July 5, 6, & 7, 2009 Days 6, 7, and 8

Wow! One week down, only 7 (or 8, maybe) to go!! Where is the time going?! Why have I only worn 2 of the 12 pairs of shoes I packed, thus far?!?!

These last 3 days have been a whirlwind! Sunday was pretty much a day of rest. We acclimated ourselves to the new campground. I did a little hiking and Len did a little dirt biking. Len found a herd of big horn sheep while he was out dirt biking and literally chased them around for a while. (attached pic) I discovered beautiful native flowers, unlike any I’ve ever seen before. (No pics of the flowers...Len had the camera with him!)

Monday, we took a drive over to the Badlands. Unbelievable! When we left the campground, around 10:30 am, it was 76 degrees and sunny. By midafternoon in the Badlands, it was 92 degrees, but very windy. The wind was a life saver! We attempted a hiking trail in the Badlands, listed as steep and difficult. They weren’t kidding! The peaks and mounds look like rock, but, they are actually more like a sun-dried clay texture, and they break away very easily. So, when you’re hiking up or down them, you can’t really use them or rely upon them as a strong-hold. They break away! On our way back to the campground, we went thru’ Scenic, SD. Pic attached. Very scenic, aye?

After travelling 30 miles on a dirt road from Scenic, we came thru’ Custer State Park and accosted a HUGE buffalo alongside the road. Pic attached. Then, out of nowhere we came upon this beautiful lakeside restaurant where we had dinner on the patio. And, believe it or not, they had wifi there. So, we took advantage of that to send out emails and blog posts. Tuesday, we went for a 2 hour hike (and I mean HIKE!) along the Centennial Flume Trail. They named it the Centennial Trail (111 miles of trail thru’ the Black Hills) in honor of SD being a state for 100 yrs and the Flume section was where they routed water (containing GOLD) down a wooden trough. The trough is long gone, but, you can see remnants of the 6 ft wide trough along the way. For the life of me, I don’t know why they call them “Black Hills”. These are MOUNTAINS!!!

After our hike, we visited a local winery and tasted their award-winning Red Ass Rhubarb wine. Not bad! Then, it was on to Needles Hwy in Custer State Park. I have never seen such amazing rock formations or rock tunnels in my life!! I made Len promise me that we would come back here again soon! You should all put Custer State Park on your MUST SEE list!! You will never regret it! We only touched upon it’s beauty. From there we went back to the Crazy Horse Monument to see the nighttime laser light show. Pretty cool!

This morning we packed up and headed west. I did NOT want to leave the Black Hills of South Dakota. They are magical, mystical, and downright AWE-inspiring!! I WILL be back!!

Papa Rob (per your request): Below are pics of our "rig": truck, canoe, camper (12 pairs of shoes enclosed), and the dirt bike. And, the lake where we camped in the Black Hills (Sheridan Lake - which we stumbled upon by accident - LONG story :-)

More to come.... (P.S. If you click on the pics, they will enlarge.)