Debra Parmley's Blog, page 5

Our Travel List, the Go West Trip 2021

Mike and Debra’s Go West Trip List 2021

** indicates travel blog posted on Debra’s Beautiful Day Traveler Blog

end of May – June 1st – A and E Camping Resort – Bellfontaine, OH

2nd – 4th Maple Ridge – South Bend, IN

3rd Chicago, IL Navy Pier, ferris wheel, carousel, lunch, The Green Mill

4th – 5th  Rockford, Illinois – Sugar Shores Durand, IL  Campgrounds | Sugar Shores Campground | United States 4th and 5th swam in spring fed pool

5th – 6th – Lacrosse – Money Creek Haven https://moneycreekhaven.com/

6th – 12th Sioux Falls – Yogi Bear Jellystone https://www.jellystonesiouxfalls.com/ (7th was Debra’s Birthday)

9th Mitchell, SD prehistoric Indian Village and ** Corn Palace

12th –13th Phillip, SD – Minuteman RV Park  https://www.minutemanrvlodging.com/ at the entrance to the Badlands

13th the Badlands

**13th to 26th – Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort, Spearfish, SD https://elkhornridgeresort.com/ 16th ** 9:30 am Private Tour of the Frawley Ranch

17th – 19th https://wilddeadwoodreads.com/ 17th book readings in Deadwood, SD; 19th Breakfast with the Authors 8:30 – 10:00; 19th Book Signing 10:00 – 3:00

17th private tour of the Brothel Museum in Deadwood, SD

20th Aladin Cafe and general store, Wyoming; **Devil’s Tower National Monument, WY, dinner in Sundance, WY

**22nd Chuckwagon Supper at the Frawley Ranch;

22nd Mt. Moriah Cemetary, Deadwood, SD, drove to Sturgis, SD

23rd 9:30 am Mount Rushmore National Monument

23rd 2:00 Crazy Horse Monument and Native American Museum, hoop dancers

24th Custer State Park, picnic; dinner in Spearfish, SD

26th -27th  Indian Campground, Buffalo, Wyoming https://www.indiancampground.com/

June 28th – 30th Trout Ranch Cody, Wyoming

July 1st – 9th https://www.wyomingtroutranch.com/?utm_source=GoodSam

Cody, WY  – Cody Rodeo https://www.codystampederodeo.com/

30th 5:30 dinner at the Cody Cattle Company Chuckwagon Dinner and Show; 8:00 pm Extreme Bulls Rodeo – bull riding and bullfighting

1st – drove Chief Joseph

2nd – Old Town, Cody, WY

3rd 9:30 am parade downtown Cody, WY; Buffalo Bill Museum of the West, Cody; Rodeo Stampede 8:00 pm

4th parade downtown Cody, WY 9:30 dusk fireworks

5th Yellowstone, 7th Yellowstone

9th drove through Yellowstone to the next RV site

9th – 11th Drift waters Resort (Dry Camping) – Cameron, Montana https://www.driftwatersresort.com/

10th Yellowstone from the west side; Old Faithful; Tetons National Park, picnic lunch

11th – 14th Jim and Mary’s, Missoula, MN https://www.jimandmarys.com/

12th Glacier National Park

14th – 18th Clearwater Crossing – Orofino, Idaho – on the river https://www.clearwatercrossingrvpark.com/

18th – 22nd Hell’s Canyon Resort – Clarkston, Washington – https://hellscanyon.net/

21st 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Snake Dancer Excursions – 5 ½ hr. w/lunch on Snake River https://snakedancerexcursions.com/?fbclid=IwAR0N9jWb1VQh5IuF5BLK0xMKQcKIbiro3wXFvqFbZoMVOzHlDBeKhdA0YWQ

22nd – 25th  Stargazers RV Resort Goldendale, WA https://stargazersrvresort.com/

23rd – swam in Columbia River at state park – cold!, fresh fruit stand

24th – 2:00 – 4:00 pm Solar Program, Goldendale Observatory State Park, WA

25th to 28th – Columbia River RV park, Portland Oregon https://www.columbiariverrv.com/ across from the yacht club

28th – 30th –

30th – August 6th –

This list is not complete. I will add to the list as we move to the next RV site and will add adventures, especially as I post my blog article about them. I will not post where we are staying online until after we stay there, for safety.

Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort in Spearfish, SD

I selected the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort in Spearfish, South Dakota as our place to stay during Wild Deadwood Reads (June 17th to the 19th) where I was attending as a signing author. We stayed at the resort from June 14th to the 26th, 2021. It was a beautiful and relaxing setting and one of the nicest RV resorts we have stayed in.

There are statues throughout the resort. Here are two by the front office and store.

This one is near the pool.

And this one is up on a hill near the laundromat.

The surrounding hills are beautiful. The skies are wide and stunning and the sunsets are amazing.

View across the street. Beautiful hills.

Behind the office and store is the pool. They have a large pool, a kiddie pool, and two hot tubs.

They have plenty of room for class A motorhomes like our 43 foot Tiffin Allegro bus. The pull throughs make it easy.

We had the cutest little tree by our front door and the sky is always stunning. That’s our 2010 Tiffin Allegro bus.

The sunsets here were stunning and pictures do not do them justice.

This last view was the sunset as I came out of the camp laundromat. It was just a beautiful sky every time I looked at it. The laundromat was nice and clean and the machines were efficient, too.

There are many activities you can choose while at the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort. We enjoyed the pool several times though I was very busy with the local author/reader events of Wild Deadwood Reads. I was also finishing a book and had a book release the same week. Busy author life! The optional activities I opted for were, a private tour of the Frawley Ranch which you can read about in this blog post:

Our Private Tour of the Frawley Ranch in Spearfish, South Dakota and the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort

and also the Chuckwagon Supper which you can read about in this blog post:

Chuckwagon Supper at the Frawley Ranch in Spearfish, South Dakota

If you are headed to South Dakota, I highly recommend a stay at the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort. (I received no compensation for any portion of this visit to the resort and found the resort while researching on the internet.)

To keep up with our travel and RV living adventures, follow my blog here: https://beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/ Be sure to follow on the bottom right hand side so you don’t miss any posts.

I have also decided to keep a list of our stops on our route to the coast and back along with RV park stays, and things we’ve seen on our Go West Adventure! I often post articles out of order so this timeline will help those planning a trip like ours.

Thank you for reading my travel/RV living blog!

Wishing you a beautiful day and reminding you that “every day we are alive is a beautiful day.” – Debra Parmley, your Beautiful Day Traveler

For more about Debra and her books visit

Debra’s Beautiful Day YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

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Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/debra-parmley

Poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

Articles on Medium: medium.com/@debraparmley1

Writing Classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

Cover Model Corner blog: https://covermodelcorner.wordpress.com/

Debra’s old radio show Book Lights: http://bit.ly/BookLights

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

Chuckwagon Supper at the Frawley Ranch in Spearfish, South Dakota

The Chuckwagon Supper was a wonderful experience. Here is a quote from the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort website which organizes the suppers:

“Learn Wild West history and stories from the historic Frawley Ranch while enjoying an authentic chuckwagon supper under the South Dakota sky. Running in the summertime Tuesday through Saturday, tickets are $60 per person and must be purchased at the Elkhorn Ridge Resort guest check-in 24 hours in advance. Transportation will leave the Elkhorn Ridge Resort Lodge at 4:30PM and will return at approximately 7PM. After being transported to the historic James Anderson Ranch, guests will be loaded on two horse-drawn wagons and will learn authentic Wild West history will traveling the Deadwood Stage Route. Upon arrival, guests will be served an authentic chuckwagon supper consisting of a 6oz sirloin steak, beans, potatoes, and peach cobbler. Drink will include water, lemonade, and cowboy coffee. 

Chuckwagon suppers will only be cancelled for severe weather, in which case, a full refund will be given. Pants and closed-toe shoes are strongly recommended.”

That sounded good to me so I had to sign us up. And boy am I glad I did. We met up at the front office porch at the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort near the statues and then we boarded a small bus which took us out to the Anderson house and barn which is part of the Frawley Ranch.

