This week we were in the Black Hills, South Dakota. We stayed in a place called Custer State Park.
Our first day there was on a Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, so we joined a congregation of about twenty people. In the afternoon, we walked to the visitor center at Custer State Park and saw a whole bunch of wild turkeys. Afterwards, we went on a scenic drive in Custer state park. First we saw a couple pronghorn antelope. Then we encountered a whole herd of bison. One actually was sniffing the car! It was literally touching the car. Later we also saw lots of white tailed deer.
The next day, we drove to Mount Rushmore. It was very cool. I became a junior ranger there. We went on a small hike to the base of the mountain, and also saw the sculpture’s studio with a scale model of the mountain.
Then we went to a small lake in the state park. We took a one mile long hike around it. I was running ahead and climbing lots of rocks. On the way back, we saw something amazing – big horn sheep! At first glance we thought they were deer, but we soon saw their horns. It was awesome to see the animals that we had heard about for a long time.
The next day, we went to Devil’s Tower, in Wyoming. We went in the toad, and it was a very long drive. When we got there, we went on a three mile hike. It was beautiful. Afterwards, we went on a short hike through the boulder field. I climbed a lot of boulders.
Yesterday, we started the morning with an unexpected surprise – a whole herd of bighorn sheep in our campground! The herd stayed around for the entire day. In the afternoon, Pa and I went cross country out in the hills. We didn’t see any animals, but we saw the exo- skeleton of some freaky bug and lots of beautiful scenery. When we got back, the bighorn sheep were jumping the fence to leave. One little baby couldn’t do it, so we opened the gate to try to get it out. After a lot of time and a little herding, we finally got the baby back to the rest of the herd.
Today, we went to a national monument named Jewel Cave. Ma and little kid went on a short tour of cave. Then Pa and I went on the long tour. It was really cool. There were stalactites, columns, thin, hollow stalactites called soda straws, and beautiful crystals. Back above ground, we ate a picnic lunch. Of course, then I did the junior ranger program.
Tomorrow we will head to Nebraska.