Tag Archives: Ellsworth AFB

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…

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.

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…

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

Our tour bus…

Our tour guide for the hour-long bus tour…

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.

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.

Our tour guide explains how the silo was accessed.

Support vehicle (security) for the Minuteman II missile.

Support vehicle (transporter erector) for the Minuteman II missile.

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

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.

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

Minuteman II missile at the Ellsworth AFB training facility.

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

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.

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.

Support trailer for arming the missile. Access port is underneath.

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:

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.

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 🙂

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

Noel & Carol Peck’s Alpine Coach at Hart Ranch.

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.

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.

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

New License Plates; South Dakota Air & Space Museum (Ellsworth AFB FamCamp, Box Elder SD)

2015/07/21 davidhobden@mac.com

Monday – my new favorite day of the week since retirement; was another good day in our new hometown of Box Elder, SD 🙂 But, man – is it ever hot here… it’s only ~80 degrees here but it feels like what would be 95 to 100 degrees in Colorado.

I decided to go ahead and register the Silverado and the Harley with SD plates today. The Silverado isn’t due for renewal until November, but that’s right around the corner when you think about it… and it will cost $30 for each registration that Americas Mailbox does on my behalf when I’m out of the state. The Harley isn’t due for renewal until May, but I figured it was a minimal cost to register here and therefore nothing would be gained by waiting… as a matter of fact, it would just cost me an additional $30 if I waited. I’ll still leave the Urban Escape Vehicle with CO plates for now since it’s not due until May of next year. Besides, the Coach has the disabled veteran plates that are free in CO. I wrote about this and changing domicile in a previous post (click HERE).

So I gathered up my paperwork for both the Silverado and Harley, and headed into town. First, we stopped by Americas Mailbox to tell them of my change in plans, and the ever-so-helpful representative ‘Carla’ went over the paperwork I would need and gave us directions to the Rapid City administration building.

We found the License Plate section in the administration building without any problem. I saw blank forms hanging in the entryway for title registration and personalized plates. I grabbed them to start filling out. There was a line of people (probably 10) in front of us, but it went quickly – and before I even had time to fill out the “new vehicle/title registration” forms – we were called to the desk. The clerk said; “don’t worry about the forms, just give me your titles and SD license”. She typed the pertinent information into her computer, and printed out the same form ready for my signature. I asked about personalized plates, and she even typed that information into the computer and printed out another copy for signature.

Voila! Not even 30 minutes in the building and I was done! Colorado could sure use some tips from these folks in South Dakota! I’ve never had a more pleasant experience or shorter wait-time in my life. I paid less than $130 for the Silverado and less than $50 for the Harley AND that’s with personalized plates! I received a paper temporary permit to put in the windshield until my new plates are mailed. I can just leave the current CO plates on the vehicles until then. Oh, and the title fee was only $5 for each vehicle… “Take that – Colorado”.

And BTW – Our new personalized plates will be ‘UEV 1’ for the Silverado and ‘UEV 2’ for the Harley. And if you don’t already get it – ‘UEV’ stands for ‘Urban Escape Vehicle’ 🙂 I hope to get ‘URBNSKP’ on the plates for the Coach when the time comes in April or May of next year.

Afterwards, we stopped by Cabela’s which is right next to I-90 at the same exit (61) as Americas Mailbox. Cabela’s is always fun to browse, especially if you don’t spend too much money there. They don’t allow dogs in this store, but they offered a kennel for little “Coach” behind the customer service desk… that was nice of them. It was too hot to leave him in the Silverado. We often have to take turns visiting places, while one of us stays outside with little Coach.

Giant buffalo and grandson Kaan in front of the Cabela’s in Rapid City.

Our Grandson Kaan in front of the wildlife display at Cabela’s in Rapid City.

After looking through Cabela’s we stopped at an RV service & sales place (I-90 RV & Auto Supercenter) across from Americas Mailbox to ask if they could repair the dash A/C on the Coach. It stopped working a while ago and we’ve just been dealing with it by turning on the generator and roof A/C when it gets too hot while traveling. I was hoping to be told something like; “Sure, bring the Coach by tomorrow on your way through and we’ll take care of you”, but they didn’t have any openings for service until Friday. So we moved on.

And then we visited Camping World (sorry no pics). I forgot how far it was past Rapid City going north. It’s actually in Summerset, SD. Anyway, we found a few small items to buy, which we always seem to do at a Camping World. I also got some tips from their service center on places in the area that might be able to repair our dash A/C. I was told they don’t service air conditioners here.

After supporting the local Camping World, we headed back to Ellsworth AFB and visited the South Dakota Air & Space Museum located just outside the main gate:

This is a pretty cool museum that is free to visit. They also offer tours on small air-conditioned buses that take you through the AFB but they don’t allow dogs. Cost is $8 per person and $5 for children. Maybe we can come back later for the bus tour if we leave little “Coach” in the Coach with the A/C on.

Here’s some pictures of the planes and other static displays outside the museum:

Stilla and I took turns walking through the museum building while one of us stayed with little “Coach” outside:

And here’s a few more pics outside the museum:

This is a really nice museum and you can’t beat the cost (free)… it’s always cool to see aircraft and I think Kaan was impressed by the huge jets.

We might be moving on soon, still not sure… I received a message last night from a fellow Alpine Coach owner that just arrived in the area, who suggested we get together. Maybe we can do just that…

Stay tuned…

South Dakota

Visiting Deadwood (Ellsworth AFB FamCamp, Box Elder SD)

2015/07/20 davidhobden@mac.com

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.

Main gate at Ellsworth AFB, Box Elder SD.

Bomber next to the main gate at Ellsworth AFB. It’s in the Air & Space Museum next door.

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.

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…

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…

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.

Stilla, Kaan, and little Coach on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.

Site of Saloon where Wild Bill was shot on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.

We enjoyed dinner in a courtyard with live entertainment.

Stilla and Coach at a inner courtyard bar/grill on Main Street in Deadwood, SD.

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.

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

Click HERE for more info on this miniature railroad.

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)

2015/07/19 davidhobden@mac.com

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.

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.

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):