I started out writing western historical romance and my first book, A Desperate Journey, was set in 1867 along the Old Chisholm Trail which ran from Kansas to Texas. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to be going on a real chuckwagon supper.

Once at the Anderson home and barn, we boarded this wooden wagon which was pulled by two draft horses.

The draft horses are amazing. I’m sure with so many of us on the wagon, they were pulling a lot of weight. Look how tall they are next to cowboy Vincent. He is not a short man. The horses are tall and very strong.

Traveling on the same path the stage coach traveled.

The chuckwagon is original with just a few replacement pieces, exactly as they were years ago.

The chuckwagon and all the fixin’s just as they used long ago in the west.

Cooking some cowboy steaks for us on the grill. Notice the dinner bell?

When the dinner bell rings, “Come and get it!” you’d best get in line. (Though there was plenty for all.)

Chuckwagon supper tonight is steak, beans, and potatoes. Mike’s plate has lots of beans. He likes his beans. Mine has lots of potatoes. They were so tasty. Everything was good. Dessert will be peach cobbler. There’s nothing quite like hot cobbler cooked over a fire. Cold water in the tin cups was so refreshing on a hot day. You can also have lemonade or coffee.

Mike is really enjoying his cowboy chuckwagon supper. Everything was delicious.

The water must be heated to wash the dishes. Out west the dishwasher would be you! I’ve washed all our dishes by hand since we moved into the motorhome, though I don’t have to heat the water. Our motorhome has a dishwasher that we have never used. Maybe I’m not so modern after all. LOL For all you modern cooks out there, this setup is how it is done at the chuckwagon. One tub for soapy water and one for clean water to rinse them.

After supper it’s time to get the horses ready to head back. Look how pretty the hills are here.

I enjoyed watching them work with the horses, hooking them up. Unhooking them. Then hooking them up again. These two horses hadn’t been working together for long, but they did great.

Mike and me. This is one of my favorite pictures of us on this western trip and one of the best memories. I’m so glad we went on the Chuckwagon Supper.

Driving the horses back.

Back at the barn.

Other horses at the ranch.

The house and spring house in the background.

Leaving the barn.

Notice the troughs at the spring house. The water coming out into the troughs was cold and good. You could cup your hands and get a drink. So refreshing.

Inside the barn, they would drop hay down into these bins for the animals.

Time to say goodbye to the Frawley Ranch. For more about the ranch, check out the article I wrote on our private tour of the ranch, here: https://beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.co/2021/07/03/our-private-tour-of-the-frawley-ranch-in-spearfish-south-dakota-and-the-elkhorn-ridge-rv-resort/

We rode back to the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort on the small bus, full and happy from the delicious dinner, the company and the stories. I highly recommend the Chuckwagon suppers at the Elkhorn Ridge Resort. Contact them here to reserve a spot: https://elkhornridgeresort.com/things-to-do/family-activities

For more about me and my books, I have many links below. I now write under two names. Debra Parmley for romance and Debra Bishop for fantasy and children’s stories. You’ll see more books coming out soon.

As for my westerns, I have three western historical romance books out and one mail order bride book. My westerns are gritty with gunfights and action. I’ve shot black powder guns in Mississippi in August as research for my books. Now I can add chuckwagon dinner onto my list of actual experiences I can write about. It’s the best kind of research there is. I like to tell my writing students… experiencing something is best, talking to someone who has experienced it is second best, and third is looking it up in a book written by someone who has experienced it. Anything outside of that and your facts might be off. I love history and it’s important to me to get the facts right when I write, to the best of my ability.

