THE END: We're Here! Custer, South Dakota

We arrived safe and sound in Custer, SD late Thursday afternoon. The weather is a little chillier than we had hoped for. We woke up to snow the next day.

Day 1 we did the wildlife loop in Custer State Park and Wind Cave and couldn't believe how many Buffalo we saw!

Today they were on the side of the road - we hear that some days they hang out in the road blocking traffic.

and they've started to have babies.

We also saw some Prong Horns

While at Wind Cave National Park we did the free cave tour as part of the free National Parks Week

It is one of the few caves that contains "Boxwork" Formations that are sort of a honeycomb effect that early cavers thought looked like Post Office Boxes.

Day 2 we drove up to Rapid City - the closest "Big City" to check it out.

We passed Crazy Horse Memorial

and of course Mount Rushmore

We got to see a Mountain Goat by the side of the road.

We will save the paid entertainment for when we get out VIP Pass which entitles us to free or discounted admission to many of the area attractions.

Rapid City has a Dinosaur Park

And a first rate Geology Museum (Free!)

Took the Iron Mountain Road back home. It is a narrow road full of twists and turns, narrow tunnels and wooden bridges.

and back to Custer State Park

One of the Custer Park Resorts Lodges

Our work place is not quite as impressive:

Motel Unit

Cabins up on the hill

and a really short commute to the Office

Easter Sunday we decide to go to Jewel Cave for one of their free tours. Arrive at 10 a.m. and just miss a long tour - the next one is at 2:40 so to kill time we drive to Wyoming (another 23 miles)

We drove through the Jasper Fire of 2000 remains

On August 24, 2000 a local woman pulled off the highway onto a forest service road that leads to Jasper Cave. She lit a cigarette, dropped the burning match to the ground, watched the fire start and drove away. The fire spread rapidly due to the hot and dry conditions. It consumed approximately 48,000 acres, the equivalent of about seven football fields a minute

Size: 83,508 acres
Start date and time: August 24, 2000, 2:17 pm
Date and time contained: September 8, 2000, 6:00 pm
Janice Stevenson was sentenced July 23, 2001 to 10 years in a federal prison. She was also sentenced to 25 years on the state charges. I think she got off easy.

Back to Jewel Cave
It is the 2nd longest cave in the world. They have mapped out 154 miles of cave tunnels and it is estimated that only 2% of the cave has been discovered. It is 95 percent covered in calcite crystals which gives it it's name.