We headed for Custer State Park this morning. We've had several recommendations from people and they have a wildlife loop drive, so we're checking it out.
On our way to the wildlife drive, we encounter our first buffalo.
We found the beginning of the wildlife drive and right there, to welcome us, were a family of prong horns (American antelope).
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The mamas and babies were lying in the grass and hard to see. In the above picture, to the right of mama, you can just see the ear of one of the babies. Good camouflage.
Next stop was Prairie Dog Town. I'm not sure I've ever seen prairie dogs in the wild before, but if you look closely at the picture, you'll see there are a lot of them. It may be too small to see.
So here's one closer up. He looked like a squirrel eating a nut.
We saw a few more prong horn and then caught site of a buffalo herd in the distance. This also shows the terrain of the park.
The park is bisected by Highway 16. North of the highway the terrain is rocky and mountainous like Mt. Rushmore. This is the landscape south of 16. Perfect for buffalo.
We have lunch at the State Game Lodge, which is where President Coolidge stayed in 1927. It was his summer white house that year. Then we head back to the hotel, so Steve can drop me off for a rest and he can head to Wind Cave National Park. I'm not much for caves, and I haven't gotten Steve to write anything for the blog, so here are a few pictures.
Steve encountered more buffalo and prong horn on his way back, but also saw a deer.
Tomorrow we check out of the Rocket Motel and head for the Badlands.
I did update yesterday's post, if you want to look.