Thank you for reading my blog and wishing you a beautiful day! Remember “Every day we are alive is a beautiful day.” – Debra Parmley

To follow Debra’s RV Living and Travel Adventures: beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/

And Debra’s Beautiful Day YouTube Channel for her videos: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

Website: debraparmley.com

Newsletter sign up:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w9s9h0

FB page facebook.com/debra.parmley.7

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FB fan page: facebook.com/authordebraparmley/

To Catch An Elf FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/793115644206381/

Instagram: instagram.com/debraparmley

Pinterest: pinterest.com/debraparmley/

Goodreads: goodreads.com/debraparmley

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/debra-parmley

Poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

Articles on Medium: medium.com/@debraparmley1

Writing Classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

Cover Model Corner blog: https://covermodelcorner.wordpress.com/

Debra’s old radio show Book Lights: http://bit.ly/BookLights

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

Hiking Around the Base of Devil’s Tower National Monument

Devil’s Tower also known as Bear Lodge or Bear Tipi to Northern Plains Indians, rises high above the Belle Fourche River, grasslands and ponderosa pines forests. There are many stories told about this towering rock. You can find some of them at the National Park Service link at the bottom of this article.

‘During a celebration in 1932 on the Crow Agency in Montana, Max Big Man was questioned about the Tower. He explained: “The Indians called the Devils Tower “Bear’s Tipi” or “Bear Lodge,” because so many bears lived there. They believed it was put there by the Great Spirit for a special reason, because it was different from the other rocks, rising high up in the air, instead of being on the ground. For this reason it was looked upon as a holy place, and the Indians went there to worship and fast.”‘ (from the Devil’s Tower Monument website linked at the bottom of this article.)

President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower as the first national monument on September 24, 1906.

We visited Devil’s Tower on June 20, 2021 the day of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Many pay attention to the northernmost sunset on this day. To native americans, Devil’s Tower is a spiritual place. During this period in June, climbers are asked to refrain from climbing out of respect. Climbers must register with the national park service.

We saw a construction which I believe is the frame for a sweat lodge. It’s the same shape of one I saw in a museum. I believe the one we saw at Bear’s Lodge aka Devil’s Tower was set up for a future sweat lodge.

We saw many prayer ribbons and prayer bundles tied to the trees. Here are just a few. I did not take pictures of them all, because as my husband said, “That is someone’s prayer.” I agreed, so this is just a sampling to show you. Nearly everywhere I looked, I saw prayer ribbons.

There are 25 tribes connected with Bear Lodge aka Devil’s Tower.

We drove toward the tower and I wanted to get pictures, so we drove to a good spot where we got the one of me in the front of the tower, which you saw at the start of this article. As we parked and get out to take pictures of the monument, I saw a guru emerging from his trailer. Being curious, I then read the front of his van and it said Adiyogi the Source of yoga. I am pretty sure he was Sadhguru. He came to the U.S, and has a Youtube Channel many people follow.

There were people with him with cameras. When we drove back out later and came by to take more pics we saw him seated on the ground with his people around him. I did not take pictures then, as this might have been a spiritual happening.

To give you an idea of the scale of the rocks I took a few shots of my hubby who is 5’10”.

Everything about this mountain spoke to me of it’s sacred spiritual nature. I am glad we came here the day we did so I could experience this. On a different day in a different time of year it may feel different.

For more about Devil’s Tower visit https://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm

To be sure you don’t miss any of my travel blog articles, subscribe to my travel blog here at the link below.

To follow Debra’s RV Living and Travel Adventures, follow: beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/

I post as often as I can, which depends greatly on internet connection. For instance, in the national parks we just went through, Yellowstone, Tetons and Glacier National Park, there was no service on our cell phones, or wifi. It can also vary greatly while staying at RV parks as well. Mountains do get in the way. It takes a bit of time to get the pictures from my phone into my laptop so I can create these articles. So I get behind. I have so many posts to catch up on here to share with you! So keep watching because they are coming.

For those who want to follow me on my other sites, here they are.

I write under two names now. Debra Parmley for romance, as always and Debra Bishop for all my other fiction.

You’ll start finding my fantasy and children’s stories on the internet this month! I have a Kindle Vella story coming out tomorrow called The Rolling House, by Debra Bishop. It is a fantasy story about a time traveling trio: the house, the dog, and a college age girl. Yes, I got this story idea after moving into our motorhome. (We live in a rolling house full time.) Kindle Vella is a new program for serial stories, so I’m trying something new and having great fun writing it.

