SOLOs Rally in the Black Hills

Following the visit with my grandkids, I hurried over to the other side of SD, to the Black Hills for the SOLOs rally. We had 60+ single RVers who met at Hart Ranch. The first day the group took a chartered tour of the area, ending with a chuckwagon dinner. I had been to the Black Hills many times before, so I stayed behind to walk everyone's dogs. I was responsible for walking 13 dogs several times that day. It took me about an 1 1/2 hours to walk all the dogs at noon. Then it started to rain. By the evening it was still pouring, the wind was blowing and even the dogs didn't want to go out. I kept putting it off waiting for some slack. Each time the rain let up I would run over and walk another dog or two. Over a period of about 2 1/2 hours I finally got all the dogs walked again.



Day 2-I took a trip out to the Wild Horse Sanctuary. I forgot my camera, but I have a few photos that a friend took. This was by far my favorite trip. It was so much more than the wild horses. Such history about the ranch, the people and what has happened there. I highly recommend it be one of the places you visit in this area. Several movies were shot on the ranch, including some of Crazy Horse and Hidalgo. There were also petroglyphs found there, estimated to be thousands of years old.

Some Petroglyphs

The herd of pure blood Spanish horses

Day 3-Volksmarch. The only day of the year Crazy Horse Monument is open for people to actually climb. I was still battling the bronchitus, but I wasn't about to not make this walk. It was 6.2 miles and quite a climb to get to the lookout. It was worth it. We also saw some wild life. These mountain sheep (or goats) were not bothered at all by the thousands of people walking through their area.

Crazy Horse Monument

Mountain Goats

Later in the day we had an informal yard sale. One lady was selling some wigs, so of course all of us had to try them on. Here is my new look.

I don't think I like this wig

Day 4-Sunday was an unplanned day, so I did some laundry and other routine things.


Day 5-We visited Deadwood and took a tour. We also visited Tatanka, which is owned by Kevin Costner. It is a tribute to the Lakota Indians and the Buffalo. The Deadwood city tour took us to the gravesite of Wild Bill Hickok. Our tour guide was great, giving us all kinds of interesting information about the town, the people and the rich history of this area. Did you know the town of Deadwood was named because when the white man discovered it (looking for gold of course), the gulch was filled with dead wood? Following the tour some of us stayed and walked around town and visited some of the museums. We saw several shootouts and reenactments.

Day 6-Everyone chose their own sightseeing today. Me and several friends went to visit the local winery. Yes, even SD has a winery. But all we got to do was taste their wines, no tours anymore for safety and sanitary reasons, at least that is what they said. Then we went out to lunch and a Walmart fix before heading back.


Day 7-Goodbye day. It was time for all of us to say goodbye until the next time we meet.