What can I say about the weather in South Dakota? Not much. It was less than optimal for our entire 5 days here. When you hear on the news that they are having unusually cool weather for June you know you are in trouble. Especially when you aren't fond of cool weather to begin with. When we pulled in to town it was sunny and in the 70's. OK not so bad. But then the next morning
it was in the 40's and raining. Jim really wanted to do a hike to the top of the Crazy Horse Monument. They only allow you to go all the way to the top once a year and we just happened So we drove over there. It was only 1 mile away. When we got there is was very cold and damp. So Jim did the hike and Beau and I hung out in the van. The brochure said it would take 2 to 4 hours to complete. Jim was back in an hour and a half. What can I say? I knew he was good. So then we drove around town for a little bit and the sun started to come out. We took a little walk with Beau and looked for a dinner spot. We also stopped and got some provisions for the room. But by the time we came out of the restaurant from eating it was raining again. Sunshine didn't last long.
The next day when we got up it was still raining. So we decided to check out Bear C
ountry USA. It's a drive through park with wildlife. There were elk, reindeer, wolves, sheep, bears, lots of bears and a few buffalo. The brochure said to stay in your cage with the doors closed and the windows up. The animals run free. I have to admit that when we were in the section with the reindeer and elk I did roll down the window to get pictures. But when we were in the bear section the windows stayed up. You can tell I was a good do-bee by the rain drops in some of the pictures. Those bears were big. We even saw one bear try to get into the back of a pick up truck a few cars a head of us. And he didn't want to get down when the truck started moving either. I wonder what was in the back of that truck. That was a good attraction for a rainy day.
The n
ext day when we got up it was still a little chilly but no rain and no fog. I forgot to mention all the fog that comes along with the rain. So we were up bright and early and off to Mount Rushmore. It was a great day. No fog and you could see the mountain easily. We did the entire 1 mile hike around the monument. It was really amazing. And then on the way back to the hotel we did the scenic drive through Custer State Park.
There were signs that said road was narrow and twisty and they weren't kidding. Some of the turns were quite sharp. And then they had these one lane tunnels you had to go through. You have to beep your horn before you go through to make sure no one is coming the other way. But there was plenty of wild life wandering around. We saw wild donkeys that are obviously used to being fed because they would walk
right up to your car and if you weren't giving them food then they just moved on to the next car. We also saw herds of wild buffalo and lots of babies too. So there will be buffalo around for a while.
Another interesting thing we saw there were tons of Army vehicles. And a sign that said Army operations in progress. We found out from one of the ran
gers that the Army does training maneuvers there the first two weeks in June every year. Fun.
Today was another rainy day. We did a 1 mile hike up the side of one of the hills in town and then just hung out for the day. I did make a new bracelet today. So it was a productive and fun day even if the weather was crummy.
Tomorrow we head out again. I think we are going to try and see the Devil's Tower on our way to our next destination. Beau is hanging in there and seems to be having a good time. He is a real trooper in the van when we are at restaurants or sight seeing. We usually don't leave him for long and the weather has been cool enough that we don't have to worry about him over heating. We found a pet day care online that we thought we could leave him at but when we went to look at it we didn't like it. It was all out door cages and I didn't think he would like it there. So we just did what we could with him and it worked out fine.
Tomorrow we hit the open road again. We will be still be heading west toward the coast.
Designs By Patricia Hall is today's Crazy Train Rider on ArtFire. Patricia likes to work with natural stones, lampwork beads, and shell beads. She has many different designs and styles in her studio. And she will do custom sizing for you if desired. If you like jewelry made with natural stones or shell then this is the site for you. 
Yesterday we drove past the Grand Tetons on our way to Yellowstone. They were so phenomenal. So today we decided to go to Grand Teton National Park. We weren't disappointed. The mountains are even more spectacular up close. 
we stopped in town to take in some of the sites. The pictures posted are of the main part of downtown Jackson. The antler arch is the entrance to the town park. There is one on all 4 corners of the park. 
a bead shop but they didn't have anything new or different to offer.
drove to Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful. It was impressive. Quick but impressive. The park is awesome though. After the eruption we took a hike up to a look out point that over looks Old Faithful and all the smaller geysers. It was quite a hike up there but well worth the view. We did see some buffalo out in a field while we were up there but we were so high up they looked like little brown specks. 
Do these look like candles to you?? They look good enough to eat to me. But they are really candles. And if they smell anywhere near as good as they look then they are winners in my book. These are just a few of the delicious looking candles in Kickinskreations Artfire Studio. There are also 
some standard looking candles there too. But these really do it for me. Oh and did I mention they have soap too. And some interesting "adult items" too. 
it was in the 40's and raining. Jim really wanted to do a hike to the top of the Crazy Horse Monument. They only allow you to go all the way to the top once a year and we just happened So we drove over there. It was only 1 mile away. When we got there is was very cold and damp. So Jim did the hike and Beau and I hung out in the van. The brochure said it would take 2 to 4 hours to complete. Jim was back in an hour and a half. What can I say? I knew he was good. So then we drove around town for a little bit and the sun started to come out. We took a little walk with Beau and looked for a dinner spot. We also stopped and got some provisions for the room. But by the time we came out of the restaurant from eating it was raining again. Sunshine didn't last long. 
ountry USA. It's a drive through park with wildlife. There were elk, reindeer, wolves, sheep, bears, lots of bears and a few buffalo. The brochure said to stay in your cage with the doors closed and the windows up. The animals run free. I have to admit that when we were in the section with the reindeer and elk I did roll down the window to get pictures. But when we were in the bear section the windows stayed up. You can tell I was a good do-bee by the rain drops in some of the pictures. Those bears were big. We even saw one bear try to get into the back of a pick up truck a few cars a head of us. And he didn't want to get down when the truck started moving either. I wonder what was in the back of that truck. That was a good attraction for a rainy day. 
ext day when we got up it was still a little chilly but no rain and no fog. I forgot to mention all the fog that comes along with the rain. So we were up bright and early and off to Mount Rushmore. It was a great day. No fog and you could see the mountain easily. We did the entire 1 mile hike around the monument. It was really amazing. And then on the way back to the hotel we did the scenic drive through Custer State Park.
There were signs that said road was narrow and twisty and they weren't kidding. Some of the turns were quite sharp. And then they had these one lane tunnels you had to go through. You have to beep your horn before you go through to make sure no one is coming the other way. But there was plenty of wild life wandering around. We saw wild donkeys that are obviously used to being fed because they would walk 
right up to your car and if you weren't giving them food then they just moved on to the next car. We also saw herds of wild buffalo and lots of babies too. So there will be buffalo around for a while. 
gers that the Army does training maneuvers there the first two weeks in June every year. Fun. 
