Gotta Find the Burros! ~ Custer State Park

As I had mentioned in an earlier blog, Custer State Park in South Dakota is one of our super fave places to go. Buffalos are number one on our "must find" list but the burros rank a very, very close second! We will drive through the park yelling (quietly) "Donk-ayyyyy!" Think of Shrek when you read this..."c'mere Donkey"..."Oh Donkeyyyyyy, where are you, Donkey?!?!" Yes, I will take full credit for planting THAT in your head today! Face it, you know have this uncontrollable urge to watch all of the Shrek movies!

Warning: The following WILL cause you to learn at least one useless point of trivia for the day....

The burros in the park are the offspring of animals that were brought in to bring visitors to the top of Harney Peak. When this practice ended, they let them go inside the park and they have thrived and provided entertainment for the masses. When in Custer, we put hundreds of miles driving the Wildlife loop looking for...Wildlife! DUH! The burros are always in the same area but they tend to hide out waayyyyy off in the distance but if they are hungry, they are right on the road looking for handouts. Now, the park service rules are that you should not feed them and I ALWAYS follow the rules............

Oops, sorry. I had to lift myself up off the floor. I was laughing so hard that I fell off my chair! There is a saying in our family....rules are made to be broken! But you should really listen to the park rangers. That disclaimer being stated, we do break the rule (I know..surprise, surprise, surprise!)...after all, the burros are really, really persistent. But...we don't do the cookies, crackers etc. You can go to any of the grocery stores in Custer and get a big bag of carrots to feed them (4 bags? Maybe someone has done that before, nope, wasn't me...just saying!). Just stay away from the sweets and salty stuff! If they aren't good for you, they certainly are not good for them! Can you imagine an overweight donkey? Ah. It would just be another fat ass!

My son is going to kill me! (nice teeth, btw!)

The babies are adorable and they look like their mommies!

Just be careful. They are still wild!

Hello, gimme carrots...cookies...I don't care....just hand it over! If you don't, I'ma gonna eat your car!

Hey, you...got anything in here? Hellooo...I am standing right here...don't you see me?

Awwwww......

No, we cannot bring him home!

Still, NO....I don't care how cute he is!

All gone? Cripes, I am leaving...don't come back until you bring carrots!

Just writing about this makes me want to back again. Honey....yoo-hoo! You said you didn't know what you wanted to do this weekend? Thinking road trip? 9 hours in the car really isn't THAT bad is it?

Have you ever taken an 9 hour (one way) road trip just for the heck of it? Let me know about it!

Custer State Park

Custer State Park is tops on our list when we go to South Dakota. Is it for the history? Nope? Is it for the vast,wide open spaces? Nuh-huh...The scenic views? Sadly, you are wrong again. If you said the abundant wildlife you would be correct-o-mundo! Whoa, I just channeled Fonzie there for a minute! Must have came from the cute little note that DH left me yesterday. He drew out (eye) (heart) (ewe) just like they did in a Happy Days episode. This was when we were like 2 btw...

Anyway, back to Custer. It is the animals in the park that draw us back. Yeah, we have animals in Minnesota but none as exotic as a buffalo, burros and cantelope. No, I didn't spell that wrong...you know how kids sometimes can't say the right names for things and because its just so darn cute, you perpetuate it into all of eternity? That's what we did with the cantelope/antelope thing. We have so many of those special words. It's like a twin-language thing...a Famguage...there I go again..oh brother!

We each have a fave animal...but we all love the buffalo. The big, smelly, huffing bison. We go in search of the herd, stopping at the ranger stations for news of sightings. At The State Game Lodge you can make reservations for an open Jeep ride in search of the buffalo. We haven't done this because we have been lucky to find the herds ourselves and get up close. And I mean CLOSE! Not, the best picture because it was taken out the window but it gives you a sense of how close it was!

Tell me, how scary is that??? And we always seem to go when they are in rut...looking for the ladies to woo! Ohh...did I mention the babies? How cute is this??!?!

The mother lode when you are on the "hunt" for the buffalo!

 Mommy and baby!

 Big boy!!

I didn't get to the cantelope or the burros....the burros are good for a posting by themselves...well, maybe two postings. We will have to see! Please feel free to comment or ask questions!

Mount Rushmore

We have been to Mount Rushmore 3 times since 2004. Yes, 3 times! Granted, the last time was on our way through but the kids insisted that we take a detour to see it once again. My daughter was 12 and son was 7 the first time we ventured to South Dakota for a family vacation.

I had been there as a kid but it was rush, rush, rush...gotta get going! Did you see it? Okay, let's go. Walk up to the wall in front, pause, take a picture and hustle back. Who knew they had great walking trails that get you right under the monument? And the interpretative center? Awesome! At night, they have a program that tells stories of the monument's beginnings and historical facts. The kids were enthralled. Ok, ALL of us were enthralled with it. But the best part of the ceremony was when they asked for all the service men and women who were there to stand and everyone in attendance were asked for a round of applause in appreciation of them. No dry eyes in our famly! I respect and appreciate all the men and women in uniform for allowing us the freedoms we have today. For those of you idiots (yes, I used that word) that didn't join in ...shame on you!) But here is a shot from the lighting ceremony. Please forgive the poor detail in the picture...it was before I had my baby...er...I mean my good camera, yeah, that's it, my good camera. This was my desktop on my computer for a long time (until I found my happy place!).

We have lots of pictures from different angles but the one that is my all time favorite was taken by my son. Don't ask me why, but he is always looking for crevices and cracks to crawl into and just happened upon one at the base of Rushmore. So like a little rat, he crawls into this crevice and comes out all excited...MOM! Gimme your camera! So I hand him the camera, he crawls back in...And the result was spectacular at least in the proud opinion of a mom. :)

So, when we went back with my newest addition to the family in 2007, I had to have him try to recreate the picture with a zoom factor this time and this was the result. (please do not use the pictures without giving credit~thanks!). The Mount Rushmore area is a great place to take the kids...or for anyone to visit. Next up...our next favorite spot in South Dakota...Custer State Park!