Today we woke up to blue skies and s promise of 86 degrees. We decided to take a ride through Custer State Park. Or at least the Wildlife Loop which is wide enough for an RV. The wildlife loop is known for its large herd of bison. Nick and I started our trek down the road which by the way was winding, narrow, and hilly. The loop is about 18 miles in circumference so it took close to two hours to go around. The beginning of the loop was noneventful. The scenery was pretty, but we came to e some wildlife! Just when I was ready to give up, I spotted s sign that read, "Please do not feed or disturb the prairie dogs. View from a distance." I was at the point where I thought...."ok, prairie dogs are better than nothing!". We didn't see any of those either. So, we rambled on, and turn a corner.......and I see something on four legs........what? Feral mule? Now that is a sight. But they didn't seem very feral to us. They came up to every car window. If you had your window open to take a picture, they stuck their heads in. Children were walking up to them and petting them. I swears that if I opened up the side door, one of them would have gotten in. It was pretty comical. Turns out these burros are not native to the park. They sre descendants from the herd that once hsuled visitors to the top of Harney Peak. The rides stopped years ago and the burros were released into the park.
After we got through the maze of burros, we continued our ride. A little more down the road, Nick spotted some bighorn sheep. They were sturdy and graceful. We were around mile 15 and I was getting frustrated because I did not see any of the bison that was reported to be plentiful in the park. I spotted one! And then another and I started to feel hopeful. We rounded one of the last loops and saw quite a few cars congregated on the side of the road. There they were! Hundreds of bison of all sizes lying, standing, walking,eating! What an amazing sight and definitely one of my favorite so far. These bison, or buffalo, can grow to six feet tall and weigh more than 2000 pounds. There were once millions of bison, but by 1900 estimates report that fewer than one thousand bison remained on the entire continent. In 1914, the park bought 36 bison to start a herd. The number swelled to over 2500 by the 1940s. Today the number is kept to 1500 to prevent overgrazing.
Along the way we spotted Rv parks and lodges and cabins. We would definitely consider staying in the park if we ever got to go back to the area.
We worked our way back to Hill City and decided to stop at Rico's Tacos. I scanned the menu....I couldn't believe it! There was not ONE seafood item on the menu! It was somewhere that I could eat! I took advantage of it and ordered a couple of tacos and they were delicious.
The weather was so perfect,that after our ice cream (blueberry waffle cone by Land o' Lakes), I decided to go walking in the pool again.
We ate dinner and Dallas and Kathy and their kids came down the hill to visit. We lit a campfire and we made s'mores and talked and laughed and before we knew it, it was 10 pm and both families were headed out the next morning. It was our last campground that we would be seeing them and we were sad about that. However, we talked about getting together soon and I hope that really happens.
The sky was filled with stars and we could name a few constellations. I wish I had a guide of the western skies. I think We saw the Milky Way!
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