Hot Springs, South Dakota

Hot Springs South Dakota, our new residency.

This is the sign you see off the highway as you come into Hot Springs.

Here are some pictures of Hot Springs, South Dakota.

Carol and I officially took state residency here in Hot Springs, South Dakota. We registered both of our vehicles, got our driver licenses, and even registered to vote here. In case you are wondering why we would take residency in Hot Springs, here are some reasons.

This is a very small town but has extremely friendly people.  People go out of their way to be a good neighbor. Even the drivers here are courteous. I was going to back out of a parking spot on the main street downtown. When I put the car into reverse and the backup lights came on; someone stopped and let me out. I thought at first they wanted my parking spot, but as soon as I backed out and pulled ahead, they came right behind me.

We went to the local court house to get our vehicles registered. That is where the DMV is. We had to wait for one person ahead of us. No appointments, no numbers, no waiting, and about one fifth of the cost to register here than in California. We had to wait until Friday to get our driver licenses. They only do it on Fridays in the Senior Center. Cost us $20 for five years and no tests. They just basically transferred our California license over to South Dakota. They even gave us our motorcycle endorsement.  Oh, and South Dakota is one of few states that don't have State Income Tax.

We did a day trip to Mount Rushmore which was about 50 miles away. I had never been there before and Carol was about 10 years old when her family had been there. It was very interesting and a boost to our feeling of patriotism.  While hiking to the base of the mountain we saw a mother Big Horn Sheep and her baby. The mother had a tracking collar on her neck.  We were told that they are not native to this area and were brought in.  The park Service uses tracking collars so they can monitor them throughout the park and see if they fit in properly.  If not, the Park Service with remove them.  The same day we had visited Custer State Park and Wind Caves National Park.  It was while in Custer State Park we saw Bison walking down the road and on the side walks.

We are heading out of Hot Springs in route for Rapid City, South Dakota to get some repair work done on our motor home satellite system. Then it’s on to Yellowstone assuming the weather holds up for us this time.  A very special Thank You to our good friends Steve and Linda Weed for their hospitality while we stayed in our motor home at their house.