The Black Hills: Hart Ranch, Rapid City and Sturgis

Mid July found us back "home": Hart Ranch, where we spent almost 5 months last summer. Kind of nice being back. We had a good spot.

Site 121

Bikes are a convenient option here for getting places: Like Water Aerobics and Pickleball

While here we were fortunate to have a couple of really nice neighbors. For the first week and a half, it was a couple with ties to Saguaro Co-Op in Benson, AZ and with whom we plan on meeting up with this coming winter season. The next week and a half it was a couple from Alberta that have taken up permanent reidence in Mexico. They had their son and his family down from Alberta for a "family get together".  And then there were the neighbors from across the street:

4 Bostons. Can you believe the coincidence.

Same spot during Bike Week. They were from Nebraska

Oh, BTW, there is a reason we don't stay in Arizona during the summer.....

While at Hart Ranch we enjoy some of the activities and events that they put on. First there was the car show, and then the weekly wednesday night rodeos.......

Really up close!

With Bike Week, we find a whole bunch of new things to do, or do over, as we have done some in the past. Just prior to Bike week, before the Bikers arrive( estimates put the number at over 500,000) we try to get to places that we know will be crowded and packed, like the Alpine Inn in Hill City, SD. During Bike Week, the actual main street is closed down to Bike traffic only, much like the main street of Sturgis. So we did lunch at the Alpine Inn and then in to downtown Rapid City for lunches at The Firehouse Brewery and Jambonz.

Always a treat. Presidential statues on every street corner.

The Firehouse Brewery

We always try to get up to Sturgis just prior to Bike Week officially starting.

Lunch at The Knuckle Brewery

A Visit to the Buffalo Chip, which becomes the 3rd largest city in the state during bike week

A new favorite beer

There are always some interesting sites, bikes, and experiences during Sturgis Bike Week.....

Under the big tent at Black Hills Harley Davidson. And yes, they are all for sale.

The Bikes Only parking at Black Hills Harley Davidson

Neighbor at Hart Ranch. He custom made both of these bikes

Parked in downtown Rapid City

While at Hart Ranch, I had the opportunity to update my one man inflatable pontoon boat.

I added a depth finder

better view of it

And this is Sheriden Lake where I went fishing

Sheriden Lake in the Black Hills, just north of Hill City

Can't forget Lexie. She really came in to her own here. Hart Ranch had a huge dog yard, however there was a problem with big dogs mixing with small dogs. Finally the complaints hit the right ears and they put in a divider fence. Big dogs on one side, small dogs on the other. The pics that follow tell the story....

Lexie and Kilani. What a ball they had together.

She ran those dogs ragged. She just wouldn't quit. And when we were done, it was back to the trailer where she would sleep for the rest of the day.

Lexie and Gabby....

Since Rapid City is our new "home", while here we did our medical things. I had a return appointment with Dermatologist in Rapid City for a check up. This happened the second day there. During the exam they found 4 areas of concern and "froze" them. No skin cancer. Yea. Mary had an appointment with her PA a couple of days later.  Some testing revealed some problems, specifically with Sleep Apnia and her heart. She was then scheduled for SleepStudy testing. Needless to say the last 2 weeks of our stay here were quite hectic, and tough for her. Hopefully we are on the right track and the testing caught some problems before they became bigger problems. Probably more to follow later.

Lastly, just before we left, we were lucky to have old friends Paulette & Jerry from Vermont take advantage of our guest stay offer and spend 3 nights at Hart Ranch. They were on their way back home to Vermont after a summer of caravaning with Airstream Group to Alberta, BC, Washington and Oregon. They were the ones that purchased our Airstream from us when we decided to go full timing. We enjoyed their company and took them to Jambonz in downtown Rapid City for some real Cajun food and ended our stays at Hart Ranch with dinner at Shipwreck's...

And a good time was had by all......

And so ended our stay at Hart Ranch for this year. The next day we would be heading out for points south, specifically Chama, NM for a week, but not before stops in Cheyenne,WY and Pueblo, CO.

