Tag Archives: America’s Mailbox

South Dakota

AFB Tour – Minuteman II Missile Silo & New Alpine Friends (Ellsworth AFB FamCamp, Box Elder SD)

It was overcast all day Tuesday which is a nice break from the recent heat.  Although, we could do without these annoying wind gusts.

We decided to stay yet another day here at the Ellsworth AFB FamCamp overflow lot for a couple reasons; #1) we still haven’t decided where to go next in the short time we have left before we need to take our grandson back to COS for the beginning of the school year; and #2) I received a message from Carol & Noel Peck who are fellow Alpine Coach owners and blog readers.  (It’s good to know someone out there reads the blog)  🙂  They just arrived in Rapid City with relatives (grandkids included) and suggested we get together if possible.  Now, we couldn’t say no to that… so I responded to Carol and we set up a tentative 4PM “Happy Hour” get-together at their campground.  But, more on that later…

With some time to kill today before our 4PM date; we jumped in the Silverado to go to the FamCamp office and pay $10 for another night.  But first, we closed up the slides on the Coach to prevent the slide-out awnings from getting ripped up by the annoying wind gusts.  I also ran the satellite dish down to prevent any wind damage.

Then we went back outside the main gate to the South Dakota Air & Space Museum again.  You may recall from my last post (click HERE), that we already visited the museum and the outside static displays yesterday, but it was too late in the day to take the bus tour.  Well, now we had the opportunity…

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The tour cost us $21 but we figured it would be worth it to get a narrated tour of the base and to go inside a Minuteman II Missile Silo.

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Information sign on the Ellsworth AFB Bus Tour and Minuteman II Silo visit.

We just missed the bus for the 1PM tour and had to wait ~45 minutes for the 2PM tour, so we walked through the museum again and examined some of the displays more closely.  Our grandson Kaan tried on one of the children’s bomber jackets in the gift shop; looks good on him, right?  Send money mom…

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Kaan tried on a jacket in the gift store while we were waiting for the tour.

Our tour bus…

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Our tour guide for the hour-long bus tour…

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According to my good friend Wikipedia: “The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing (28 BW) assigned to the Air Combat Command’s Twelfth Air Force. The 28 BW is one of only two B-1B Lancer strategic bomber wings in the United States Air Force, the other being the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas.”  (Click HERE for more info)

With the air conditioner running at the back of the mini-bus, it was difficult to hear the nice elderly gentleman that was our guide for the tour.  And honestly, we were a little disappointed with the AFB portion of the tour… our guide simply pointed out the obvious, i.e., admin building, water tower, sewer treatment facility, bowling alley, BX, etc., etc.,  I guess we were expecting to see the bomber hangars at a closer distance, maintenance facilities, ammo bunkers, and so on… but it wasn’t to be.  I suppose this tour is designed more for the average civilian that maybe hasn’t even seen a military base before. 

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Kaan and Stilla on the Ellsworth AFB and Minuteman II missile silo tour-bus.

When we got to the Minuteman II silo, we found out that it’s a training facility and was never operational.  But it was still cool to see…  Click HERE for a youtube video tour of this actual silo and HERE for more history on the missiles at Ellsworth AFB.

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Our tour guide explains how the silo was accessed.
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Support vehicle (security) for the Minuteman II missile.
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Support vehicle (transporter erector) for the Minuteman II missile.

Our tour-guide explained the operation of the silo door.

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We went down a stairwell to access the silo.  A “real” silo would not have these stairs, just a small access tube with a ladder.

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Stilla in the stairwell to the silo.
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Inside the Minuteman II silo.

And here’s the Minuteman II missile sitting in it’s silo…

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Minuteman II missile at the Ellsworth AFB training facility.
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Minuteman II missile at the Ellsworth AFB training facility.

We could view the missile through the cut-outs in the silo wall.

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This is the access tube that would be used at an actual Minuteman II missile silo.  Luckily for us, we had a stairwell at this training facility.

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Minuteman II missile at the Ellsworth AFB training facility.
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Access lift for maintenance inside the silo. Notice the rollers against the side walls.

Back up top, we briefly toured the support trailer parked above the silo that was used to arm the missile.

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Support trailer for arming the missile. Access port is underneath.
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Inside the support trailer for arming the missile. Access port is in the middle of the floor.

When we got back to the museum entrance at the end of our tour, our tour-guide mentioned that this B-25 of “Doolittle Raiders” fame was General Eisenhower’s personal transport plane.  I must not have read the sign the first time we went through the aircraft display(s) and didn’t know this bit of trivia when I posted previously.  I thought it was historically significant and interesting, so here you are:

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By now, it was time to go visit our fellow Alpine Coach friends Noel & Carol Peck.  They have a membership at Hart Ranch located just south of Rapid City off of 79.

