo, SD. On our way to Murdo, we stopped to see the Dignity of Earth and Sky statue at one of the rest stops which overlook the Missouri River near Chamberlain. The statue honors the cultures of the Lakota and Dakota people. From there, we drove to the small town of Murdo where we were to stay at the Pioneer Auto Museum. We arrived too late in the day to visit the museum so we walked up the road (and literally, there were like 2 roads) to a taproom I found on google maps. Unfortunately, the taproom was closed (even though google said it was open). This was such a small town and you could see for miles and miles, I half expected a tumbleweed to roll by.

The next morning, we decided to do a quick visit of the museum. Right off the bat, we met Cowboy Kevin, who, in his own words said, ‘he wasn’t really a cowboy but more of a redneck.’ LOL. He was very welcoming and enjoyed petting Sophie since the place was pet-friendly. Randy and I could have stayed at this place for hours, there was so much memorabilia and so many cars and motorcycles to look at. We saw the General Lee and Bert Reynolds Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit. It’s definitely a must-stop if cruising through South Dakota.

After the museum visit, we headed toward Rapid City. But we had to stop at Wall Drug on the way. From what we’ve learned, no trip across South Dakota is complete without a stop at Wall Drug. Pretty much as soon as you leave Sioux Falls, you start seeing the signs for Wall Drug. Lots of signs! Located in a town in the middle of nowhere, called Wall, sits Wall Drug which offers dining, activities, gifts and souvenirs, visitor information and, of course, free ice water. Known in the early days as a place for weary travelers to stop for free ice water, Wall Drug began to take root as a must stop for passers by and continued to grow into what it is today. Wall Drug is known for it’s many signs with catchy jingles offering drivers everything from 5 cent coffee, donuts, buffalo burgers, ice cream, souvenirs, and free ice water.

After Wall Drug, the landscape really began to change from prairies and farmland to rolling hills. We could see the Badlands from a distance which looked like another planet. We decided to stop at a do-it-yourself RV wash in Rapid City. The RV was a mess and the bugs splattered across the windshield was starting to mess with our vision. After that, we began to climb the mountains toward the Black Hills and our excitement grew as we got closer to our summer home. We finally arrived and met Justin, the owner of the resort. He showed us our spot and let us get settled. We were so stoked to have made this trip and so excited to have the whole summer to explore the area.