I’ll be adding that link to my posts once it is up so you can find it.

And Debra’s Beautiful Day YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

Website: debraparmley.com

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

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Debra’s poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

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Debra’s classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

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Our Private Tour of the Frawley Ranch in Spearfish, South Dakota and the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort

Last week we came to Deadwood, South Dakota for the Wild Deadwood Reads event where I signed books on Saturday June 19th, 2021. We opted to stay at the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort up the road from the Lodge at Deadwood where the big book signing was held. It was also Wild Bill Days so there was plenty going on in Deadwood!

The Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort is one of the nicest RV Resorts we have stayed in (I rank it in the top two so far) and the views here are stunning. I’ll share those pics in another upcoming post. Today I want to focus on our private tour of the Frawley Ranch which we took on Wednesday June 16th, 2021. Maggie, the marketing director at the Elkhorn Ridge Resort, gave us a private tour of the Frawley Ranch.

The Frawley Ranch is an historic ranch in Lawrence County, South Dakota, near Spearfish, South Dakota. Henry Frawley developed what became the largest and most successful cattle ranch in western South Dakota by purchasing lands that had failed as smaller homesteading parcels. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

Our first stop was Centennial School #11 – “built in 1880 by several homesteaders and ranchers. Pioneers tried to build a school every three miles. This school operated as a school until 1936. It was a polling location until the 1960’s as well as a church for services. The furnishings in the one-room school for grades 1 – 8 are original. In 1962, Henry J. Frawley purchased the building and began restoration. For the past several decades, Spearfish elementary school teachers and their students, dressed in period costumes, experience the historical and cultural legacy of the pioneers of the Northern Black Hills.”

Our tour guide, Maggie, said her second grade class spend a day at the school immersed in this step back in time. What a wonderful experience for the local children!

The children get to write with quill and ink.

In later years they even had church services at the school.

It was nice to see our flag and the pledge of allegiance on the school chalkboard.

“In 1888, on the stagecoach route between Spearfish and Deadwood, Anna and Marion Draper built the modern and orante 12 -room structure known as the Draper Roadhouse. Facilities offered an indoor bathroom and barns for visitor’s horses and livestock. Henry Frawley purchased the homestead in 1912, and it was known as the Middle Ranch. Over the years, the house served as a stagecoach stop, hotel, bunkhouse for Frawley ranch hands,and Christina Frawley’s home after her husband’s death in 1927. The house was restored in 1977, and then it became the residence of hank and Molly Frawley until Hank’s passing April 2017.”

The house was in use the day we had our tour so we weren’t able to go inside. We went on to the next house and barns.

This house is now being used as a bridal green room for weddings.

The stone barns are in marvelous shape. Careful use preserves the buildings.

The attractive stone work on the barns has stood the test of time.

Inside, there is a collection of carriages.

Upstairs there is a collection of kitchen items.

Many old bottles have been found on the farm.

Downstairs is a cabinet which holds old bottles of medicines for veterinary use. Some still have liquids inside.

Ready for a wedding or reception. What a lovely site for an old fashioned wedding. Note the unusual style of the barns construction.

The house is now used as a green room for brides on their wedding day,

Then we went on to see the Anderson Home.

The Anderson Home The spring house was directly behind the house. Maggie and me outside the Anderson Home.

It was a wonderful day, a great tour and a great tour guide. I highly recommend this one if you make it out to Spearfish, South Dakota.

You can contact the folks at Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort here: https://elkhornridgeresort.com/

I also recommend the chuckwagon dinner, which takes you to the Anderson Home and Barn where you climb aboard the wagon that will take you even further, along the old stage coach trail, to the chuckwagon. I’ll share more about that in another post and I’ll also post one on the RV park. Til then, happy trails!

Wishing you a beautiful day and reminding you that “every day we are alive is a beautiful day.”

Debra Parmley, your Beautiful Day Traveler.

