Sunday in Custer State Park

Sunday we got up fairly early and drove down to Custer, SD then on out to Custer State Park. We took the Wildlife loop counterclockwise, starting out in the mountainous area then down throught foothills into the prairie. Herds of Pronghorn Antelope were grazing everywhere that we cared to look. Down into the southern part of the loop, around the praiie dog town, a herd of donkeys were gathered around the tourists, especially the children, begging treats. On up the east side of the loop we went off pavement to drive the dirt road over to the buffalo corrals, where the rangers round up the herd and sell what they can't maintain in the park. The herd was just coming up over a hill and wandered across the road in front of and behind us, then on off to graze in other areas. I counted over 100 in this herd, and more were a little way off grazing separately.

Back in the town of Custer we had lunch at a small cafe and bought doughnuts to go. We were told about "grandma"'s Pie bakery so drove over and bought a large Strawberry/Rhubarb to take home with us for after dinner. Actually, it lasted a couple of nights.

Monday we drove up to Deadwood, SD and went up to St. Moriah Cemetary to view "Wild Bill's" grave and the other stones throughout the park. The view over the town from the top of the hill was amazing. Down to walk the streets and have lunch to a live country singer. The Ford Model T club was having a major rally in Rapid City and were spreading out throughout the area. We ran into literally, hundreds of them in the Hill City area and even out into the Badlands later.

Mount Rushmore

Friday, July 16th we drove up to see the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The walk down to, and through, the array of state flags was beautiful, as those who have seen it can attest. We too the tour walk down to the "cave" beneath Washingtons head and on around the walkway.

That afternoon we drove down into Hill City for a walkabout and window shopping up and down the street.

Saturday we went to visit Keystone for a shopping tour and then on up to "Bear Country", a drive through zoo south of Rapid City. Unfortunately, we had gotten a late start and most of the animals were down for their mid-day nap. We saw Elk with tremendous spread of antlers curled up in the grass, as were most of the animals. We saw them all, but had to look hard. The bears were an exception, walking about in their area and holding up traffic as they wandered across the road. After "Bear Country" we stopped by two wineries for a little sampling. A Corvette club was also doing some nipping and having a great time. We ended up buying several local varieties before heading back to the campground.

July 15th Black Hills South Dakota

Today, July 15th we pulled into the Rafter J Bar Ranch CG south of Hill City, SD. We took US-16 from the Devils Tower area and cut across country to come into the CG from Custer in the south. The trip was a pain because of road construction in several areas that held us up for maybe fifteen minutes each time. Not a major problem, but you hate to sit still when you could be traveling. Did OK until we came to the Hell's Canyon area. The road went down into the canyon via a series of sharp switchbacks then back up the other side using more switchbacks. Twenty MPH most of the time watching front for the road, ahead for oncoming cars/trucks, and behind to see how the wheels on the trailer were tracking. We made it. If you are up for an adrenaline kick, I recommend this section of US-16, otherwise just take I-90 to Rapid City and come south. This post is late because the WiFi at the CG was too limited to be of use, so we were not able to keep up with the Blog until arriving in Mitchell, SD on the 22nd. Sorry.