Custer State Park fun

Hi all.......

Well........summer is rushing past and the daylight is waning. This has been such a fun, different kind of season for us. The large variety of animals here continues to remind us of God's plan for His wonderful Earth. There is a place and time for all things.......and we're seeing some of them.

This adorable burro is part and parcel of a small herd of them that have been released into the park. They originally carried miners and their supplies to the top of Harney Peak here. These burros now roam the park at will, delighting tourists with their antics of poking their noses into cars, looking for treats. They will readily eat from your hand or your bag, seemingly without a care in the world.

We came across this coyote, who was ever so slowly sneaking up on a prairie dog. The
entire praire dog town was up on alert at their holes, looking around and on the watch for predators. The coyote was ignoring us, as he closed in on his anticipated meal. But alas, the meal was not to be as at the last minute, the praire dog disappeared into his hole. Real praire drama.

We took a morning to go horseback riding here in the park. Bluebell Lodge has a large stable here for the visitors in the park. What a glorious morning to be out on horseback....we so enjoyed it. We went down into a valley, where a beautiful creek was running over rocks. The only sounds were of the creek, the birds singing, the grasshoppers, and the clop clop of our horses hooves. We hated to see the ride end. We'll for sure do that again soon.

We have another month here in the park. I'm doing better at the front desk now...this old brain is finally accepting the new computer system. What I enjoy most is interacting with
the wide variety of people that come thru here. They're from all over the world....Germany, Spain, France, and all of the states here. It's wonderful to hear their stories and see the anticipation on their faces as they ask questions about this wonderful park, and what to do next.

We're blessed and happy to have our health and each other. We don't know yet what's down the road, but we hope to see you there.

Love........Kathie

1880's train and Sturgis Bike Rally

Hello all.........

Wow......what a week going on here. The Sturgis Bike rally is everywhere........not just Sturgis. They are everywhere....in every town in the Black Hills. You see lots of black leather going on........and every kind of bike imagineable. They're beautiful.... from custom made jobs to trikes with gorgeous paint jobs. From my job at the front desk of the lodge here, the bikers I've talked with have been fun, polite, and interesting to talk with. We love the hustle bustle of this week......there are vendors everywhere, catering to the bikers. Cookouts, bands, concerts and traffic jams.........and I'm talking bike traffice jams.

Yesterday on our day off, we took the 1880 train from Keystone to Hill City. This is a 2 hour, 20 mile round trip thru the Black Hills of South Dakota on a historic, breathtakingly scenic and relaxing vintage steam train. The train follows the original route of the CB&O Railroad laid down in the late 1880's to service the mines and mills between Hill City and
Keystone. This train affords spectacular mountain scenery, including vistas of Harney Peak, the highest point between the Swiss Alps and the Rocky Mountains. The Black Hills Central Railroad operates three Baldwin steam locomotives and two diesel locomotives throughout the season. We sat in an open air car, enjoying the passing scenery, while the cool breezes of this beautiful day ruffled our hair. As we crossed different roads, people waved and took photos. It seems everyone here loves these old trains.

On Tues, another day off, we went to a wild horse sanctuary, up on a ranch in the Black Hills here. This ranch, if you can imagine, consists of 11,000 acres.......rolling hills, lush valleys, and the Cheyenne River runs thru it. Besides having corrals of quarter horses, and some paints for sale, along with some of their foals, there is a 500 wild herd of horses out on the range. These horses started with an original herd of 300 horses which the owner had bought out in California. At that time, the horses were near death........emaciated from too little food and poor care. They were nourished back to good
health and turned out on the range, forever more having the Black Hills to run and roam. Their foals now run free, as does the entire herd. We took a 2 hour guided bus tour out on the range to see them.......what a sight! There were stallions chasing each other, mares suckling their colts, and horses running everywhere, tails and manes flying. They were a sight to see.........horses free, as they were meant to be. We enjoyed seeing them so much...... I hated to leave them.

We love the Black Hills.........they grow on you. They're covered with Ponderosa Pines on their ridges. There is so much land here, it seems to get into your blood. The air is fresh and clean.....the winters very mild. They get around 14" of snow in their winter season. And the sky........ blue as can be........I find myself gazing up at the passing clouds as they pass over the mountains......I'm always wondering what's on the other side! That must be why we're out here.......always wondering what's on down the road. We'll see you there.

