After a too-long recess from the blogosphere, we have relaunched, revived, repositioned and rejiggered the Black Hills Travel Blog. You’ll start seeing regular posts on all the cool things that make the Black Hills of South Dakota one of the coolest places on the planet.

A lot has been happening since August, when we last posted here. The price of gasoline, which was beyond $4 per gallon, is now less than $1.60 in Rapid City. That in itself is pretty amazing. We hope the low prices continue, and we hope lots of people find their way to the Black Hills next summer — if they still have jobs.

And the weather has been absolutely, well, typically South Dakota. We had a great blizzard a couple of weeks ago – better than the May blizzard — followed a week later by a lesser storm, followed by temps in the 70s. But the higher elevations managed to keep most of their snow. Terry Peak and the Mystic Miner Ski Area at Deer Mountain were both open for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I’m told the snowmobile trails will open Dec. 15.

Haven’t heard what the conditions are like for cross-country skiing at Big Hill or Eagle Cliff. But I’m guessing there’s plenty of snow there as well.

The Black Hills are still here, and the Black Hills Travel Blog is back in action.