Do you know the way to..... Gillette?

Left St Louis May 5th, headed north and west. We have some empty states on our USA map we gotta fill: N and S Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Idaho. Gonna get them all in the next 3 months. We have 10 days to get to Spearfish, SD to join our St Louis RV club, the Gateway Getaways, for a pre-rally before the FMCA convention in Gillette, WY. Our plan is to travel a day, then sightsee a day. Here's a link to the map of our itinerary. First stop, Kirksville, MO, hometown of my bride, Nancy, and still home to her two older brothers. Stayed at Thousand Hills State Pk.

There is a nice sized lake for boating, skiing, and fishing, as well as trails, boat and kayak rentals, and a restaurant. Good spot. Campsites have power only. First evening we enjoyed dinner with Carl and Shirley Baldwin, and Shirley's brother Larry, at Charles and Cathy Baldwin's home. Carl, Shirley, and Larry are off in the morning for Alaska. They plan on a round trip of 11K miles in 5 weeks. Wow. Sharing an Airstream trailer. Sounds like an adventure! Spent the next day with Charles and Cathy, visiting old haunts and having dinner at Heartland. Don't miss this place if you're in the area for a great meal!

Next day the plan was to go to Ledges State Park in Madrid, Iowa. Unfortunately, it was full (we didn't have a rez) so ended up in Swede Point county park.
Just a basic camp, we stayed one night. Took off for South Dakota, to Lewis and Clark Recreation Area, on the Missouri River. 

Big, spacious camp on the lake above the dam, stayed 3 days, explored Yankton. 

There's a nice museum here and an aquarium with all the local fish and some HUGE snapping turtles. Nancy made friends with an albino snapper.

Tomorrow, on to the Badlands of South Dakota!