A slow week - for us...

August 22, 2010
Hermosa (Rapid City), South Dakota

It's been a slow and relaxing week for us here in the Black Hills (compared to my friend, Dave, who completed a 1,600 kilometer (~1,000 miles) bicycle event in Italy in under 120 hours). Whew!

Tuesday, we gathered up all Geri's documents and headed for the DMV Office in Rapid City, about 20 miles away. We've heard all sorts of horror stories about people being refused a driver's license renewal because they don't have the right documents. It seems that since the Patriot Act was implemented, renewals require proof of citizenship, Social Security Number and residence. Fortunately, there's a special rule for us RVers where a RV Park receipt and an affidavit on residence is accepted. The big issue for many people seems to be the other documents. Hospital (not certified) birth certificates, expired passports and especially name mismatches for the ladies have been a real problem. For example, who thinks to get a new Social Security Card after a marriage? Apparently, not everyone. Then it becomes a matter of providing documents to trace name changes (certified marriage certificates, divorce decrees, etc.) that many people might not think to bring to the DMV.

Fortunately for us, we did get Geri a new Social Security Card many years ago, and we had all our paperwork lined up. I even had the RV Park print off a new receipt showing her name just to be safe. We were in and out in about 20 minutes, including the time required to fill out the application and wait for our number to be called.

After a celebratory brunch at the local Perkins, we did a bit of shopping at the local Wally World before heading home. This being the primary reason for our stop here in South Dakota, we knew that we could now relax. And that's essentially what we've done this week. On Wednesday, we did make out a more comprehensive grocery list and made another run into town for shopping (Sam's, Wally, Farmer's Market, Safeway) and to pick up our accumulated mail at the mail service office. I saved a stamp and brought a check for our annual renewal at the same time.

Other than that, it's been very relaxing - and it's turned from warm to hot. After several days in the upper-80s and lower-90s, it was 97°F yesterday and aiming for 101-102°F today. And we thought we'd beat the heat by leaving AZ! On the other hand, it's supposed to break tomorrow and we'll have lower-80s and even 70s mid-week. And, it's been cool enough at night that we've been able to turn the A/C off and open the windows. It's also pretty buggy, mostly locust/grasshoppers (still not sure which, just not crickets) and no-see-ums (vicious little things), but they're not getting in the way as it's been too hot to spend much time outside anyway.

We've eaten pretty well, with Hot Dogs (I know that doesn't sound special, but Geri made her Famous Sauerkraut - woo-hoo!), a Beef Tenderloin Roast, Veal Parm, and Slow-cooked Baby Back Ribs on the menu. Tonight, I'm making some of our version of Philly Cheesesteaks; who knows, it might even be another Margarita Night.

Once the heat breaks, we've got some sightseeing planned. We'll make another stop at Mount Rushmore (probably hasn't changed much since our last visit in 2006) and tour Custer State Park (buffalo and donkey haven). We'll make the trek up to Deadwood for the tourist traps (last time, we had the pups with us so were somewhat constrained from walking around town) and I've got a reservation at our favorite local restaurant, The Corn Exchange, for Thursday night. We've had a few other recommendations on places to go, so we'll look to fit those into the schedule as well.

Life is good...