The Journey continues - Custer Park and other fun

La, la, la - I am sitting here waiting for a big file to run. So boring so I decided to catch up a bit more.

On Sunday, the last full day of our road trip, Lorraine and I rose early (again) to go horse back riding. We drove moderately up the highway expecting that we might see Bison again. The prairie dogs were back in full force and, of course, I was totally amused again. Just love those little guys. We got into Custer Park and drove up to Blue Bell Lodge. They have a full stable set up there. We got our helmets, signed our waivers, paid the fee, took some photos and finally mounted the horses for our ride. We were lucky to be the only two that morning. Our guide was a nice girl from Minnesota who had moved out to South Dakota with her boyfriend who managed a cattle ranch. She was telling us how they had to sell their house in Minnesota and how much trouble and cost it was finding a new place in South Dakota. I couldn't catch everything she said but it sounded like she was saying that a gentleman's ranch (not a working ranch) of only (yes only) 15 acres (with a house on it) was $650,000. Wow! They don't know how lucky they have it out there.

The ride was nice although we didn't see much wildlife (some turkeys) since it was already starting to get warm. Lorraine's horse just wanted to eat and poop. Mine followed up the rear and did okay. Overall, it was a nice ride.

After our ride, we decided to drive through Custer State Park. We dutifully paid our fees (yes you get week passes at the parks but we had gone to a National Park, National Monument and State Park - all of which require separate fees). The Ranger was very kind and friendly and told us just where to go to find the Buffalo and Elk. We headed off into the park and soon found lots and lots and lots of Buffalo. It was rutting season so all of the males both young and old were feeling very frisky. They were making these grunting noises that I found very funny and fake charging each other. They also had some very serious staredowns. Of course, I was trying to get photos of it all. At one point, two buffalos were heading our way - right towards the car and I was trying to get photos. Just as they were coming up out of the creek bed, a cowboy went riding by, scaring them off and spoiling the photo. So, what did I do? Took a photo of the cowboy instead! :)

We soon found that the cowboy was a member of a wagon train. We didn't know it at the time but read in the paper the next day that the group was not just on a tourist "wagon train ride" as we thought. They were actually a part of a wagon train party that was traveling the route for a number of days and living like the settlers on the wagon trains. Sounded interesting to me.

After getting past the wagon train, we entered Elk country. The elk weren't as prolific as the buffalo and, for a while, we thought that we wouldn't see any. Finally, we saw one, laying/sitting all by itself out in the middle of a field. Of course, I had to take a photo, and another one, and another one, and another one........The wind kept blowing the camera and I couldn't quite get the guy centered in the photo.

We drove out of the park and saw a few more elk along the way. Our next adventure was to be the last approach to Mt. Rushmore which goes through "the tunnels". The road is beautiful but very windy (not like the wind but like s-curves). It wound back and forth, back and forth. When we came to the first tunnel, it was well worth it. What an amazing view! You can see Rushmore framed perfectly through the tunnel. Everyone was stopping to get out and take photos and we did, too. You had to wait your turn and wait for the cars to clear out so it took awhile. There was a Corvette club out that day and they were all over the place with their tops down (the cars) and their yelling voices. We waited and took photos. Some of them look like Rushmore is sitting right on your shoulder.

There are 3 tunnels built into the rocks this way. It is an amazing architectural feat that must have really taken some planning. At first, I thought that only 2 of the tunnels looked through at Rushmore but, when we got through the 3rd tunnel and turned around to come back, we discovered that the 2nd tunnel also looks at Rushmore but from the other direction! Amazing!

I was really glad that we had decided to go up that road because we almost didn't due to time but it was well worth it, at least to me.

After the tunnels, we decided to drive across another scenic route called the Needles highway. There are tunnels on that road that a motorhome cannot get through so they are warned away from there. The wild flowers were amazing and the views of the black hills incredible. There is a lake surrounded by huge bolders (about 2 stories high or more) that was so scenic. It is a resort town and looks like a fun place to stay. I can't remember the name of it at the moment. It was a hot day so it was nice that we were up there in the mountains where it was cooler. Temperatures down lower were peaking at 105 degrees!

We left Needles Highway and headed back toward Custer. We stopped in to see the Crazy Horse monument which is under construction still. The Head alone is said to be able to hold all of the 4 heads of Mt. Rushmore. Since the monument is privately funded, it costs $25 to go in and see it. We didn't really have the time so we told the guard at the gate that we didn't want to go in. She encouraged us to just go in and take a photo and leave and come back another time if we got a chance. Since she was so friendly and helpful, we did decide to go in and take a photo. And then we left.

We were getting hungry by this time and thirsty, too. It was just past lunchtime so we headed into Custer, found a nice place for some food and tequila/grapefruits (Gold Greyhounds) and relaxed for a while from our travels.

Next up: Mammoth Bones and Cool Caves.......