For Debra’s RV Living and Travel Adventures, follow her blog: beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/

her Beautiful Day YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

Website: debraparmley.com

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

Debra’s Newsletter sign up:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w9s9h0

Debra’s poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

Debra’s Articles on Medium: medium.com/@debraparmley1

Debra’s classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

FB page facebook.com/debra.parmley.7

FB fan group Beautiful Day Dreamers: facebook.com/groups/debraparmley/

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The Only Corn Palace in the World at Mitchell, South Dakota – 100th Anniversary

On our trip to Deadwood, SD, on June 9th, 2021, one of our stops was the Corn Palace at Mitchell, SD. What is a Corn Palace, you ask? I’m going to show you because that is easier and then I will tell you about it

The first Corn Palace was built in … 1921 and this is the 100th anniversary.

In this picture, you can see the two men who are removing old materials and replacing it with new. Each year there is a new theme to the murals and the old corn is replaced with new.

Inside the auditorium are many more corn murals and a gift shop which has about anything corn related that you could imagine.

My husband Mike said we had to try on the corn hats! So he did!

Now I was born and raised in Ohio which is the corn state and I had never before seen a corn hat. But here I am wearing one. I think it makes me look like a conehead. Would you wear a corn hat? (The things I do for you guys. lol)

There is a popcorn store as you enter and you can buy fresh popcorn (we did), caramel corn and other flavors. This stuffed corn fellow was also there.

Next year a new theme will be chosen and the murals outside will be replaced. We saw a sneak peak of the theme and it is a circus theme “Under the big top”! That should be a fun one.

For more about the Corn Palace visit https://cornpalace.com/

To follow Debra’s RV Living and Travel Adventures, follow her blog: beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/

And Debra’s Beautiful Day YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

Wish you a beautiful day and reminding you that every day we are alive is a beautiful day!

Debra Parmley, Your Beautiful Day Traveler

For more about Debra visit: Website: debraparmley.com

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

Debra’s Newsletter sign up:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w9s9h0

Debra’s poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

Debra’s Articles on Medium: medium.com/@debraparmley1

Debra’s classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

FB page facebook.com/debra.parmley.7

FB fan group Beautiful Day Dreamers: facebook.com/groups/debraparmley/

FB fan page: facebook.com/authordebraparmley/

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Standing With Dignity in South Dakota

Yesterday June 12th, 2021, on our travels toward Deadwood, SD we stopped to see the Dignity statue in South Dakota. It is just off I-90 at a rest stop along with a small museum of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Debra standing beneath the Dignity statue in South Dakota.

“Norm and Eunabel McKie of Rapid City, South Dakota, announced their gift of Dignity to the state of South Dakota in 20154, in honor of the 125th anniversary of South Dakota statehood. The statue overlooks the Missouri River. The statue measures 50 feet high, 16 feet deep, and 25 feet wide. The star quilt held by the native American woman has more than 100 blue diamond shapes that move in the wind. Three native American women from Rapid City, SD served as the model for the statue. The statue boldly claims that South Dakota’s Native culture are all standing with dignity.”

If you come this way, I highly recommend this stop. We saw great views of the river below and beautiful flowers.

Mike and Debra Parmley at the Dignity statue in South Dakota.

Our travels take us to Deadwood, South Dakota for Wild Deadwood Reads. I will be attending Thur June 17th through Saturday, June 19th, and will be signing at the book fair on Saturday the 19th. https://wilddeadwoodreads.com/

We have been traveling quite a bit this year in the motorhome and I have many more travel posts to share with you. Posts to come are . . .more from St. Augustine, FL, Chicago’s Navy Pier, The Green Mill in Chicago, IL, The Sioux Falls Park, the Mitchell SD Prehistoric Indian Village, Sculptures in downtown Sioux Falls, SD, the Old Courthouse Museum in Sioux Falls, SD, the Corn Palace Mitchell, SD, Minuteman visitor center in SD, Badlands National Park and much more. So stay tuned here for more RV travel adventures!

Remember every day we are alive is a beautiful day!

