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We got caught in a buffalo jam a few times. This one was by far the worst at almost 30 minutes. Dad’s car doesnt make much noice so the buffalo just weren’t getting out of the way. Cars were able to go around us but we just couldn’t follow them close enough to get out. Mom was near tears afraid of getting trampled! No zoom lens here! UGH! Stopping for a snack? Move along! The burros were hungry and nasty. They tried to get in the windows and use the car as a scratching post. We gave them carrots and E was apparently dangling his fingers like carrots and then closing the window when the burro came around to look. We saw a LOT of pronghorn. Saw some amazing smokeless views. B found a cool beetle and handed it to Mom, still alive! UGH!

A few photos that were left out from the last post of the Buffalo Safari ride. We had a great time!

No trip to Custer State Park is complete without seeing bison. We enjoyed a family safari ride and got to get up close to the buffalo.

CSP is one of our favorite places we have been and we were so excited to revisit this year. We had a nice warm fire a few nights.

We drove the Needles Highway in search of great views of Mount Rushmore. The boys and Laurie did some off trail hiking around the lake. The kids were up on everything they could find to climb on. They certainly love rock scrambling.

Our hiking earned some water and snacks at the lake shop. ON the way back we stopped at the rock shop we visited a few years ago. E got a fox tail and a ton of cool rocks and gems. B picked out some gifts for Grandma Susie and found some neat rocks for his collection as well. We all did the chuckwagon cookout and hayride. We all sang and laughed and had a grand old ti At the cookout we danced the hokey pokey and did the chicken dance. We really enjoyed out time relaxing and exploring in Custer. It seems we always find more to do!

Dad woke us up at some abnormal time in the morning and rolled us out of the motorhome and into his car. We fell asleep immediately and slept most of the long drive from Custer, South Dakota to Harrison, Nebraska to Agate Fossil Beds to see the total solar eclipse.

Agate Fossil was awesome. We had fun passing the time doing Junior, Solar and Archeology Ranger books. There were all sorts of fun crafts like sun paining and solar beads to pass the time. They put on a program about the meaning of the sun in Native American cultures. We laughed, stayed out of the sun and took turns walking around and we waited for the eclipse to start. We were all set with our solar glasses. As the eclipse started we noticed our shadows were fuzzy.

We were able to use the binoculars to shine the sun through onto a towel so we could see the progress without the solar glasses on. During totality it got really dark, the bats came out, crickets chirped and birds went silent. The temperature dropped quite a bit and the wind picked up. It was all so surreal. We will seek totality again in the future for sure! As the light started to come back everything was washed out. Our eyes were having a hard time adjusting. When we looked at the photos later we saw it wasn’t our eyes. The colors in the camera were all weird and muted.

We had an AWESOME time!

We had a one night stop in Billings, Montana on the way to South Dakota. We found out there was a fair in town and headed to check it out. We had a great time learning about all the fun things their 4-H kids do! We enjoyed the old uniforms and all the baking and club displays.

we sampled some fair food: funnel cakes, elephant ears, cheese curds…

B and E each got to pick an oyster to open and got pretty pearls. They bought necklaces to display the pearls. B got a dragon and E picked an eye!

The next morning we were up early and off towards Canada again. Dad stayed behind for a long work day. It is about a 2.5 hour drive through Glacier and up into Waterton Lakes in Canada. Mom got car sick and then was promoted to driver (she never gets car sick when driving oddly). Out first major stop was Red Rock Canyon. Grandma and Grandpa hiked along the rim of the canyon. Mom and the boys opted for the adventure path right through the canyon. The rock was amazing in color and layering. The rocks were slippery and some places you had to pretend you were a mountain goat to pass through successfully.

With some teamwork this area was successfully passed through. However where Mom stood taking the photo was a much easier path! But the boys wanted the challenge. As we walked along there were less and less people until eventually it was just us. It was so peaceful in the canyon.  On the hike out Emmerson fell off the cliffs not once but twice. He survived unscathed but upset he slipped and had a wet foot.

We spent the next few hours driving around he park exploring. We spotted a grizzly bear up in the hills and a fox ran across the road in front of us. Then we encountered range cattle EVERYWHERE. Those lovely HUGE range cattle left big plops in the road that were fun to navigate around at 50kmh.

We visited the Prince of Wales hotel and took in the amazing vista from behind the hotel. What a breathtaking sight! Akamina Lake boasts some of the warmest water in the Canadian Rockies but we didn’t go swimming! The boys skimmed or tossed rocks while the adults enjoyed the view.

On the way back we swung down to Many Glacier in US Glacier NP. We were as impressed after some of the glaciers we had seen in Rainer and Jasper. We headed home and relaxed for the evening.

Happy to be in the USA and collecting bugs again.