Packing a picnic and loading up the two vehicles, we drove to Culver's State Park just over the boarder in South Dakota. All of the reviews are right on- this is an incredible drive through the park for up-close look at wild animals, and even feeding the burros that have returned to the wild. We ended by driving through Needles and stopping to buy rocks- yep, rocks! My favorite was the peacock rock- so beautiful!
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| Just driving into the park entrance, about 5 miles in we came across this old bison |
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| To give you perspective at how close we really were |
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| We got out to look at the Prarie Dog Village |
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| Thank goodness for the walkie-talkies Grandpa Wing sent with us. No cell reception in LOTS of places around here! |
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| They were laughing about something |
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| I loved watching the dynamic between these two- their banter had me cracking up and smiling all the time. |
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| Quiet Charlie... |
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| Antelope- we didn't get too close to him, no road and he didn't stay long out in the open. It was also getting closer to mid-morning when most of the animals were headed for the shade |
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| Bison! It took us a while to drive around and find out where they all were hiding. We stopped at a few places and asked the rangers. |
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| This baby bison was LICKING the back of the car! Guess he needed some extra salt? |
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| Still licking... |
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| His mama came and chased him away from the car (just as the lady popped her head out to take a picture!) |
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| Bison family: Dad, Mom, and Baby (different one than before) |
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| This bison looked like he had a crown on- the foliage was hanging from his horns |
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| We had a few bison cross right in front of us as we drove along the road near their herd. |
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| Waiting in line for the port-a-potty. Katherine made a great shady spot for Kaleb. |
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| Finding shade and chilling' out |
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| and waiting |
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| Oh! To be so little as to be able to hide in little nooks and crannies! |
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| Katherine, Charlie, Zoë, and Trapper in front. Nica and Kaleb hiding under the eaves, Megan and Miranda in between. |
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| Fence sitters! They were waiting for a few stragglers to come out of the museum. |
We drove around and around looking for the wild burros so we could feed them the carrots we bought just for the purpose of feeding them. We found LOTS of people parked on the side of the road, watching them from their cars. We got out and got to feed them first, then everybody followed behind us to come feed the Wild Burros.
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| Trapper |
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| Katherine loved the baby burros |
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| Charlie (left) and Miranda (right) enjoyed feeding them |
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| Miranda was a little nervous, but enjoyed feeding the baby burro |
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| Charlie feeding, Jen taking pictures, and Zoë observing |
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| Megan fed the same little burro the whole time |
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| Kaleb helped, too |
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| Nica showing how her burro chopped the end off. |
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| And at it down to a nub |
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| I think Katherine had more fun petting than feeding them. |
Once we were done feeding the burros, we drove to a picnic spot and gobbled up our food. Trapper and Katherine hiked across the little stream and started climbing up the mountain behind us.
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| Bleeding in well with the trees, it was hard to spot Trapper. |
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| Kat followed him over |
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| Nica was thinking about crossing the stream... |
We decided to drive through Needles and and the tunnels. It was twisty-turns and so beautiful.
At the Rock Shop
We then split ways and I took the older kids and we went on the Lantern Hike. Nica and Kaleb were 3-4 weeks too young, so they went on the Jewel Cave hike with Aunt Jen.
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| Waiting for our hikes to begin, Megan and Nica were horsing around. |
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| Look at those happy faces! |
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| Miranda was happy and excited to go on the Lantern Hike. |
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| I have pictures from two years ago and two years before that. They have grown SO MUCH! |
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| All the girls |
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Our whole crew!
Miranda, Zoë, Nica, Megan, Trapper, Kaleb, Katherine, Charlie
with Nadine and Jen in the back |
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| All of us together |
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| Orientation before heading to the cave |
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| Walking down to the cave entrance |
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| Megan wasn't sure what her mom was doing |
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| Gathering at the entrance, and waiting for the other people to join the group |
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| Charlie got to hold one of the lanterns |
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| The kids toot turns holding the lantern. Some were LED, others real oil lanterns (that got HOT). Miranda was holding an LED lantern here at the last room of the cave hike |
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| She got a little bored. |
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| The Lantern Hikers! |
We headed home after the hike, and ate dinner and started packing up. Jen and her crew were leaving to go back to her mom's house the next morning. Such a short trip! But we loved the time we had together.
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