Love.......Kathie

Custer State Park...Work Camping

Hi all.........

We're back in Custer State Park, doing some work camping. After talking it over we decided to give it a try. We love this park and it's wildlife is amazing. The day before we got back here, the buffalo were in our campground, as we could see by their "calling cards" if you know what I mean. They were everywhere. We got all set up and talked with our manager today.

In exchange for working in the park for the resort, we get a free campsite with full hook ups, 3 meals a day, uniform shirts to wear, and a small wage. While we won't get rich, it's a great opportunity to meet new people our age who are doing the same thing. This is one of the few places that love retirees. The entire park is staffed by them. We also get to do any of the activities in the park for free, including trail rides, chuckwagon outings, and Jeep excursions. We also get a VIP pass to do any activities outside of the park in the
surrounding area.

We start on Monday, the 28th.........I will be working at the front desk of Game Lodge and Tony will be doing maintenance for Game Lodge..........wherever they need him. We will be here for two months, leaving on Oct. 1. At that time we'll head over to Yellowstone for a few days, then south to the Tetons for a few more. We'll have no time to waste by then as winter comes early to the mountains and we don't want to be caught up there . Our plan then is to head south thru Utah and probably be in Arizona for the winter.

Of course, plans change and we try to be flexible, as circumstances dictate. But that's on the agenda for now. I'll blog again, after I get some new pictures of our goings on here. That's it for now........we'll see you down the road.

Love.......Kathie

Big Horn Mountains..Buffalo, Wy.

Hi all......

We're in Buffalo, Wyoming, land of cowboys and Indians. We're in a campground at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains.......and some are still snowcapped in the middle of July.....can you believe it? They are just beautiful.

The campground owners here keep mules, for packing into the mountains. They go on hunting trips up there, and he feels they're much tamer and easier to work with then horses. They sure are nice and friendly.......we enjoy feeding them some hay and just watching them.

There's lots of history here. The Bozeman trail runs thru here, and you can still see some
of the wagon ruts on the mountains. Fort Phil Kearney was built here......this fort was
attacked many times by the Indians. Chief Crazy Horse and Red Cloud fought their
battles here with the soldiers.

While we were here in Buffalo, a motor home burned up his brakes coming down the mountain, and crashed into a building at the bottom of the hill. Sad to say, but the driver was killed, and his wife, while she survived, incurred a broken neck and pelvis. She was airlifted to Casper Wyoming for further care. These mountains can be treacherous in so many ways.

We watched deer come into the campground many nights. At one time, we saw four bucks and two does. They were wary of us and kept their distance, but were neat to see.

We're considering going back to Custer State Park to do some work camping.....we heard from the HR manager there and he has jobs for us. Lots of people our age do this work camping for a couple mos. We'll let you know what we decide.....either that, or on to Yellowstone.

We'll see you down the road.

Love.........Kathie

Devil's Tower....Wyoming

Hello all..........We're in the wide open state of Wyoming.......home of dude ranches, rodeos, and massive tracts of property. You can't even see a house or ranch on these......I don't know where they went. We saw quite a few antelope on the slopes......all with nice racks.

We had to pass thru a couple of tunnels on the way here.......one of them had only inches to spare from our mirrors. We knew this one was coming, so didn't have the fifth wheel with us. I could see people on the other side standing there watching us........I think they thought we weren't going to make it. I was beginning to wonder myself.

We stopped to see Devil's Tower, on the way here to our campground. It's in the northeast corner of Wyoming. The tower is a geological monolith which rises 867' from it's base and stands 1,267 ' above the river and 5,112' above sea level. The area of it's tear-drop shaped top is 1.5 acres, and the diameter of it's base is 1,000'. It is so beautiful to see when you get up close to it.......if you look closely at the last picture here, you can spot
two tiny rock climbers on their ascent. Records of Tower climbs have been kept since 1937. Approximately 5,000 climbers come here every year from all over the world to climb on the massive columns. More then 220 routes have now been used in climbing the Tower. Climbers must register with a ranger before starting their climb and on their return. You can walk a paved trail around the base of the Tower..... and sit on the various benches around the trail to gaze up at this wondrous act of nature.