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We arrived at the Hart Ranch Resort and stopped at the entrance shack to get a pass.  The resort is “members only” and they have to keep out the riff-raff, like us 🙂

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What a nice resort/campground!  They have everything here… even a gas station!   We quickly found Noel & Carol’s Alpine Coach…

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Noel & Carol Peck’s Alpine Coach at Hart Ranch.
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Noel’s nice-looking Heritage Softail. He also has an Ultra-Classic parked here.

We get to meet the nicest people at the nicest places… here’s Noel, Carol, myself, and Stilla inside their Coach.

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It was great meeting Noel and Carol!  They are also Alpine SoCal members but we haven’t had the opportunity to meet them at any of the Alpine Coach-related rallies we’ve been to in recent years, although we have mutual friends.  We visited for a while over adult beverages and got acquainted.  They plan to stay here during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  Noel’s son is parked next to them here at the resort and even has a hot rod (sorry no pic) that they can enjoy touring around in… must be nice 🙂

We enjoyed our quality time with them before we had to head back.  Carol even shared a couple of nice destinations that we noted for future reference.

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It was great meeting you, Noel & Carol… hope to see you again soon at the next rally or down the road!  Stay in touch 🙂

We drove back to the Coach at Ellsworth AFB and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

We’re still not sure where we’ll end up tomorrow… check back to see.

South Dakota

Visiting Deadwood (Ellsworth AFB FamCamp, Box Elder SD)

On Saturday we moved from Americas Mailbox campground to Ellsworth Air Force Base FamCamp.  We traveled a whopping 3 miles (east on I-90) after topping off the diesel tank at Flying J which is right next to Americas Mailbox on exit 61.  As I mentioned in my last post – the campground loops at the FamCamp were full but they have room at their “overflow” lot for $10.  The “overflow” lot is located separate from the FamCamp.  It’s a few miles at the back of the base and has 30 Amp electric but no water or sewer.  That works for us, especially at that price.

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Main gate at Ellsworth AFB, Box Elder SD.
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Bomber next to the main gate at Ellsworth AFB. It’s in the Air & Space Museum next door.
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Water tower on Ellsworth AFB, Box Elder, SD.

Here we are parked in a row with the other rigs at the “overflow” lot on the back side of Ellsworth AFB.

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We hung around the Air Force Base (AFB) on Saturday and visited the Post Exchange (PX), or Base Exchange (BX) as it’s called on an AFB.

On Sunday, we jumped into the Silverado and headed north on I-90…

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Box Elder water tower (our new “hometown”).

we turned west at Sturgis on 14A until we reached the town of Deadwood, SD some 50 miles later…

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Click HERE and HERE for more info on the historic town of Deadwood.

We spent the whole day just wandering around town checking things out on this lazy Sunday.

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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Stilla, Kaan, and little Coach on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Site of Saloon where Wild Bill was shot on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.

We enjoyed dinner in a courtyard with live entertainment.

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Stilla and Coach at a inner courtyard bar/grill on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Trolley on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Stilla, Kaan, and little Coach enjoying ice cream cones on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.

We also visited a miniature railroad set up in the basement of one of the shops.  Kaan really enjoyed watching the train go around.

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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.

Click HERE for more info on this miniature railroad.

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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.
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Miniature Railroad in a basement on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.

If you’re ever in Deadwood, be sure to check out this attraction.  You have to appreciate all the work that goes into these… and best of all it’s practically free.  Donations are accepted and it costs $1 to make the train start moving.

Deadwood was nice, and we only left $40 at the slot machines 🙂  Unfortunately, we missed the daily gunfight that takes place on the main street because it was Sunday – the only day of the week they don’t do the show.

We left Deadwood and took the scenic route towards Lead.  Then we took 385 through the Black Hills to get to 44, and then through downtown Rapid City until we got back on I-90 for the remaining 5 mile drive to Ellsworth AFB again.  About 75 miles for the return trip, (125 miles for the day).

That’s all for now…

 

 

South Dakota

Friday – Post 1 of 2: Drivers Licenses & Storybook Island (Americas Mailbox, Box Elder SD)

Authors note: It was a busy Friday – I split this post up into two separate entries due to lots of pictures and unrelated subject matter.  This is Post 1 of 2:

Our first stop on Friday was the SD Drivers License Bureau in Rapid City.

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We are now officially South Dakota residents!  It was quick-in and quick-out… with no line to speak of.  The hardest part was filling out the form.  We showed two forms of ID, looked in the eye exam machine, and took new pictures.  We were even able to get our motorcycle endorsements with no fuss.