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Debra Parmley, Your Beautiful Day Traveler

To follow Debra’s RV Living and Travel Adventures, follow her blog: beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/

And Debra’s Beautiful Day YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

Website: debraparmley.com

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

Debra’s Newsletter sign up:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w9s9h0

Debra’s poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

Debra’s Articles on Medium: medium.com/@debraparmley1

Debra’s classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

FB page facebook.com/debra.parmley.7

FB fan group Beautiful Day Dreamers: facebook.com/groups/debraparmley/

FB fan page: facebook.com/authordebraparmley/

Instagram: instagram.com/debraparmley

Pinterest: pinterest.com/debraparmley/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/debra-parmley

Goodreads: goodreads.com/debraparmley

Standing in Dignity in South Dakota

Yesterday June 12th, 2021, on our travels toward Deadwood, SD we stopped to see the Dignity statue in South Dakota. It is just off I-90 at a rest stop along with a small museum of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Debra standing beneath the Dignity statue in South Dakota.

“Norm and Eunabel McKie of Rapid City, South Dakota, announced their gift of Dignity to the state of South Dakota in 20154, in honor of the 125th anniversary of South Dakota statehood. The statue overlooks the Missouri River. The statue measures 50 feet high, 16 feet deep, and 25 feet wide. The star quilt held by the native American woman has more than 100 blue diamond shapes that move in the wind. Three native American women from Rapid City, SD served as the model for the statue. The statue boldly claims that South Dakota’s Native culture are all standing with dignity.”

If you come this way, I highly recommend this stop. We saw great views of the river below and beautiful flowers.

Mike and Debra Parmley at the Dignity statue in South Dakota.

Our travels take us to Deadwood, South Dakota for Wild Deadwood Reads. I will be attending Thur June 17th through Saturday, June 19th, and will be signing at the book fair on Saturday the 19th. https://wilddeadwoodreads.com/

We have been traveling quite a bit this year in the motorhome and I have many more travel posts to share with you. Posts to come are . . .more from St. Augustine, FL, Chicago’s Navy Pier, The Green Mill in Chicago, IL, The Sioux Falls Park, the Mitchell SD Prehistoric Indian Village, Sculptures in downtown Sioux Falls, SD, the Old Courthouse Museum in Sioux Falls, SD, the Corn Palace Mitchell, SD, Minuteman visitor center in SD, Badlands National Park and much more. So stay tuned here for more RV travel adventures!

Remember every day we are alive is a beautiful day!

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Debra Parmley, Your Beautiful Day Traveler

To follow Debra’s RV Living and Travel Adventures, follow her blog: beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/

And Debra’s Beautiful Day YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

Website: debraparmley.com

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

Debra’s Newsletter sign up:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w9s9h0

Debra’s poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

Debra’s Articles on Medium: medium.com/@debraparmley1

Debra’s classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

FB page facebook.com/debra.parmley.7

FB fan group Beautiful Day Dreamers: facebook.com/groups/debraparmley/

FB fan page: facebook.com/authordebraparmley/

Instagram: instagram.com/debraparmley

Pinterest: pinterest.com/debraparmley/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/debra-parmley

Goodreads: goodreads.com/debraparmley

Replacing the Refrigerator on our 2010 Tiffin Allegro Bus

The fridge that came with our motorhome (a 2010 Tiffin Allegro Diesel Bus) was a residential fridge with double doors on top and a freezer drawer on the bottom. When the freezer quit working while we were in Florida, we had a repairman come out and he said it was leaking freon. He could give it a temporary fix but we would have to replace it within a year. This fridge was ten years old and it was time for a new one. So we started shopping for a new fridge.

So, you might be wondering how does one take the old fridge out and put the new one in? I sure did. It would take several men to do this job and they would have to go through a window.

In May, 2021, my husband, his brother and our two sons took the old one out through the window on the side of the coach. The one that is a fire escape route. In the picture above, it’s the window behind the chair. They brought the new one in through the same window.

I just love the new fridge. Here it is!

We opted for a double door, fridge on one side, freezer on the other, with an icemaker in the door. The light is a nice bonus and makes a nice night light for the kitchen.

Do you see the velcro on the door handles? This is what we do before we drive down the road, to make sure neither of the doors open. We learned to do this with the old fridge when one of the doors came open and food fell out as we turned a corner.

I love the new fridge.