We're now in Buffalo, Wyoming. Our campground is at the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains. They're truly a sportsman's paradise for hunting, fishing, camping, backpacking, snowmobiling, skiing and sledding. There are numerous scenic byways with breathtaking mountain scenery. We plan to start exploring the area tomorrow after a good night's sleep. We'll see you on the road.

Love.......Kathie

More Custer State Park pics!

Good morning all.........

Here is a sample of "9 am morning rush hour" here at Custer State Park. We were going around a curve and there was the herd.....in no particular hurry, I might add. Bulls, cows, and babies......everywhere. The herd moves at random........where and when they want.
We just sat there for 15 min or so, with our motor turned off.....enjoying nature at it's best.
These animals are huge.......and it's just a wonder to get so close to them and observe them
doing what they do best.........pulling up grass, snorting, and wallowing in the dust. The
babies are skittish and stick close to Mom. But not a one was in a rush...and neither were
we!

Part of the park still shows signs of the terrible forest fires which raged thru the west in
1988. It's been 20 years since then, and still the land struggles to recover. Yet new
growth is apparent in the green underbrush and grass and small trees. Most fires out here are started from lightning. The undergrowth here is managed by the park; it is gathered in large bundles and burned when it's dried out.......thereby keeping fuel for a fire at bay.

We've seen many wonders today. Big horn sheep grazed on a rocky hillside.......four rams keeping close company. Their horns looked too heavy for their heads, but they didn't seem to mind. They can traverse a steep rocky mountainside like we would a road, with nary a misstep.

Many deer were out today..........keeping a close eye on their surroundings. They look so delicate as they step over a log or duck under branches. Yet with a flick of that white tail, they're gone.

We've talked with many full time RV'rs here who volunteer their time at the park. In exchange for a committed amount of time, such as 3 mos, they receive a free campsite with full hook-ups, 3 meals a day, free activities in the park such as horse back riding and jeep safaris, and a small wage. Many of them told us we should do it. We did look into it today, talking with the HR manager of the park. He would like us to start Thurs, the day we're slated to leave here! While it's certainly tempting, we still want to see some of the other great parks our country has to offer, such as Glacier, and Yellowstone, and the Tetons. We may do some work camping at some parks down south over the winter, we'll have to see what we can find out about that. For now though, we'll just travel, and file away what we know about this new way of camping. I can see though it would be a great way to help with finances, and make some great new friends, all doing the same things we're doing. To me, the best of both worlds.

Went on another 3 mile hike today to "Lover's Leap" lookout. It was a loop trail,
traversing the same creek a number of times.......challenging at times, but always fun to try and figure it out. The trail was labeled moderate/severe..........I think I'm a "moderate" type of gal after this one. It was so high going up, and rocky, I thought my legs had turned to jello. But what a view......all worth it. The trip down was just as slick as could be.....I only had one mishap which ended up in a scraped knee and elbow......and that was with walking sticks! A mountain goat I am not.

We have one area of the park yet to see tomorrow, and then we're off to Wyoming on Thursday. We'll see you on the road.

Love........Kathie

Custer State Park

Hi all.......

Whew.......what a day. We went on a 6 mile hike today. It was just beautiful. We went into a walk in fishing area........they call it a walk in area, due to the fact that it's the only way to get into these small pools and eddys from the creeks. They have trout in them....we talked with one angler there who had one in the bag. It was a nice rainbow....he caught it 5 min after he got there. The woods were beautiful as we walked ...... we had to cross the same creek at least 1o times....sometimes on rocks, others on tree brances laid across the creek. Very fun. We were so glad we had our walking sticks with us.

This afternoon, we panned for gold on one of the creeks here. While we had no nuggets at all, it was sure fun to imagine......and try. We had bought a couple of pans to use......and watched a demonstration at the ranger station on how to do it. Still........no luck! Another day.

Tony took a picture of a tree growing out of the rocks. How the heck can they do that, you have to wonder. Some places there is no soil at all.......just rock and yet you see bushes and trees, stunted but growing. Unreal.

We are in awe of this area. The ruggedness of it.....the immense lands full of wildlife, all in a beautiful park. It is a joy to drive around and see it all. We were up on an overlook today, and could see for 100 miles......even to the Badlands. We had a God's eye view of the land.......and it is good.

We have two more days in this park....we hope to ride some horses and go on more hikes. Maybe take in a boat ride or do some fishing. It really doesn't matter much what you do, only that you do!
See you on the road.

Love.......Kathie