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Thursday, September 2, 2010
Miss Ella
I put Ella's hair in rollers and wanted to get her picture with her perty hair - love how this pic turned out...
The Badlands, SD
Jim, Aidan and Ella doing the Fossil Hike - they have fossils they've found there encased in glass domes for you to see. Lots of prehistoric critters' remains have been found in the Badlands.
Aidan was in heaven, climbing all the rocks. Mama was nervous - there's huge canyons you can just drop off and fall into if you go off the man-made walkways. It was 106° there that day so we definitely got a taste of what makes the Badlands 'bad'.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Reptile Gardens - Rapid City, SD
Methusela the Tortoise is 128 years old - so was there we went to Reptile Gardens circa 1970. You don't get to ride them anymore, but you can pet them and sit with them - the kids loved it!
When the tortoises want to go inside their enclosure, they go wait by the door. It must have taken this one half a day to get to the door, once he decided he wanted in. They move so slow it's almost imperceptible.
K-Bars Lodge in Keystone
Mount Rushmore
We had a perfect day for visiting Rushmore - it was clear and sunny, perfect for lighting and viewing the monument. It's truly amazing that this was accomplished, both artistically and logistically - you don't realize the magnitude of the accomplishment until you're looking at it in person - truly amazing. I could probably blow apart a mountain with dynamite if I had to, but to have it look exactly like certain people on such a huge scale is just unbelievable.
The Begging Burros
In the early 1900's, they used Burros to carry tourists up to the top of Harney Peak in Custer State Park (Harney Peak is the highest point between Pikes Peak and the Swiss Alps). When cars came into being, they no longer needed the burros and released them into the wild. These are their descendents, and they love to beg for food as you drive past. Oh, and they eat ANYTHING.
Walking down the middle of the road is a good way to get cars to stop.
"Gettin' all up in my grill" as Jim said.
Aidan loved this white one. He was the only one that didn't come up to the cars, or people - he would just stand off by himself, but was very gentle if you fed or petted him.
By the way, they love Cheez-its. (That's INSIDE our truck).
This guy was like Mr. Ed. He'd stand there and flap his lips until you placed a cracker in his mouth. If you stopped feeding him, he'd still stand there and flap his lips for 5 minutes until you fed him again.
I had to roll the window up on these two characters. They simply refused to say goodbye. Last thing I saw was 2 noses straining to stay in the window as I rolled it up. The burros were a good time!
Walking down the middle of the road is a good way to get cars to stop.
"Gettin' all up in my grill" as Jim said.
Aidan loved this white one. He was the only one that didn't come up to the cars, or people - he would just stand off by himself, but was very gentle if you fed or petted him.
By the way, they love Cheez-its. (That's INSIDE our truck).
This guy was like Mr. Ed. He'd stand there and flap his lips until you placed a cracker in his mouth. If you stopped feeding him, he'd still stand there and flap his lips for 5 minutes until you fed him again.
I had to roll the window up on these two characters. They simply refused to say goodbye. Last thing I saw was 2 noses straining to stay in the window as I rolled it up. The burros were a good time!
Here's the first Buffalo we saw as we drove into the park. We stopped to take pictures, not knowing that we'd practically have Buffalo inside our cabin the next day!
Now I see why they have the signs along the road - Warning: Large Wildlife on Roadway
Buffalo Jams are SO much more enjoyable than Traffic Jams...
Now I see why they have the signs along the road - Warning: Large Wildlife on Roadway
Buffalo Jams are SO much more enjoyable than Traffic Jams...
Blue Bell Lodge - Custer State Park, SD
First thing she did when we got to the cabin was find a Ponderosa Pine branch and use it as a broom to start sweeping - like mother like daughter :-) Our cabin was beautiful - new, clean, nice covered front porch - it was perfect!
First morning we were there, Jim was awoken to a sound like a chainsaw outside. He looked out the window to see this. (All those white dots are more buffalo's eyes in the background).
The Buffalo stayed in the campground for the entire morning, grazing wherever they wished (and we later learned they 'moved' an air conditioner unit off it's cement base). I took this photo while peeking around the corner of our cabin, from our porch.
This is also taken from our porch, looking down the drive from our cabin.