Then we drove over to the nearby Elks Lodge to check out the RV sites.  They have nice sites for $25 located right next to the golf course, but they didn’t have any openings until Sunday.  We decided to wait and check out the FamCamp on nearby Ellsworth AFB later for availability and rates.

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So then we checked our iPhone apps for nearby attractions and found Storybook Island which is a free (donations accepted) children’s theme park that our grandson Kaan would really enjoy.  Stilla took lots of pictures – so for her, and our daughter Jennifer’s benefit… here are a bunch of grandson pics (below):

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Friday’s Post 2 of 2 coming shortly… check back for pictures of our trip up to Sturgis and the surrounding area…

South Dakota

Changing Domicile (America’s Mailbox, Box Elder SD)

I told you in my last post from Wednesday that we were just going to relax at the Badlands Interior Campground and that’s exactly what we did.  It was also our 32nd wedding anniversary so we just spent time together.

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David & Stilla (15 July 1983)

But first, we said goodbye to my Dad and stepmom Elaine…

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They’re heading back to Hermosa for a night and then on back home to Colorado Springs.

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Dad pulling the coach over to the dump station under Elaine’s watchful eye.
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Kaan, Dad, & Elaine.

Bye Dad and Elaine… safe travels!  We’ll see you in a little less than a month when we go back to drop the grandson off with our oldest daughter before school starts.

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Dad & Elaine leaving Badlands Interior Campground.

After we said goodbye to my Dad & Elaine, we hung out at our campsite…

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and at the pool…

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It was a great day of just hanging out.  Happy Anniversary to my dear wife Stilla – thanks for putting up with me for 32 years!  Hopefully there will be another 32 🙂

On Thursday, we packed up and went to the dump station to take care of business…

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then we departed the Badlands Interior Campground…

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and looked back one last time on the Badlands because we headed southwest on Hwy 44 instead of going through the park again…

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Our destination for the day was Americas Mailbox located just east of Rapid City in Box Elder, SD.  Travel distance for the day was about 75 miles.

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Americas Mailbox in Box Elder, SD.

Click HERE for information on Americas Mailbox.

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Main Office for Americas Mailbox in Box Elder, SD.

We pulled in and went to the office to get one of their nineteen full hook-up RV sites behind the building.  And guess what?  Another Alpine is here!  Larry and Lorna Kenney from Phoenix!  It turns out we were in Quartzsite together in January for the Alpine Coach “Desert Rat Rally”.  The sites here are a little over $30 per night.  We paid for two nights and were able to park next to Larry & Lorna.

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Parked next to Larry & Lorna Kenney at Americas Mailbox in Box Elder SD.

Inside the office, we were greeted by a very kind receptionist, who linked us up with a representative named Carla.  She sat down with us and explained the different mail forwarding service “Home Base” plans and talked us through the procedures of getting drivers licenses and changing license plates.

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Inside the Main Office for Americas Mailbox in Box Elder, SD.

She was very helpful and with her input we decided to take the Bronze Plan for our mail forwarding service.  This is their least expensive plan (click HERE for more info) and should meet our needs since all of our bills and statements are online.  We can always upgrade later if needed.  The little bit of mail that we still get is currently going to our youngest daughter’s address and consists primarily of junk mail.

We made plans to visit the DMV for new licenses tomorrow (Friday), but I’ll write more about that in my next post.  And with Carla’s input, we decided to wait on registering the vehicles since the Coach and the Harley were just renewed in May.  Carla said it’s very common for people to wait until their vehicles are due for renewal… which makes sense – since we already paid Colorado… why should we throw that money away to renew in South Dakota right away, right?  If questioned by law enforcement about why we have SD licenses but CO plates, we simply tell them the truth and say we’re in the process of moving.  Carla made copies of our vehicle(s) initial purchase information, titles, taxes paid, etc., so all we have to do is make a call to Americas Mailbox and they will register our vehicles and send our plates to us. (for a $30 fee).  I might still go ahead and register the Silverado though, since it’s due in November.  But I’ll wait until Monday to decide.

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Cool picture hanging in the ‘Americas Mailbox’ lobby.

After taking care of the paperwork in the office, it was already late, so we drove over to a nearby TGI Fridays for dinner.  When we got back from dinner, I spent  some time sitting outside with an adult beverage talking to Larry about Alpines… and of course we compared this-and-that on our Coaches, talked mods and issues, etc.,  which is just what us Alpine Coach drivers do 🙂  It’s a small RV world after all.

And that’s all for now… I know I’m behind but I have lots of pictures for my next post because on Friday we took our grandson to Storybook Island in Rapid City after getting our drivers licenses and then we drove back up I-90 to tour around Sturgis.

Saturday (today) we moved over to Ellsworth AFB to take advantage of their cheaper rates at the FamCamp.  So check back in for more on all that…