AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM AND ELLSWORTH AFB

Wednesday, July 11 – After visiting the Badlands and Wall Drug, we headed towards home, but first a stop at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Home of the B-1 Bomber, Ellsworth AFB is a big military base, making it one of the largest cities in South Dakota. There is a free South Dakota Air and Space Museum right next to the Base. It is a wonderful museum inside and out.

B-1 Bomber

Our friend, Red, was a radio operator on the B-29. We hope he enjoys the following photos.

Excuse the shadow of the fingers…please.

There was an indoor part of the Museum also.

A guided tour of the base is available. We chose to take the tour.

After checking through security (only a driver's license is required), we were loaded on a mini bus and driven through the base. The driver gives a running description of the buildings and areas of the base.

We did see several B-1 Bombers taking-off. WOW....what a sight! Not sure about this, but a fellow told us that these planes fly all the way to Afghanistan on bombing missions. Now that's a pretty amazing flight!

We were a little disappointed that we were not able to see the air strip. Security measures, we believe. It is a very long runway and was a back-up landing strip for the Shuttle.

Ellsworth AFB was also the training facility for the Minuteman II Missile program during the Cold War. This area of South Dakota was filled with missile silos because of its ideal location to launch missiles over the North Pole to the USSR. All these missile silos have been destroyed in accordance to missile reduction treaties with the former Soviet Union.

We toured a Silo that was used for training and has remained active for public tours. There are many similarities to the Titan Missile silo we toured in Tucson, AZ. We think the Titan tour was handled a little better, but it was interesting to see them both a make a comparison.

Silo

With temperatures hovering near 100 degrees, we called it a day and headed back to the Elks Campground in Rapid City. There sure are a list of things to see and do in this part of South Dakota.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

CHAPEL IN THE HILLS

Tuesday, July 10 – After we finished our tour of Rapid City, SD, we drove out to the Chapel in the Hills.

The Chapel is an exact replica of the Borgund Stavkirke built about 1150 in Laerdal, Norway. Originally built as the home for the “Lutheran Vespers” radio program, the Chapel was completed in July 1969. It sits on 30 acres of mostly forest along with a Norwegian stabbur (or storehouse). The stabbur acts as a welcome center and small office. It is an authentic grass-roofed store house, built in Norway and assembled on site.

Bell tower in the foreground. Notice how the church tapers upward towards heaven.

The Chapel is a magnificent piece of craftsmanship constructed entirely from Douglas fir.

The beautiful simplicity of each part of the stave church is intended to reflect a deeper understanding and a holistic expression. They have a service every night of the week and on Sunday.

There are 12 hand-carved Apostles' heads around the inside of the Church.

The small window allowed Lepers to take part in the service.

To the rear of the chapel, is a Prayer/Meditation Walk with seven religious statues and a suggested prayer topic by each one. It is located in a small canyon among the forest. A very peaceful setting for meditation and prayer.

Trust in God with child-like Faith.

To see all the stops along the walk, please click here.

It's a beautiful Chapel and a must see if in the Rapid City, SD, area.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

"CITY OF PRESIDENTS"…RAPID CITY

Tuesday, July 10 – We moved the motorhome over to Rapid City, SD, this morning, a short one-hour drive. Where's the rapids? We imagined the city having rapids much like Spokane, WA. Now someone tell us, how did Rapid City get its name?

We are staying at the Rapid City Elks Lodge. There are ten sites with electric and water. We will need to use the Flying J dump station when we leave. It is only a short drive from the Lodge and we need fuel in the motorhome anyway. The sites are a bit tight but will be fine for our two-day stay.

Site 5

Looking right.

Looking left.

We walked all over the historic district of town, taking pictures of many of the bronze president statues on every street corner. Some of the statues were very well done, but others were a bit iffy to us. Marsha just loves stuff like this.

So you think you know your presidents. (We are referring to our USA followers.) Here is little quiz. We will start you off very easy and then get much more difficult. The answers are way down at the bottom of the blog. No cheating. Remember, you click on any picture to make it larger.

Now for some fun.

It's a very nice historic downtown with most of the old building on about six city blocks of the historical district are still intact and thriving as unique shops and, of course, neat taverns. Marsha even found a place to get her hair done!

In Memorial Park there are two 12 ft. segments of the original Berlin Wall.

Main Street Square is a fun-filled public space that features special events, arts and culture, live concerts, seasonal ice skating and interactive fountains.

Main Street Square.

Downtown features an entire alley to any and all who you like to leave their artistic mark.

Painter's Alley.

1919 Original Elks Lodge and Opera House.

1889 Buell Building.

Left: 1915 Rapid City Fire Department Building. Right: 1886 Clower Building

While Marsha was getting her hair done, Paul was home trouble shooting a satellite TV problem. Upon arriving here, we could not get our Winegard Traveler automatic satellite dish to lock on the satellites. Paul called Direct TV. They said it was an alignment problem, and the automatic dish would have to be adjusted. Paul then called Bill Adams, the gentleman who originally installed the dish over two-years ago, to get his input. After some tests and trouble shooting from Bill, and a couple trips up on the roof to switch some wires, Paul was able to get the satellite up and running. The fix solved the problem, and it should not reoccur. 

We then drove out to the Chapel in the Hills. We will post more on that stop in the next blog.

Correct answers to the Presidents.

How did you do? We did not get a photo of every president, but if you would like to see some of the other presidents, please click here.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!