Thursday

Well, I hate to say but it's been another beautiful day in SD. Temps were warmer today, low 80's but with a breeze. We spent the day in Custer State Park. Luckily, Brian has nerves of steel because it's quite a drive. Lots of signs where the arrow looks like an upside down U and has 15 mph on it. Very narrow roads and some one lane tunnels through the rock. First we went to Sylvan Lake and hiked around the lake. It's only a mile but there are some rocks to navigate. It's so pretty though. Then we drove the Wildlife Loop. We saw the burros, a few pronghorns, more deer and the buffalo. We'd been driving for a while and hadn't seen the buffalo so we stopped at a visitor's center and asked. They showed us on the map where they had been this morning. We drove a few more miles and there they were. A smaller herd right along the road in a meadow with a stream. We sat and watched for several minutes. A few miles further and there was a larger herd farther back from the road. We stopped at the State Game Lodge, a nice lodge in the park and had lunch.

We stopped in Keystone and I bought Audrey and I Black Hills gold necklaces. She was asleep in the backseat so she and Brian stayed in the car in a nice shady spot while I shopped. We also stopped at the Powderhouse Lodge where we stayed in 1974, and took some photos. I think we'll spend a quiet evening in the hotel.