Trusses, Trout & Tastings - Custer, South Dakota

Hot Springs, South Dakota
Wind Cave National Park

After all the fun with the tire fiasco we finally made it across the border to South Dakota.

We had really been looking forward to seeing one of our favorite RV Couples again.

Daisy & Dakota!  And of course their owners, Jim and Barb.  They're pretty cool too.

Since it had been storming/rain/snow/mud it was decided that chancing the road to their place might not be such a good idea, so we headed to Plan B and went to nearby Wind Cave National Park.  It's a simple park with only a few spots that would hold a bigger rig.  $18 a night with no hookups.  It's a beautiful drive in the park with many buffalo just wandering around. We did find a spot that worked out for us.  We dropped the rig and hurried over to have dinner with Jim and Barb.  They drove down to Hot Springs so we could meet up at Wooley's Grill & Cellar.  We had some great food and figured out our plans for the few days we'd be there.  They had truss's to put up so that was Saturday's agenda.

We drove over to Jim and Barbs in the morning but first we had to get past the guards.

They bought several acres here near Custer and are building their own home.  Pretty impressive!  The land and surrounding are is gorgeous.  Above is their new camper, the barn they built and the Jeep.

The RV Pad.

The "Barndominium".

Did I mention the weather?  The storms continue to come.  Today the winds were crazy!  30 to 40+ winds/gusts made putting up the trusses quite a challenge.  Their friend, Kevin who is a General Contractor, and his friend Tom made it look easy though.  They normally would never do this in these conditions but they were here from out of state so it needed to be done today.

 I just couldn't believe how they could balance up there on those 2x4s in that wind and cold!  It was nerve racking watching them but they are pros.

Barb and Steve counting the trusses.

 Barb guiding the trusses over.  This is one hard working, kick butt gal!

Amazing that they were able to get them all finished in one day!  Again, the picture makes the weather look so nice but it was darn near zero degrees with the wind chill!

The last board goes up and then it's time to warm up and get something to eat.  Barb made up quite a feast for this hungry group.

Daisy relaxing after a hard day. 

Jim feeding some other friends.

This is how it looks with the trusses all done.

It has a large garage in front that will hold their trailer, truck and camper.  The other side has a beautiful view of the valley with 2 bedrooms and a nice living room with big windows.

Sunday was Mother's Day (yes, I'm still catching up).  Instead of tiara's Barb and I really wanted trout!  The wind went away and the sun was lovely! They drove us up to one of their favorite areas and we fished in Dutch Creek.  It didn't take long and before Barb and I were catching some pretty nice Rainbow Trout.

They were heavy with row (fish eggs) and it just dropped out of them.

We caught quite a few but didn't want to rub it in to the guys so we didn't take pictures of ALL of them.

Who's that at the end of the tunnel?

Jim working a hole.  Where's Steve?  Not sure.  He went up stream and we never saw him again.

A tiny Cutthroat I caught.  They are such colorful fish. What a great day!

We found Steve and decided to head out to some local breweries.  How did the Guys do?  Well they say they caught a couple but there are no pictures to prove it!  All hearsay!

First up was the Firehouse Winery.  We got something to eat and sampled a few drinks.

Next up was the Naked Winery & Sick-n-Twisted Brewery.  We grabbed a drink and settled outside where it was nice and warm and listened to some great guitar playing.

 

Jim and Barb

Me and Steve

Steve couldn't wait to get inside so he sampled outside.  This is Miner Brewing Co, our last stop.

 After we went back to their place to just hang out and talk at the campfire.

What's that Jim's using to start the fire?  Ha Ha!  Just a little bit...

The rock around the firepit is all from their property and Barb put it together.  It's still a work in progress but it's very pretty.  We really had a great visit with them and we're enjoying watching their dream take place.

The view while we enjoyed our fire.

 

We never did get to take the tour of Wind Cave so I guess we'll have to come back another time.

Near out campsite.  There is an Eagle flying over the buffalo if you look closely.

 

Thanks Jim & Barb for the visit!  We can't wait to see how it turns out.