South Dakota Trip - Day 5

Wednesday morning Dad had a hard time getting the Motorhome to start. This was becoming a trademark of our trip - turn off the engine for more than 30min, have lots of fun trying to get it to start!

A google search revealed an O'Reilly's in Rapid City, about 45 minutes away.

Off to Rapid City we went - hoping to buy something to fix our ailing method of transport.

The clerk came out with a nifty little machine, hooked it up to some random places in the engine, and told Dad he thought it would require a new battery.

Dad purchased a new battery and he and the boys installed it in the parking lot while mom took several smaller children on a walk.

Hoping our RV problems were over we continued to Mount Rushmore.

After viewing the monuments and battling the crowds of other tourists, we decided to ride a coaster which was similar to an Alpine Slide.

We spent 4 hours at this mini amusement park. That was an enjoyable afternoon. 

Hoping to see some buffalo, antelope, and maybe some mule deer, we drove through Custer's Wildlife Loop. For the first 15 or 20 minutes we didn't see any wildlife and we were starting to get disappointed.

Dad sarcastically remarked that, "Maybe they should rename the park 'see lots of trees park".

Suddenly, we rounded a corner and saw a big buffalo standing on the road staring sardonically at several other vehicles in front of us.

He obligingly moved and soon we saw several antelope.

Moving on through the park we saw several mule deer and a colony of prairie dogs.

Just as we were exiting the park we came across a large herd of buffalo. Calves, cows and several large bulls.

The motorhome had been giving more problems as the day went on. Dad decided to go back to O'Reilly's as he still thought is was a starter problem.

Back to O'Reilly's we went, pulling into their parking lot 20 minutes before closing time. Dad purchased the starters and decided to park at Wal-Mart over night. We needed some stuff at Wal-Mart, and if Dad needed too, he could bike the mile to O'Reilly's to buy additional parts.

We spent the night beside several other RVs - apparently Wal-Mart is a well-known place to park.