Ahhhh...back at Custer!

Feels good to be back again.  Love this area!  Our trip to South Dakota was a little bit eventful.  We stopped for gas at Mitchel, SD...paid the bill...turned the ignition key...hmmm turned it again.....hmmm cussed a bit.....tried again.  Nope nothing not even lights or fans would come on....crap....also its 96 degrees....crap.  So we made some calls and a mobile mechanic is on the way.  Its hot, we are blocking the lanes stuck at the diesel pump....lets try the key one more time...it started...but we need a mechanic yet, there he is..   well a few hundred dollars later we pull into a campground for the night.  It is now dark out and still hot!  Next morning we take off again.   At Rapid City, just 30 minutes from our summer campsite, we decide to fill up with diesel.  Filled up, paid the bill, turned the key...hmmmm we have lights and fans but it will not start!  Made a few calls again....blocked the diesel pumps and lane...remember we are 60' long cuz we have a 2nd trailer behind with our 4 wheeler on it....about 4 hours later the tow trucks arrive.  The truck with me in it is towed to a Ford dealership and the camper is towed to a campground.....made a few more calls...got hold of our friends and coworkers Oliver and Don and we made plans for the rescue mission.  Long story short...Oliver and Don towed us with Oliver's truck the next morning to Custer State Park...our truck was in the shop for a week......the Ford dealer was an easy fix and pretty inexpensive...We are here!  Other than our stress our cat Millie had the worst time.  We had her shut in the bathroom, thinking I had jammed the sliding door shut

and propped...but the tow truck hauling the camper was a bit of a rock and roll, poor Millie has no idea what is happening to her home, she gets out the door and stays under our couch until 9:30 that night, coming out only for cat treats and immediately crawling back under the couch.  Poor Millie!  She was fine the next day and yep I think she remembers the park.  Ahh all is good again!

This is the start of our 5th year full timing!  No regrets, well we do miss our friends back home, but still very happy with our chosen lifestyle.  One thing that stands out is the awesome people we meet on a daily basis no matter where we are...the best part...the awesome new friends we meet and keep.  We are back at our normal campsite.  Immediately we put out our bird feeders and we also got immediate results.  Ah the birds, the deer, the buffalo, the scenery...ahh....yep we love it!

 We have gotten some hiking in too...some hikes a bit more strenuous than others....Waterfalls along Sunday Gulch hike....

We work 3 days a week and have 4 days off.  On our off days we have been going out to eat with friends , explore the area, and eat some more. 

My favorite thing to do, other than harassing the coworkers...is to drive the wildlife loop and watch the animals.  Al is busy taking pictures...and more pictures....and more pictures!  The buffalo rut has started and the bulls are fighting.  Impressive thing to see a 2000 pound animal in an all out fight!  This bull was wallowing...a way to loosen old fur but also it is a sign of aggression.  He was aggressive and snorting!

 

A group of us were driving around the other night on some of the old back roads going to Rockerville when we came across this sign.....We had seen this on TV a couple of years ago.  So if you are following your GPS and it takes you to a Methodist Church Camp....no it is not the Mount Rushmore National Monument. 

The weather coming out here was in the 90's, so nice to have the 70's and low 80's here, with cool nights.  Come on out...you'd love it too!  But don't trust your GPS!