Mountain Lions, Buffalo & Bears.......Oh, My!

On Thursday we headed out to Bear Country with Jim's parents.

I'll let the photos do the talking and just add some comments here and there.

Elk

Big Horn Sheep

 There was a whole lot of scrachin' going on......

 There was also a lot of "wrestling" going on.

 I guess Spring was in the air at Bear Country!

This bear was guarding the exit.

He was pretty grumpy looking!

Buffalo

Baby Buffalo

Daddy Buffalo

Badger

Ground Hog

Racoons

 The porcupine had been a bad boy and was in the corner....

 Left, left, left, right, left........

 Mom, Dad and Jim

 There are bears in the trees!

 The cubs could move fast.  It was difficult to keep the camera trained on them!!

 Sam had fun running up and down the hill.

 Coyote

 Red Fox

 Mmmh.....not sure, Jim must have taken this photo.

Otters

 Family

We concluded our visit with the usual stop at the gift shop!

Then there proceeded to be the great lunch debate.  As usual, a whole lot of ideas and much indecision!

The conclusion?

Sam and Jessica had McDonalds and everyone else had sandwiches back at the house.......

 

We did a bit of WWii bowling in the afternoon and then went to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Though, it probably could have been considered lunch time as well.......we had to explain to Jessie what "blue haired set" meant.

 

Mum and Dad went back home and we decided to go to the Summer Nights Street Party.  After seeing how crazily crowded it was going to be and the absence of any marking within a 100 mile radius, we decided to go to Dinosaur Hill instead.

I didn't have my camera and we also were phoneless, so, pictures taken from the internet follow!

 Once again, a very low key attraction.  One that our older kids have always enjoyed.  Samuel was no exception.  He did give Jim and I a few heart racing moments when he ventured under the barriers (if you could call them that!) and went so very close to the sheer drop........

The climb up the stairs was much more rigorous than we remembered.

Samuel, of course, had no problem running up and down these steep steps.

Repeatedly.........

We finished the evening off with a trip to Dairy Queen. This used to be our favorite frozen confection.  I was very dismayed when I took a few spoonfuls and found that I no longer enjoyed it.

Frozen custard for me forever I guess!!

 

Sally-Ann

 



The Wild, Wild West

On Tuesday morning we left for our vacation in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The flights were very uneventful - just the way we like them!!  The only cause of worry was making our connection in Minneapolis.  We had a very short period of time to go from one end of the airport to the other!  We made with a few seconds to spare......Sam kept wanting to detour back the way we had just come and check out escalators and stairs.

Our baggage was last on, so it was first off I guess because it was the first luggage to come sailing around the carousel.  Picked up our car rental, and then we were off.  Our rental car is brand spankin' new, only 2 miles on it and still has the new car smell.  The rental people told us to try not to damage it.......

Arrived at Mom and Dad's and chilled out for the rest of the day.

It is always good to come back to Rapid City and always good to spend time with Mom and Dad.

 

On Wednesday we headed out the door bright and early.

Sam had told us the night before that he wanted to find the "Wild, wild west" and horses.  So, we went in search.  Jim kept wondering why everything was shut as we drove through the Black Hills.  Informed him that they weren't open yet......it was only 9am.

 We didn't stop at Mount Rushmore, we will another day.  But, here are some photos of our view as we drove past.

We ended up at........

 in Custer.  Jessica had been before, but, for the rest of us, it was a new experience!

All aboard!

The first order of business was a train ride around the park.

Some shady wild west characters!!

 Jessica.....her true colors?????

 Always remember to "Choose the Right"......words of wisdom from Sam.

 Told you that Jessica's true colors have shown themselves!

 Sam wanted to be part of the action.

The cutest outlaw I have ever seen.

 Jessica.........at least she isn't sticking her tongue out!!

Mmmh??? That isn't quite how I remember it.

 Did Jessica ever make it onto the fire engine???

You will just have to ask her.

 Boy, were our feet tired and sore after our zip around the track in this car!!

We finished our visit with Bronto Burgers and fries at the drive-in.

A fun place to hang out and spend the morning.

A far cry from the razzmatazz of the theme parks in Florida!

Good-bye Flintstones!!

 We decided to stop and visit Crazy Horse on the way back.

We could actually see where they have made some progress!

 

It was a good day.  Samuel was very impressed with the wild, wild West and all the trees.  When we were going up and down mountains and hills, around sharp corners, through tunnels and all manner of other interesting things.  Sam requested that we all go.....

whoaaaaaaaaaaa!

 

Sally-Ann