My birthday started off with a trip to the Reptile Gardens. We saw lots of shows. I loved the snake show. They brought our venomous and non-venomous snakes to show the crowd. No one was bit or hurt so I was happy.
The same young man did the alligator show. It was educational vs alligator wrestling.
We explored the gardens.
I loved the replete house. This place holds the Guinness Book of World Records award for most species in one location.
The giant tortoises were fun to watch eating the grass.
The had prairie dogs and you could pop up inside of their enclosure. We could have stayed here all day watching the little guys run and dig.
I almost got eaten by a boa constrictor but I managed to escape!
Afterwards we went to the Museum at the Black Hills Institute. This is the area that they found the famous Dinosaur Sue and Dinosaur Stan.
They had on display, lots of skeletons and stories of uncovering dinosaurs.
We headed across town to Wade’s Gold Mill. First we learned how to pan for gold. The older gentleman were so kind and patient with us as we swirled, sloshed and sifted.
I picked out my few flakes of gold and found lots of tiny garnets.
We then took a tour of the property where the father of the tour guide had set up an amazing collection of old mining tools. Many of them worked today. With the pump of the steam and a flip of the switch everything began to whir and bang.
 We even got to pretend to blow up a mine. 
 Happy 10th birthday to ME! 
                     I pulled up the mine cars with my strength and elbow grease. 
 They even had a functioning gold mining operation. They truck in dirt and then put it though an intense sorting process. They actually do find gold but not enough to sell the operation and buy a private island. 
 We headed back to Custer State Park and enjoyed an evening with the Old Fashioned Hayride and Chuckwagon Dinner. 
 We started with the hayride and singing fun songs. Yes, I had to wealth silly straw hat all night! 
 The entertainer was amazing. He was really fantastic with the guitar, harmonica and even the fiddle! I could have listened and song songs all night.  
                   Happy 10 year old! 
 We arrived at the cookout and found a seat at the table. There were buffalo near the tables so everyone piled into the center tables. I had lemonade while we sang more songs. 
 Suddenly my name was called and I was told to come up front. Mom had ratted me out! Everyone sand Happy Birthday to ME! 
 I was utterly embarrassed and could not speak. That was a first! 
 I had to raise my hat at the end and say YEE-HAW! It took a few times for me to get up the nerve. 
 We had a shorted ride home and clapped along to the fiddle. 
 Home, home on the range… where the deer and the antelope play…. We saw our share of deer (both mule and white tailed) and antelope (pronghorn) on this trip. 
Tomorrow begins our journey home to Florida. We have 2000 miles to go with a few stops along the way. It has been an amazing journey and we all look forward to more adventures in the camper and traveling around the US! There are SO many more places, parks, monuments and more that we want to visit.