Missed the buffalo roundup; but as it turns out, they don’t attempt to round up the adult bulls, too difficult to manage, so they are scattered all around the park and show up in the most interesting places. We found one guarding the restroom at one of the trailheads. Seems no one was in a hurry to “budge” that line.
Lots of wild life: Deer, prong horn antelope, bighorn sheep, pheasant, turkey. While hiking Lynn scared a small (2ft) light brown snake (prairie rattler? We were both moving too fast to know for sure!) off into the taller grass.
The black hills are beautiful. Lots of pines with a smattering of birch that are just changing to a bright yellow.
LAUNDRY! Not quite as terrible as I remembered the Laundromat experience….of course it helped that it is actually at the state park campground so I could sit outside in the bright sun with a great view while I waited. Still, not my favorite task but I guess I will survive.
We will be staying a couple more days.

More time at Custer
We had some great lawn ornaments today. 13 bighorn sheep and a couple lambs spent all day in camp. Sometimes outside the fence. Sometimes inside the fence. They hopped over it like it wasn’t even there. Great fun to watch.
Kent got a workout driving curly roads again. We took the Miata on a drive with lots of switchbacks and fun steep grades through wild craggy granite formations and wonderful smelling pines. Fall colors are getting more vivid everyday. At the end was Sylvan Lake with huge boulders along the shore. Reminiscent of the shorelines at Rock Lake in Canada.
We had s’mores for dessert tonight! Yummmmmmmm

Proud to be an American.
We made the final night lighting ceremony for the year. Impressive to see. The exhibits and program were a great history lesson for me. It is good to be reminded of those who believed so in their ideals and their county.

What a wondrous place! Spires that pierce into the sky, nearly constant winds, and bright sky…and then, we found the buffalo and bighorn sheep. Mule deer everywhere too. Some of the most wonderful bird song from the meadows and the absolutely entertaining prairie dogs chattering away. It makes me smile to watch them.
Have to sees: the Pinnacles overlook and the nature trail by the visitor’s center. Magnificent.
Awakened in the night to the eerie sound of barking coyotes and to being jostled by the wind buffeting the motor home so much that the movement wakes.
Inky black sky with countless stars and the Milky Way more vivid than I have seen in years.
Oh, and I saw my first snake. Mercifully, it wasn’t a prairie rattler.
Interesting tidbit (which I learned in the visitor center on the way out of the park): a buffalo’s mood can be told by its tail position. Turned clear up with the tassel end waving in the breeze means he is really pissed. Guess what we saw when we looked back at the pictures of one bull we got close to?
Wall Drug ….giant tourist trap not nearly as good as the hype. But fun.

Finally the part for the Motorhome came in. Unit repaired @ 9:45 PM 9/21. Rolling prior to noon 9/22. In South Dakota now going on to Mt Rushmore/Badlands later this week.

Well, here we are cooling our jets waiting for motorhome repairs. I have spent hours planning our first month of for-real fulltiming it. I am READY to go!

We have been being kind of lazy since our mad dash to South Dakota last week. We drove 1500 miles in the Miata in three days. I was looking forward to tent camping again after such a long time; but, we had thunderstorms both nights. All the bedding got soaked the first night. It rained hard (the locals said as much as 4” of rain) and was windy with lots of lightening. We had a very sheltered site so it wasn’t too dangerous but it was pretty fitful sleep. Night two was a little better. We had nasty storms in the evening as we were setting up camp and having dinner but then it calmed down so we got a little more sleep in our somewhat damp sleeping bags. We did see some pretty scenery along the way. Lots and lots of wind turbines! Next time through, we are going to stop a little and check out more stuff than what you can see at 65 mph along I90. We got our licenses taken care of and other paperwork so that is good. Met our mail forwarding people too. Looks like that will all work out.

If we are lucky, we are out of here this next weekend. Else, watch for one more update from sunny, exciting Elkhart.
It is hard to believe that it is fall already. Time really flies when you are retired, or at least trying to be.

Trailer was delivered and everything fits as anticipated. BUT, Now the intermittent issue with the motorhome has returned and the required part is not available for another week. So close but not quite.

The Indy Zoo – great dolphin show and the desert exhibit was amazing. Once we got the hang of identifying the lizards we found many and they were all sorts of colors. then I (Kent did too) actually touched a shark. They feel like wet suede. There was every type of garden too and a fantastic butterfly house.
On to the Stae Fair – it was draft horse exhibition day. It was fantastic. We saw Percherons and Clydesdales. The 6 horse hitches were the most impressive. Beautifully coordinated stepping and wonderful to watch.
Then there was all the classic Indiana stuff: ~30ft tall Ma and Pa Kettle with pitchfork and suitcase and all, rows of corn for landscaping, a hilarious piglet race, and lots of antique farm equipment. We enjoyed the old tractor display.
There was of course fair fare of which we had to partake. We showed some restraint…we shared it all so we could try more things! Pork BBQ from the Pork Producers, a great steak sandwich from the beef producers, as always, wonderful ice cream from the dairy producers and then just because it is Fair, an elephant ear. As you would expect, that meant that we skipped the midway rides.
Great fun.
Now some family stuff…..a reunion and hangout time…more to come later.

Some thoughts and impressions

Highlights and memorable moments
Launching the boat with the Motor home for the first time. All the dishes stayed in the cupboards and the MH stayed out of the Lake. All good.
Sturgeon Pt light House – docent was from Historical Society. Fun and knowledgeable.
Sunset at Hoeft. Magnificent. The entire sky lit up.
Fudge at Mackinaw
Oops, I blew a fuse. Oops I did it again. Better buy some more 15 amp.
Red raspberry pancakes.
Osprey fishing at Seney Wildlife Preserve.
Pictured Rock cruise. It is the way to see the cliffs.
Kent’s blueberry cream ice cream from the Frozen Flamingo. Like a fresh wild blueberry sundae.
The frog that hopped up Kent’s swim suit leg while he was napping. Even better, the “pocket checking” that happened after that, “something moved in there!”

Tidbits
Ripe raspberries eaten along a forest-side trail are probably THE reason bears get up in the morning; and there is no such thing as too many wild blueberries.

The signal for STOP is the only universal hand signal while backing up. All other signals are left for miss-interpretation.

DEET, gotta have it.

If you need reassurance that all is right with the world, watch a sunrise or a sunset.

Pouting requires space to be effective.

Motor home smoke detectors are pretty sensitive! Note to self, step one of all meal preparation is to remove detector battery.

Don’t trust all the snazzy indicator lights in a MH. Water tanks go empty unexpectedly and even blown fuses can look like they are working.

We are at Pictured Rocks National Shoreline.
We left Elkhart July 20 and have been wandering michigan. Some familiar spots and some new ones along Lake Huron.
We are not Wi-FI enabled yet so posts will be spotty as we tap into hotspots along the way.
We crossed at Mackanaw and have seen Osprey fishing to feed their young and stopped at a lighthouse where you can be a keeper for 2 weeks for $25. Pretty cool gig.
A little more wandering to do up in the UP then will pass through Elkhart again……before too long.

Still needing to remind each other to slow down, its retirement not vacation now! We have lots of time.

July 15, 2010
5-8PM
Woodlawn Nature Center, Elkhart IN.

July 16
Thanks to all who were able to stop by. Your wishes for the future and friendship over the years means a lot!
The ideas on places to visit during our travels is greatly appreciated. Please keep them coming.