Lake Oahe & The Bass Elite Series

On June 19 we pulled in to Codgers Cove RV Park in Pierre, SD for a one month stay that was to include a Bass Elite Series Event, and launched from Spring Creek Marina, right across the street from us. This was an event that I had been looking forward to since I first heard they were coming to SD the previous October.  Codgers Cove is a pretty laid back RV park. No office. You pull in and text or call the owner Vic or his son Andy and they come to meet you. We followed the procedure and soon found our new "home" for the next month.

That is us in the back left of the pic

Our Spot - right up front and close to where the tournament was to begin

Codgers Cove is primarily seasonal rigs and all of them are fishermen. The park also includes 94 individual storage units for the purpose of storing a boat. Which many of them do. Lake Oahe is famous for its Walleye population and the overwhelming majority of those fishing this lake are fishing for walleye. Smallmouth bass fishing was an oddity. Thus the tournament was going to be interesting.

I mentioned that Spring Creek Marina was right across the street from us.

I took advantage of the marina to get in some fishing out of my pontoon boat.

The week prior to the arrival of the Elite Series Anglers, I took advantage of the Marina to get in some fishing. I actually did quite well in the protected area in and around the Marina. Evidently smallmouth were still on the spawn and hadn't moved out to deeper water just yet. I wasn't complaining when one day my 5 best were in the vicinity of 15 lbs.

The days passed and soon we were into the week of the Tournament and the Bass Anglers started showing up. A good bunch of them stayed in Codgers Cove RV Park in a new section that was opening up just for them. I kind of acted as the greeter and pointed them to where they needed to go (thus eliminating their need to call or text Vic or Andy). The first to arrive was Rick Clunn from MO, followed by David Walker from TN, Mike McClellan from AR, and Shin Fukae from TX.

Other "notables" that I greeted and "helped" into the park were: Ish Monroe, Mike Iaconnelli, Justin Lucas, Matt Lee, Aaron Martens(wife- she drove the rig),  and Matt Herren. It was kind of interesting, us being full time rv'ers, watching these people pull in and get settled. Lexie and I enjoyed walking through their "park" each day for exercise.

Aerial view of Codgers Cove RV Park. Left is Seasonals and Storage units, center and right are the Elite Series rigs. Lake Oahe and Spring Cove in the background. Top left is Spring Creek Marina and tournament launch

One thing we all got to share were the unbelievable thunderstorms we experienced that first week. Never seen anything like it. Our NOA  Weather Alarm was going off and scaring the snot out of us. That was the first big storm. We lucked out and it hit in force just 5 miles north of us.  And a few nights later,  the siren in the park went off warning all of us to take shelter. Threat of golf ball sized hail and 70 mph winds. We got in the truck and headed to the shelter in the park. It was full. Never thought I would be sharing a shelter with the Elite Anglers. Again, we missed the brunt of the storm and no damage or anyone hurt. Whew! But what an experience.

In addition to Codgers Cove, Elite Anglers stayed in Cabins that are part of the Spring Creek Marina Complex.  There were probably 10 or so full size cabins- almost exclusively used by the Elite Series anglers. Right in front of us at our spot were the cabins of Casey Ashley, Brandon Lester, Andy Montgomery, Jeff Kriet, Terry Scroggins, Tommy Biffle, Chris Lane and David Fritts.

Brandon Lester's rig

Andy Montgomery and Terry Scroggins

Practice days were Tues, Wed, and Thurs. I was down at the docks at 5:00 AM each morning to watch the guys launch and occasionally help out by holding their boat in place while they parked their truck & trailer. Day 1 of practice was pretty foggy early......

KVD in the Nitro boat

Things you don't get to see normally- Big Mama

JVD

Day 2 practice was a little better, ie, no fog. At the docks again at 5:00 AM. Nice thing was I got to meet and talk to a lot of the competitors and this was GREAT.

Eventual winner - Mark Daniels

Brandon Powlinauk

Chad Pipkens

Matt Lee

While the Elites were out practicing, it was interesting to watch and talk with members of the different Mfg support teams that were there. And they were kept busy during the practice days.

