Custer State Park, South dakota

 Admission to the park is $15.00 and it is good for 7 days. The first time we went into the park we saw a few buffalo bulls grazing. We went back two days later. We were rewarded. The herds were close to the road and we were able to not only view the animals close up, we got some great pictures. The buffalo mamas are very protective of their calves. You would never get between a mother and calf. We watched several cross the road. An approaching car slowed but did not stop soon enough  and the mother moved so her body was between the car and baby. We saw over 599 buffalo, including about 200 calves. It was just awesome. Gizmo and Pillo remained in the cabin.

This little guy seemed all tuckered out.

There were a number of antelope throughout the park.

The mules were once used in the construction of local roads. Once the project was complete they were released in the park. They are very tame and are the only
animals in the park that folks are allowed to feed.

Black Hills, South DAkota

 We recently returned from a vacation in the Black Hills. This will be the first of several accounts of that trip. Our journey took us through several states with overnight stays in Tupelo, MS, Springfield, MO and Kearney, NE. We arrived mid afternoon on the fourth day. I had arranged to stay in this cabin earlier in the year. The cabin is off West Argyle Road below Pringle. The elevation was about 5000 feet above sea level. We both noticed the difficulty breathing. After all, we live at 21feet above sea level. Breakfast was included and Cindy and Stoney prepared an excellent meal every morning. Several days we skipped lunch.

Following is a picture of Carol standing on the front porch. Stoney had just put together a new grill and I did grill one night. Their home is in the background.  A second identical cabin is also available.

Stoney designed and built the cabins. Each cabin can sleep 5. There is a queen bed, a queen fold out couch and a bunk bed in the loft. Following are several pictures of the inside.

Pull down stairs to the loft area. Carol peeked and said it looked comfortable.

The bed was quite comfortable and we slept fairly well. Probably a combination of the rarefied air and the tiring days that we had.

Stoney and Cindy have three horses and a mule. The dark animal below is the mule. This was part of the view from our porch.

While we were there we saw  wild turkeys, mule deer, and white tail deer roaming the property. I am sure that there were critters we never saw when we walked the dogs just before bedtime. Both dogs badly wanted to rush into the darkness.

The cabin is about two plus miles on a dirt road from the state highway. No lights, just a wonderful vantage point to look at the stars in the heavens.