Steven and Betty RV Adventures

MIDLAND, SD. The wind died down this morning, so driving was easy today, though road conditions are not as good west of the Missouri River. South Dakota is much hillier than I expected. Rather than pass hundreds of acres of corn and soy bean fields, in South Dakota it is green and gold patches, with cylindrical hay bales lying over the gold areas in some places, and combines harvesting wheat, oats, or millet in others. The green areas appear to be beans. Very new-looking John Deere equipment is at work everywhere.

We are now on Mountain Time, so gained an hour. We are in a very "out west" environment here at the Belvidere East KOA. The soil is dry and bare, and the wind has returned. Just trying to spray Windex on the windshield to clear off the bugs' remains sends the mist yards away from where you aim it.

View from Rest Area on I-90 Along Missouri River

Steven and Betty in Front of New Monument at Rest Area

Closeup of Steven and Betty

Belvidere East KOA

While I was writing the above mid-afternoon, Betty walked a mile over to the 1880 Town park to see what it was like. She called me to say it was well worth my walking on over. (We did not want to unhitch the Jeep since we would leave the next morning). I walked on over, since I needed exercise as much as she did, and found what is essentially a 19th century "out west" version of Williamsburg. On the second floor of the entry building alone are exhibits worth the price of admission (actually worth more since seniors get in for $10). On that floor are artifacts used in the filming of Dances with Wolves, which was filmed in several locations near here. I took many photos with my phone camera (did not expect it to be worth lugging my DSLR) which I have inserted below. Once outside the entry building, there are 50 exhibits, mostly old period buildings with period furnishings. One of the other buildings has the wagons used in the film. Just outside of this town is an old Presbyterian church, likely built by conservatives since this was long before the intrusion of liberalism. It is almost like a well restored ghost town except that these are buildings brought here originally to serve as a movie set, then added to over time to become the place it is today. At several locations throughout the town are speakers that continuously play the movie score of Dances with Wolves, one of the most beautiful movie scores ever written. The atmosphere is like stepping back in time. We stayed until almost 8 pm as a beautiful sunset lit the horizon. It threatened rain for a while, but we walked back to the motorhome dry. A wonderful afternoon and evening for our 5th wedding anniversary.

Star is Location of 1880 Town. Numbers Are Filming Locations.

Building Used in Movie as John Dunbar's Cabin

Tipi Used in Movie Where Dunbar Meets with Chiefs

View Inside Tipi

Mechanical buffalo were used in scenes where they were shot with arrows or made dangerous falls. No real animals were harmed in the making of the movie.