Seth Feider with Electrical problems

Timmy Horton with motor issue

I haven't mentioned so far, that when I heard about the Bass Elite Series coming to SD and Lake Oahe, I also signed up for the Marshall's program. The Marshall's are assigned to an individual angler and ride with him during the tournament day. They are supposed to be the eyes of the tournament officials. In addition, they assist with the BassTrak program by reporting each catch that an angler makes during the tournement day. Kind of interesting. It all started out with a Marshall's meeting on thursday afternoon at the tournament headquarters in Pierre. At that time we were given special Marshall's gear- shirt, hat plus some promotional giveaways and then a discussion of the expectations- what we should be doing, and what we absolutely could not do. When this was done, we joined all the Elite Series Anglers who had been having their own meeting. At that time, we were assigned an angler. I drew Edwin Evers from Oklahoma. 

And then it was time for the tournament to start.

Edwin launched from the area in front of his cabin. I met him there at about 5:30 AM.

Ott DeFoe launched from the same area.

Edwin getting ready for the day

We were in the last 'wave', here we are passing the inspection area.

Big catch of the day - a 4 lb'er

 This pic was one of the only ones Edwin allowed me to take on this particular day. He had asked that I refrain from taking pics because he did not want to tip off his location, as he was fishing bridge pilings. And since there are only 2 bridges within 100 miles of the launch, if he had a good day, everyone would know where he caught them and would have been there the next day. I complied while recuperating from the trip there.

I mentioned recuperating. Day 1 was not a good one for me. Little did I know that on a day with a 15-20 mph wind out of the North, we would be heading to his spot which was 95 miles north. Right in to 2-3 foot waves. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine anything like that ride. I literally had the s**t pounded out of me. I actually thought I had a concussion from the pounding my head and neck hurt so bad. I was never so glad to be back after the day was over. It was so bad, and I hurt so bad, that I scratched going out the second day to recover. I was supposed to go out with Matt Lee and so disappointed that it didn't happen. I did elect to go out the third day and was fortunate to draw Andy Montgomery from South Carolina. Andy was staying in the cabin right in front of us, so no problem meeting him there. Andy is a nice guy and I enjoyed our day together. Instead of traveling 2 hrs and 95 miles, we did 1/2 hour and about 28 miles. He did not have a good day, but it was still very interesting watching him operate.

Getting ready for launch on day 3

On our way out

Justin Lucas up close and personal. Because he was in contention for  Angler of the Year, he had a cameraman instead of a Marshall

Spectators watching us

On our way in after a day on the water

Jason Wheeler in front of us

Fish checkin

Day 3 was done. And so was my Marshaling. There was not much that I could do as far as BassTrak was concerned as we spent the entire day in waters where there was NO cell phone coverage. Fishing was not good for Andy. They just weren't eating what he was throwing. All in all though, for me it was a good day and I enjoyed Andy. I wish him all the best. He would be leaving the area early the next morning for Sioux Falls where he would catch a plane to get back home to see his wife and little girl. A friend would drive his rig back.

And then the final 12 on day 4. I was up bright and early and out on the docks to see the final 12, say hello and good luck to a few and then watch them take off......

Had to say hello to Josh Bertrand - from Phoenix with ties to New England

Dave Mercer doing the interviews, here with Jacob Wheeler

A look to Spring Creek Headquarters- and the Restaurant where Mary and I had a few good meals.

The leader of the tournament Mark Daniels heading out

The final 12 heading out

Codgers Cove RV Park, the Elite Series, and Lake Oahe were quite an event for me. Lots of memories to take with me when we left.  Before we leave this story, there is one last thing that I need to share. It has to do with the day that we had the Marshall's meeting. As I was standing in line to get my Marshall's shirt and hat, Don Barone, one of the writers for Bassmaster Magazine and a frequent contributor to Bass website, said hello and asked where I was from. When I told him that I was a full time rv'er, his eyes lit up and he asked me if when the meetings were over, if he could interview me for a story. 2 days later the story was on page 1 of the Bass website. I couldn't believe it.
The article was called Comfort Zone.