Custer State Park

Vacation time! This year we are headed west...first stop South Dakota! Great Places Great Faces! Aren't these two faces the greatest ones ever! I guess it was pretty sunny, that would explain the squinting.Then a quick stop at The Falls, that would be Sioux Falls. At a gas station we saw loads of wildlife! Bears, mountain lions!This bear smiled for the camera. This mountain lion was having a Peter bacon sandwich. Heading into Custer State Park we had a close animal encounter...had to break pretty hard to avoid these guys! I was super excited...during my time in the Big Horns I only saw bighorn sheep from a far distance...never this close!Meet Excessive Edwardo...aka Pat's cot. It took up a third of the tent...but he was comfortable so that is all that mattered. Once camp was set up we headed to Mount Rushmore! Had a little history lesson...When did Wisconsin become a state? (the sun was in their eyes again in this picture too!) And then off to Crazy Horse! Cant believe they are almost done with it....wait, no they aren't. It is going to take many more years! But once it is done it will be cool! The boys really enjoyed the campsite, lots of rocks and a big hill. We also picked up a bison...meet Horny, the Bison! Horny likes to play bison-ball. We headed to Jewel Cave and learned that their elevator was broken and the only tour was the candlelight tour. "A strenuous tour with lots of stairs" Sounds good to us! The boys really like the crawling around. I think I have to cavers on my hands. We took the scenic 'needles highway' in which the boys complained about, until they saw all the rocks! They love to climb on the rocks. So maybe I will have some rock climbers on my hands.....wait....cavers or rock climbers? It is going to be a tough decision. I wonder why this highway gets its name? Leave it up to strangers to take a nice family photo...except they did not get the nice scenery in the back. bummer. A little R&R at Stockard Lake. The boys could spend all day here! Next day we went to Wind cave...their elevator was working. The ranger was explaining that most people can fit in a place that is the width of their two hands touching at the thumbs. Ya, not me! Wind cave got its name from the wind coming in and out of this hole...I would like to meet the person who said...i wonder what it looks like if I go down in that hole?. This cave is pretty cool but less adventurous than the tour we did a Jewel Cave, so this was not the boys favorite but it was really cool to see! And then off to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, the sink hole where there are about 50 mammoths! I thought it was cool, and they were actively digging on the site. Boys...not all that impressed. Guess they have more fun climbing hundreds of feet below the ground. As promised but the ranger...Bison. He was really close to the road. And Ass, I mean donkeys. These guys were even closer but when the car ahead of you is hanging out of their car feeding them crackers I would see why they are in the road. They have hooves....and teeth that can eat your fingers...not my favorite. Hey look, here is the ass of an ass!. The boys thought it was fun that they could say the "A" word and not get into trouble, as long as they were referring to the donkey. Then we went on a hunt for gold! And hit it rich! The boys treated us to dinner and an early retirement! Or not...but some cool gold and pyrite for their collections!