Jim and I are both sick with head colds. We took it easy on day 5 since we weren’t feeling well.

We did laundry in the morning. I was hoping to go a week before doing laundry, but with all of our leaks, fridge spills, and toilet geysers, we went through A LOT of towels. It was $2.50 a load at the campground laundry mat that was not actually at the campground. We had to drive to get to it. It was in the basement of a convenience store. 🤦‍♀️

After laundry, we went to Bear Country USA. We had been there 3 times before. Once with my parents before Jim and I were even married and twice with our kids. Bear Country is $22 per person to get in with a limit of $80 per carload. I’m not sure if it was just because it was different without the kids, or if it was just too hot for the animals, but it didn’t seem as good as I remembered it. It is a drive-through zoo. I did really love the bear section. They kept walking right in front of our car and just looking at us.

Besides the bears, the other animals weren’t very active.

After the drive through section, there was a baby and small animal section to walk through. Most of the exhibits were closed or the animals were hiding, so this part was disappointing. There were 2 adorable bear cubs playing though!

Overall, I’m glad we went. Seeing the bears was worth it. The price of $44 was a little high, but I still enjoyed it. I would recommend going on a cool day or early in the morning and I’m sure you would see more animals.

We broke down and grabbed bagels with cream cheese out this morning at The Black Hills Bagel Company. They were $5 each and nothing special. We cooked for our other meals with chicken noodle soup and turkey sandwiches for lunch and chicken, mashed potatoes and stuffing for dinner.

The campground we are in, Rushmore View RV Park, is not like the pictures online and is somewhat rundown. They told us on the phone we would be in the “brand new, upgraded area”, but we are blocked off from the rest of the park (the old section) and can’t get to the bathhouse unless we drive there. The spots are very close together. It definitely needs updating. There is some construction equipment nearby, so maybe that’s their plan. It cost $234 for 4 nights including tax, so for $58 a night, it’s not too bad and is a great location for exploring the area.

We think our exploding toilet is caused by too much water pressure here. We found if we run the water in the bathroom sink we can flush without it spraying us. We will see??🤷‍♀️