July 20, 2025 (Sun.) - A Low Key Day in Mitchell
Today was mostly about chores and catching up. Lynn tackled the blog, bills and laundry, and it turned out to be a productive win—she managed to post four blog entries covering five days of adventures. Still behind, but now only one week instead of two, which feels like progress!
Breakfast was a spontaneous creation by Kirk, thrown together with whatever ingredients were left in the RV—and it turned out to be a hit. He whipped up a delicious hashbrown sandwich using frozen hashbrown patties, bacon, cheese and eggs. Definitely not the healthiest option, but it was packed with flavor and quickly became a new favorite!
Kirk spent the day tinkering and strategizing, trying to lock down a plan for our upcoming RV repair at Camping World in Sioux Falls. He decided we’d leave Mitchell a day early, skipping out on one night’s campground fee—$33 isn’t a deal-breaker, especially when it’s less than a single meal out. He booked us at Sioux Falls KOA, conveniently located right next door to Camping World, so we could roll in early for our 9 AM appointment. Unfortunately, we could only get Sioux Falls KOA for one night. It was booked solid—thanks to the Rock the Country concert and the Sturgis migration, all the “nice-er” campgrounds were full. So the plan had to pivot. The new plan was to stay at the KOA one night, get the slide toppers fixed in a day, and then move to Tower Campground for the rest of our Sioux Falls stay.
Lynn was looking for a way to organize her hair clips and ties in the bathroom medicine cabinet, since they were taking up too much valuable shelf space. She asked Kirk for a solution, and he came up with a clever fix. Using a few small hooks and a bungee cord, he created a setup that made use of the otherwise wasted vertical space inside the cabinet. The result was perfect—Lynn could still store her clips and ties with easy access, and the shelves were freed up for other items. A simple idea turned into an awesome upgrade! He wins Best Husband award!
In the afternoon, we took Otis to the dog park to burn off some energy, then wandered over to the nearby baseball field to check it out. We were impressed—Mitchell has some seriously nice ball fields!
Dinner was a return visit to El Columpio, but Lynn skipped the crispy tacos this time and went for street tacos instead. Unfortunately, the server forgot our order, came back to ask again, and still got it wrong. Lynn ordered carnitas, but ended up with carne asada. Not a huge deal, though—the carne asada tacos were delicious (Lynn was not willing to wait further to request carnitas), and Kirk’s fajitas were solid too. Despite the hiccup, it’s still a reliable spot with tasty food.
The evening wrapped with another gorgeous sunset and—drumroll—one more moth down. The count seems to be dwindling, finally. We’ve been battling these little invaders since late June (around 6/25/25), starting back in Custer, and somehow they’ve stayed with us over 300 miles. Fingers crossed we’re nearing the end of the moth saga!
Not a lot of pics today.
Weather – High 83*, Low 64*. Wind 3-12 mph, gusts up to 25 mph.
Traffic – None.
Notable – Medicine cabinet upgrade. Sunset.
Food – Hashbrown breakfast sandwiches, El Columpio – very good.
Moth death toll – 41.
July 21, 2025 (Mon.) - Pre-historic Indian Village
The day began early and foggy, with Lynn up at 6:30 AM, though not by choice. She’d woken up at 2 AM with a brutal leg cramp in her right calf—the kind that stops you in your tracks. A deep stretch had triggered it, and the pain was so intense she was breathing like she was in labor just to get through it. After a few minutes of massaging, the worst passed, but she was left with a lingering ache that felt like a baseball lodged in her calf.
The morning unfolded slowly. Lynn settled into her usual coffee and blogging routine, while Kirk slept in until 9:15 AM, his standard start. By noon, we finally ventured out, stopping at the post office to send off bills, with Lynn still limping around from her midnight ordeal.
Since it was our last full day in Mitchell, we decided to visit the Pre-Historic Indian Village, one of the few local attractions we hadn’t yet explored. Despite Lynn’s sore leg, we figured a little walking might help loosen it up.
We weren’t expecting much, but the site turned out to be surprisingly fascinating. It’s an active archaeological dig, uncovering artifacts from a settlement over 1,000 years old. The tour began with a short video and a walk-through of replica living quarters, followed by a visit to the actual dig site. We lucked out—Christian, the Executive Director, happened to be on-site and personally led our tour. He even allowed us to walk on the dig site itself, something normally restricted without authorization. Standing on ancient soil, we learned about food storage, waste disposal, and daily life. One of the more memorable facts? Bison brains were used to tan hides, among other things such as eating them. We also learned about pemmican, a traditional food, and picked up a modern version from the gift shop—it tasted like beef jerky. It was quite educational and we found it worth the trip. Cost = $20 ($10 each).
Outside the entrance, we got an unexpected wildlife encounter. A marten/weasel? (or something similar) had just caught a chipmunk, and we wouldn’t have noticed if another couple’s dogs hadn’t alerted to it. When we looked over, the animal had the chipmunk in its mouth, and we could hear the chipmunk’s cries. The dogs startled the marten/weasel, causing it to drop its prey, and the chipmunk bolted to safety. Kirk managed to snap a quick photo of the moment.
We wrapped up the afternoon with lunch at Bradley’s Pub & Grill, located downtown next to the Corn Palace. It was decent, nothing spectacular, but a good way to wind down.
With the weather turning hot and humid, we headed back to the RV. Lynn’s allergies flared up again, sending her into another Benadryl-induced coma. She slept most of the afternoon, waking just long enough to enjoy Kirk’s dinner creation—filet mignon bites with veggies, which was delicious. Of course, sleeping all afternoon meant she was wide awake at 3 AM, but another dose of Benadryl helped her drift back to sleep.
A foggy start, a fascinating glimpse into ancient life, and a surprise wildlife rescue—not a bad way to end our time in Mitchell.
Weather – High 89*, Low 71*. Wind 6-20 mph.
Traffic – None.
Food – Bradley’s, home cooked filet mignon bites.
Notable – Pre-Historic Indian Village, wildlife drama.
