Our last day of our 65th B-day Tour has been just as exciting as all the rest. It's hard to believe we are now in our last hotel of the trip. My suitcase is repacked to hold the goodies for my family, I've checked my return flight times, and now thinking strongly about getting to sleep. Vacations are wonderful but exhausting! I'm lucky that I got to be the passenger this whole week so I could sit back and enjoy. Tomorrow I fly the friendly skies so no more scouting for wild animals along the roads or looking for that perfect t-shirt. Homeward bound, sad but glad.
 |
| We started our day bright and early, on the road to Hot Springs by 8:00, after eating a free breakfast that was enhanced by a conversation with a very chatty woman from Oregon. We now know that she has school friends that she travels with at times, she manages two dental offices, her boss has a vacation home that he lets her use, she has a daughter in D.C. she flies a lot, they bought a vacation home north of Portland, her mother just passed away, and she has a sister who has passed. This all in about a 15 minute time frame. Her poor husband just sat there. At least she wasn't from Iowa. On the road to Hot Springs we were lucky enough to find a few roaming animals. The first was a mess of prairie dogs that had dotted the green pastures with their burrows. So cute but so dangerous to the hoofed animals running across them. |
|
 |
| This big fellow was the first buffalo of the day. He ignored us as he munched his breakfast. |
 |
| Then around a curve we finally saw a herd close enough to the road and not moving so we could get a few good pictures. |
 |
| This was the only herd we saw today but a few others dotted the landscape for the rest of our time in Custer National Park. |
 |
| Our purpose for our jaunt to Hot Springs was to visit the Mammoth Site. It was a beautiful facility that had been built over an actual working dig site. |
 |
| Just a couple of fossils enjoying the guided tour. The headsets made it easier for us to hear our 15 year old guide. He was very good at answering questions and keeping our group in line. |
 |
| We backtracked our morning route to get back to highway 90, our route to Gillette. We enjoyed more buffalo and prairie dogs along the way but just when we getting close to the park exit, three deer caught our eye. They were far away but we can still add them to the list of critters that entertained us. |
 |
| Our route took us back to Custer where we had lunch in a restaurant ran by a couple from Iowa. One of their specialties is a pork tenderloin listed on the menu as a State Fair Fitter. It was soooo good! We had a nice visit with the owner who wanted to know if they had done a good job. The beans were also out of this world. |
 |
| On the way we stopped at the Prairie Berry winery that Carol had been to before. They had very fun names for their wines: Wild Bill, Calamity Jane, Lawrence Elk, and Red Ass Rhubarb, to name a few. For supper we decided after the huge lunch all we needed were a few crackers, cheese, and chocolates. |
 |
| Cheers to a wonderful friendship and outstanding vacation! I hope you have enjoyed our pictures and travels. Our 65th Birthday Tour has come to an end. Home tomorrow, back to normal life until the next great adventure. |
Comments
Post a Comment