Already the end of September, where does time go?

The Sturgis motorcycle rally seemed quieter this year.  Al and Don did traffic control in the tunnel at the Needles Eye on the needles scenic drive.  It was not quite so crazy but still busy.  The campground we host at had been full every night with the exception of the two weeks around the rally.  Most people avoid the park due to the heavy motorcycle traffic.....it does get noisy.  The we slacked off again after Labor Day.  The campground crowd this year was awesome!  One of the more interesting days was when some teenage boys found a prairie rattlesnake in the rocks just a short walk from their camper.  Luckily Mom was a cop and very cool.  Al kept track of this critter with a little help from our campers until law enforcement could come and take it away.  It was a healthy one!

Our camper neighbor Don leaves the middle of August every year.  This is our first sign of the season coming to a close.  Just seems to go so fast.  Shortly after Don left....we had a new neighbor move in...a big bull!  We joked with Oliver that we traded one old bull for another....hehehe...The neighbors named this guy Cletus.  He often lays down right next to our camper...often he seems to appear from nowhere and we have to make a quick dash into the camper or truck.  He has not caused any trouble but as you can see he is taller than most cars.....

On one of our outings we came across an Osprey nest.  We were lucky enough to catch the parent feeding 3 babies.  Look at those big eyes!

Of course we love to drive the wildlife loop quite often....ahem...we love to see the animals in the park.  The buffalo are always a source of entertainment for us.  It is fun to watch people in their cars as the buffalo herd completely circles them.  They are so excited!   We did not see much for bull fights this year.... Oh well we have Cletus!

The park held some special events before the eclipse and also the day of.  Our area was in the 96% area.  There were lots of campers traveling further west for the 100% experience, and they stopped here before and after.  We were a bit disappointed as it really did not get very dark here.  Amazing what a difference 4% is!  One of the neat things we saw was in the shadows the leaves cast during the eclipse.  It's not double vision or trick photography, this is how the shadows looked.

See how you can see the 1/2 moon eclipse in the shadow cast by the leaves.











As I said in our last update, it has been a hot year here.  We have been on high fire alert for most of the season.  The smoke from the Montana fires was causing some visibility issues and then Wind Cave had two fires adding to the smoke.  There was one 1 acre fire in the park but it was under control within hours.  For the last two weeks we have had cool weather and rain.  Welcome rain!  So the smoky skies have settled down and we are at moderate alert now. 

We had lots of company from Blue Earth in September.  Got some 4 wheeling done and lots of eating.  My brother and sister in law are here now, hopefully they can stay for the roundup.

This Friday is our Buffalo Roundup, the park is expecting around 22,000 people.  Our training for roundup duties starts on Monday, we will be worn out by next Sunday.  So for now will leave you with some fall photos.