Finding Her True Design 

Monika Johncour trades military life for one of deep breathing and beautiful scenery

It took Monika Johncour decades, but she finally has her dream life. One that fits exactly who she is meant to be and one that is miles away from her previous life in the military. 

In a spur-of-the-moment move in 2021, Monika, and her husband Peter, both Lieutenant Colonels in the U.S. Air Force, decided to buy a Black Hills campground. 

“It’s one of those synchronicities in life when you look at it, the big picture, and you think ‘that’s interesting,’” Monika shared. “We spent 21 years each having no control over anything. More than seven of the 19 years (of marriage) were spent apart between deployments and being stationed apart. We look at this as we have had the time to expand our wings, fly, and see the world. But now we have found exactly where we want to plant our roots. This is the next chapter for us.”

That chapter for Monika not only includes the Timber Ridge Campground, 17 acres at the intersection of Iron Mountain and Playhouse roads, but also yoga, sound healing, and human design. Monika recently earned her Human Design certification, a combination of Western astrology, the chakra system, the Kabbalah Tree of Life, and the Chinese I Ching, and is incorporating that into her yoga and meditation practices. 

“I have been kind of all over the place, but Human Design has helped me see the map of who I am and see where my energies are and really learn who I am outside of the conditioned military life.” 

Taking to the Skies

Monika was born and raised in Honolulu and attended the University of Washington to play softball. However, a shoulder injury in her sophomore year sidelined her. After graduating with an English degree, she decided to join a friend in applying to be a flight attendant for United Airlines. She made the cut; her friend did not. “The first thing we do in flight attendant school is take a ride in the cockpit. After that I was hooked. I was like this is what I want to do,” Monika said of being a pilot. 

With the help of her parents, she began taking private pilot lessons while working as a flight attendant based out of San Francisco. She narrowly missed being on the flight that on September 11 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. “If September 11 happened on September 10, I would not be here anymore.” 

After the events of 9/11, Monika chose to take her love of flying in a different direction and joined the military. Six months into flight school she met her husband and began 21 years of deployments, moves, and many sacrifices for both Peter, Monika, and their three boys, Kawika, Camden, and Colton.

A Black Hills Sanctuary

The campground became a sanctuary for all of them. 

“Our kids love it. We have big granite boulders to climb on, a stream with trout. We have all the different types of landscapes you find in the Hills on our property.” 

For Peter, owning a campground in western South Dakota was a longtime dream come true. Originally from Pennsylvania, he instantly felt a connection to the Black Hills during his first stint at Ellsworth Air Force Base. “When my husband first rolled into Custer (South Dakota) from Abilene, Texas in 2004, he called me and said ‘I am home. I don’t know how, but I have been to a place where I feel like I am home.’” 

Peter also informed Monika when they first started dating that he would one day run a campground after retirement from the Air Force.

So, when the couple walked the Southern Hills property in March 2021, they knew it was meant to be. “We looked at each other and said we are in. We will figure out how to make this happen.” 

With the help of Michelle Kane, former director of SD CEO West Women’s Business Center and Monika’s Honorary Commander, the couple went from seeing the property in March to owning it on the first day of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August. “We took 30 days of vacation and ran the campground,” Monika said. “It has been a rollercoaster ever since.” 

With Monika retiring from the military in March 2023, that summer was the first time the couple was full-time at the campground. “It has been wild, and fun, and a lot of learning.” 

The family has also found their community. Peter, a former Syracuse pole vaulter, coaches at Custer High School. Monika leads the wrestling team in yoga every Wednesday.

She also brought her practice of yoga and sound bath to her campground guests. Every Saturday from May 1 – October 1, Monika hosts an evening session open to everyone. This summer she will add Human Design readings to her practice helping others to find their true path.

“Human Design is a permission slip to be authentically you. I am now learning to live in line with what my chart looks like. I realized how far off I was from it.”

This article originally appeared in the March 2024 issue of Elevate Magazine.