Wishing you a beautiful day!

Your beautiful day traveler, Debra Parmley

For more RV remodeling posts, and to follow Debra’s RV Living and Travel Adventures, follow her blog here: beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/

And Debra’s Beautiful Day YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

Website: debraparmley.com

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

Debra’s Newsletter sign up:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w9s9h0

Debra’s poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

Debra’s Articles on Medium: medium.com/@debraparmley1

Debra’s classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

FB page facebook.com/debra.parmley.7

FB fan group Beautiful Day Dreamers: facebook.com/groups/debraparmley/

FB fan page: facebook.com/authordebraparmley/

Instagram: instagram.com/debraparmley

Pinterest: pinterest.com/debraparmley/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/debra-parmley

Goodreads: goodreads.com/debraparmley

Remodeling the Closet on Our 2010 Tiffin Allegro Bus

My husband just finished remodeling the closet on our 2010 Tiffin Allegro diesel bus and I can’t wait to show the new cedar closet to you. This is a solid cedar closet not a closet made from cedar plywood. I doubt there is another closet out there like it. I love our new closet!

Here are some before pictures. First he removed the two sliding doors and prepped the walls and floor. The old carpet had to be removed.

These access panels have to still be accessible because the motorhome/bus diesel engine is underneath.

Mike cut his own wood for this project. He cut these big 2 x 6 solid pieces of cedar (5 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches) as you can see on the right, down to 2, 2 x 3’s (2 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches) which you can see as the second board from the right, and then he cut that into three pieces, 2 1/2 x 3/8 inches, which you can see as the last three boards. Our closet is made from this solid cedar, not from cedar plywood. That bucket was halfway filled with sawdust from this project. Lots of wood cutting! And I love the fresh scent of cedar.

Next he glued the 2 1/2 wide pieces together to from panels. Two panels make one section of wall and the biggest one is 4 ft x 33 inches.

He made one long piece of wood for the seam.

All walls are cedar lined. After he made the panels he made the trim.

This is the fuse box he had to work around.

A shiny new rod and bracket in the closet. Ready for our clothes!

I could not be more pleased with our new cedar closet and I am sure we will enjoy it for many more years to come. Our house is starting to feel more and more like ours as we put our personal touches on it. In this case, my husband’s excellent woodworking skills. I could not love this closet more and I’m so excited to be able to share it with you today.

In May, 2021, we spent several weeks at our sons farm in North Carolina where my husband worked on the closet. Then we took the RV and went to Ohio to see my mother before starting our big trip out west.

I’ll be sharing posts from the road as we travel to Deadwood, SD for Wild Deadwood Reads, where I am signing copies of my books. If you are in the area, this is where you can find me signing books: https://www.deadwood.com/event/wild-deadwood-reads/

We have a lot more wild west stops to make this summer and I will share all about them here. I will also be sharing more Florida posts as we went so many places and I got a little behind on sharing them. (Three grandchildren on the farm, you know. I was kind of busy.)

A few of you have requested posts about RV parks we stay in so I’ll start including some of those too as time allows. Stay tuned for more adventures!

For more of my RV life and travel adventures, subscribe to my Beautiful Day Traveler Blog here https://beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/

and have a beautiful day!

Your Beautiful Day Traveler, Debra Parmley

Follow Debra’s Beautiful Day YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC27hTWse4gLJxTETQw6i7xw/

Check out Debra’s Website: debraparmley.com

Debra’s books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EsbWsa

Debra’s Newsletter sign up:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/w9s9h0

Debra’s poems on K0-Fi: ko-fi.com/debraparmley

Debra’s Articles on Medium: medium.com/@debraparmley1

Debra’s classes on Teachable: beautiful-day-dreamers.teachable.com/

FB page facebook.com/debra.parmley.7

FB fan group Beautiful Day Dreamers: facebook.com/groups/debraparmley/

FB fan page: facebook.com/authordebraparmley/

Instagram: instagram.com/debraparmley

Pinterest: pinterest.com/debraparmley/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/debra-parmley

Goodreads: goodreads.com/debraparmley