June 24, 2025 (Tue.) - Sylvan Setbacks, Scenic Wandering & Sticker Quests
The day began like clockwork—Lynn enjoying her morning coffee outside in the chilly fresh air and the quiet. Chilly enough to pull out the Ugg Boots and a blanket!
Our plan was to hike around Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park, so after a light breakfast in the RV, we hit the road around 11:30 AM. But wow—it was packed for a Tuesday! Gotta love summer crowds. With no room to park our oversized beast of a truck, we decided to save that adventure for another day. Perks of retirement: we’ve got time on our side.
We also decided it was finally time to grab an annual Custer State Park pass, and it’s already proving to be a great call. With our new South Dakota residency, we scored the $40 resident rate, and the motorcycle pass was half off. Considering the park charges $20 for a 7-day pass at the entrance, we’ve more than covered the cost with how often we’ve popped in. Note: There’s no fee when just passing through on Highway 16A, which is our usual route to and from Rapid City.
Instead, we finally stopped at the George S. Mickelson Historical Site (Gordon Stockade), a spot we’ve passed a dozen times but never explored—glad we did, it’s a fascinating piece of local history. From there, we followed a nearby dirt road around Stockade Lake, hopping out to do a bit of spontaneous hiking and exploring.
We grabbed a delicious buffet lunch at the State Game Lodge, still on a mission to find a Needles Highway sticker (no luck—this shop didn’t have one).
Next stop: Coolidge General Store, where we browsed and splurged on a $60 reversible bison blanket for Otis. It looks like it’ll repel fur pretty well, and let’s be real—Otis deserves the best. 😄No luck finding a sticker here either. We then strolled along the horse trail near the store for a short walk.
Taking the scenic route back, we cruised past the Badger Clark Historical Trail and stumbled upon an old schoolhouse and a tucked-away campground near the South Dakota Wildland Fire Department—a little discovery we hadn’t expected. We passed by the Badger Hole cabin but skipped the tour this time—after all the walking earlier, we were running low on steam.
We returned to camp around 3:30 PM, spotting deer, bison, and sheep along the way. Kirk settled in for a nap while Lynn caught up on blogging. Then came our 4 PM call with Thousand Trails, where they tried to pitch their new “subscription” model. The pricing? Let’s just say $4,000–$7,200 for a mid-tier plan (plus a hefty down payment) didn’t exactly win us over—especially since we’ve barely used what we already have. We’ll revisit at a later date.
All in all, a day filled with good food, good views, and yet another unsuccessful sticker hunt.
Weather – High 67*, Low 47*. Mild wind.
Traffic – None.
Food – State Game Lodge – very good.
Notable – Gordon Stockade, Stockade Lake, wildlife.
Screen time – The Waterfront
