BUSY WITH THE BOOMERS IN STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA

After another bright and noisy thunderstorm last night, it is a beautiful day at Rush-No-More Campground (read our review here), in the Black Hills near Sturgis, South Dakota.

We had a short drive (50 miles?) from Custer State Park to Rush-No-More, where we have gathered with 40 other rigs for a Boomerang, a week long gathering with friends from our Boomer RV group. This photo of our encampment looks peaceful, but we haven't had a quiet moment since we arrived on Saturday!

Regular readers of this blog have read about the Boomers many times. A sub-species of the larger Escapees RV Club (of which all Boomers are members), our Boomer membership has enriched our full time life in many ways - through "Boomerangs" (camping together for a week or two), an online bulletin board (where those with knowledge share with those of us without!), a members-only website and a monthly newsletter. All of these activities are organized and enabled by volunteers, much appreciated by those of us who are the beneficiaries.

After five years as Boomers, Odel and I are stepping into one of the volunteer positions as Membership Coordinators. Bob Peay, the current coordinator, is ready to "retire" after several years in the position, and his eloquent plea for a successor sounded just right for us. We had been talking to Bob about it by phone and email for several weeks, and it turned out that this week, at the Boomerang, was the best time for us to get together. Consequently, whatever free time we had this week is now filled with re-energizing our brain cells and learning all we need to know before we and Bob go our separate directions. Yikes!

But it is never all work and no play for us. Odel went off with the golfing group this morning, while I get "private time" at home to catch up on email, the blog, and the software installations I need to finish on our computer for our new job. I know that sounds to many of you like a miserable way to spend a sunny morning, I find it wierdly relaxing.

Yesterday morning started with a pancake breakfast at Gretchen and Bob's, an immediate hit with the promise of more to come. We have the traditional social hour get-together every day at 4 pm, where volunteer planners announce activities for the calendar: a pot luck, the golf group, hikes, pickleball, sightseeing trips, a pizza party. It's easy to be busy every day... or just wander around visiting and making new friends... or even DOING NOTHING!

We drove the five miles to Sturgis yesterday to pick up groceries and fill up the Jeep with gasoline - and saw something completely new to us. Check out the fuel prices on this sign: Unleaded for $3.999, E85 for a buck less, $2.999 - and diesel for way, way, more, of course, $4.619.

Since we were in Jules rather than Scoopy, we didn't have to choke on the cost of diesel, but what the heck is E85? We sure liked the price! We didn't see it at our pump, so we asked around to see if we could save several bucks using it, but no such luck.

E85 is a fuel that is 85% ethanol, for use in "flex-fuel" vehicles. Although Scoopy can use biodiesel with no modifications, Jules needs regular, expensive, gasoline. E85 apparently is common in the farm and prairie states, but this is the first time we have seen it.

Back at the campground, I checked my watch to find it was 30 minutes until social hour. Oh, oh! I had a new recipe I wanted to try out on the group: Baked Feta Cheese. While I pre-heated the oven, I threw it together and it came out of the oven right on time. It was simple to make, looked delicious, and the plate was practically licked clean, so it's a keeper.

We wound up the day with a walk, and here is one of the highlights: a foal born on Saturday, hanging out next to mama at a ranch adjoining the campground. He stays close, but every once in a while he takes a few frisky little hops. Achingly darling!

As I write this, the billowing white tops of potential thunderclouds are approaching over the forested mountaintops, a gorgeous sight that usually results in a noisy and wet afternoon, but it looks like the golfers will be able to finish their round. As for me - lunchtime!