Here's one of the big bulls. He's about 5 feet from our porch in this pic. That calf on the left side of the pic is about the size of a normal cow! The bulls are about 6 feet tall and up to 2000 pounds, and can run up to 40 mph. ISN'T HE CUTE?!
Here's a Bighorn Sheep we were lucky to see. There is a disease in the herd, and all of the babies only live 6 months before dying. So if they don't figure out a cure, the entire herd will be wiped out soon. This is a female, so doesn't have the huge curled horns like the male bighorn sheep do.
The kids hauling firewood to help Daddy with the campfire.
Hiking...
In the backyard of our cabin - the kids really bonded on this trip - Aidan was such a nice and helpful big brother and they got along really well - it was so nice to see!
Our last night there we went on a Hayride/Chuckwagon Cowboy Dinner. Here's Aidan and Ella ready to go~!
And here's us...yee-haw!
The Haywagon Ride drove us around looking at wildlife and singing songs...here's Ella playing the tamborine.
Aidan got to sit by the cowboy-singer, he liked that! He kept requesting Johnny Cash songs.
During the Chuckwagon Supper, Aidan said he was having trouble biting his hamburger because of his loose front tooth. So we told him to see if he could pull it out - AND HE DID! This is about 2 seconds after he pulled it out - we told him that's just what a cowboy would have done - he was so proud!
They had a cowboy dance after supper, complete with the Hokey Pokey and Chicken Dance
The Kids got their picture taken with Cowboy Keith - he was the guy who played guitar and fiddle and sang songs on the hayride. Real nice guy, born and raised in the Black Hills and knew all about the history and culture of the area - the kids loved him.
Aidan's first horse ride - he got to go on a trail ride with just him and a cowboy - no mommy and daddy hovering over him - he loved it!
And Ella got her own ride on Penny the Pony. She was so proud - sitting up there like a big girl!
And a little family picture on our last day, on the front porch of our cabin.
First morning we were there, Jim was awoken to a sound like a chainsaw outside. He looked out the window to see this. (All those white dots are more buffalo's eyes in the background).
The Buffalo stayed in the campground for the entire morning, grazing wherever they wished (and we later learned they 'moved' an air conditioner unit off it's cement base). I took this photo while peeking around the corner of our cabin, from our porch.
This is also taken from our porch, looking down the drive from our cabin.
Here's one of the big bulls. He's about 5 feet from our porch in this pic. That calf on the left side of the pic is about the size of a normal cow! The bulls are about 6 feet tall and up to 2000 pounds, and can run up to 40 mph. ISN'T HE CUTE?!
Here's a Bighorn Sheep we were lucky to see. There is a disease in the herd, and all of the babies only live 6 months before dying. So if they don't figure out a cure, the entire herd will be wiped out soon. This is a female, so doesn't have the huge curled horns like the male bighorn sheep do.
The kids hauling firewood to help Daddy with the campfire.
Hiking...
In the backyard of our cabin - the kids really bonded on this trip - Aidan was such a nice and helpful big brother and they got along really well - it was so nice to see!
Our last night there we went on a Hayride/Chuckwagon Cowboy Dinner. Here's Aidan and Ella ready to go~!
And here's us...yee-haw!
The Haywagon Ride drove us around looking at wildlife and singing songs...here's Ella playing the tamborine.
Aidan got to sit by the cowboy-singer, he liked that! He kept requesting Johnny Cash songs.
During the Chuckwagon Supper, Aidan said he was having trouble biting his hamburger because of his loose front tooth. So we told him to see if he could pull it out - AND HE DID! This is about 2 seconds after he pulled it out - we told him that's just what a cowboy would have done - he was so proud!
They had a cowboy dance after supper, complete with the Hokey Pokey and Chicken Dance
The Kids got their picture taken with Cowboy Keith - he was the guy who played guitar and fiddle and sang songs on the hayride. Real nice guy, born and raised in the Black Hills and knew all about the history and culture of the area - the kids loved him.
Aidan's first horse ride - he got to go on a trail ride with just him and a cowboy - no mommy and daddy hovering over him - he loved it!
And Ella got her own ride on Penny the Pony. She was so proud - sitting up there like a big girl!
And a little family picture on our last day, on the front porch of our cabin.
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