For mother's day we took a drive around the park. We started with the Wildlife Loop Trail where we heard buffalo were seen on the 4 mile dirt road. So off we went in search of the four legged creatures. We soon spotted a small heard of buffalo along with about 25 newly borne calves. 
Needless to say we were excited. 

Once back on the main road we continued on in our search of additional creatures, be it 2 or 4 legged animals. We soon came upon some burros hangin around waiting for a treat. Good thing we brought a pound of carrots, just case we found something that would take them off of our/out of our hands. 

So we hope you enjoy the side show. A link to the photos is down below if you would like copies of the photos.



Link to the SlideShow Photos

Safe Travels and Journeys
Susan, Della, Tilly and me

Running of the Horses

On Saturday we went down to the BB stables, Rich and Crystal have been tellin us of the running of the horses. The horses are kept across the street at night time. In the morning and evening the horses are brought back and forth. You can see from the photos (Link Below) how it is done, Susan also captured a video of the event. 
Link to the SlideShow Photos Below


Additional Photos below

Blue Bell stables - Photos 

Running of the Horses Video

Monday, is the meet and greet down at the Visitor Center. It will go on from 9am to 3pm. We get a chance to meet other employees and volunteers of CSP. 

Tuesday will start our training and orientation training. The days seem to be long but that includes many travelin days to the various sites. We are meeting more and more of the people in the area. But for us we can't wait to get going and get busy. 

Safe Travels and Journeys 

Susan, Della, Tilly and me.

Saturday notes - On Friday we enjoyed a leisurely drive into Rapid City, SD. We needed to locate a source of propane for our extended stay tank. Plus we wanted to stock up on supplies. We figured we would not be making the 80 mile round trip very often. 

One of the neat things here is driving thru CSP.  We have to be on the lookout for Kodak Moment like the one below.

On the way back into the park we spied this perfect Kodak moment. We think the many buffalo take turns standing in front of the visitor center.  

Another photo op was this little guy.  Due to the distance not the best for our little camera, but you get the picture, LOL. 

I am also including a video I captured during the snow, while I was out hiking.

The first few days have come and gone here in our site. Including a snow day (May 8th). Total on ground was about 2 inches at anyone time.

Della seem to say, its ok, but she would rather have green grass to lay on.

The day was spent checking around the area and seeing what was happening.  Except for the stables everything was a little slow. 
Rich is up from New Mexico, he and his wife are some of the cowhands/horse-hands working the stables. 

He and Crystal own a ranch north of Santa Fe, but came up here for the season. Susan & I have been invited out for a ride.  The biggest news was the sighting of a Mountain Lion, which came walking thru the campground early in the morning. I missed seeing it by about 30 minutes.

Did catch a  little action in the corral though.

See that pony in the back-ground? Well that little guy has a lot of spunk. That little pony will not let any other horse keep him from his food.

I spent a little time out in the woods taking a hike. The area is filled with trails. 

Trying to catch a few shots of the animal life around here will be a challenge.

One thing I noticed are the various private cabins in the area, most of which were here before the area became a state park. For each cabin I have located - there is an Out-House close by, even if there is running water. 

Anyway time get some breakfast for Della, as she is sitting next to me while writing this 

I'll leave you with the sign posted outside the stables - think you'll get a kick out of it.

Link to Additional Photos

 Safe travels and Journeys from the Gang

Susan, Della, Tilly and me

Setting up Da Girls Rv

 The first day was spent getting the Da Girls Rv setup. That began by setting up the spare room and garage. One thing about unpacking is you can never remember how to repack it. Camera to the rescue.

This also include a photo of the instructions. And before we new it…………

………..Next came our quality control inspector…

We’re hoping for the Della's Seal of Approval very soon. Hey, lookit before we knew it everything looked to be completed.

Seal of Approval

The final look of our spare room with hammock.

Since the sites tends to be a little high on the entry door side I made a new entry step. The rock on the left is for decoration, I installed 2 vertical corners and sunk them into the ground. The unevenness is an optical illusion. Goal today is get more dirt.

The camper cabins are spread out in the camp. Each one has a different view and overlook valleys and woods. We found out all the cabins are reserved for the Bison roundup.

Early morning I did a scouting trip down one of the dirt roads. The area sports enough trails to keep me busy on my off days.

Locations - 43.719014,-103.480803

Safe Travels and Journeys forSusan, Della, Tilly and me.

We have Arrived

We left April 13, from Casa Grande, Az. We traveled over 1400 miles, went thru 5 states, stayed at 3 Elks lodges, 1 County park, 1 State Park, 1 City Park, 2 Private Yards , and 1 National Park campground.  This included  stretches of highway with the following:
40 mph cross winds between Trinidad & Pueblo, CO.
Head winds of 35 mph between Colorado Springs and Denver, CO.
And another series of head winds into Cheyenne, WY.

Diesel Fuel Cost was $710, Da Girls Rv Avg, 8.16 MPG, and drank 189 Gal. of fuel. 

As we pulled into Custer State Park Office, a greeting committee was on hand. They even took time off from work to say Hi.  (A nice herd of Bighorn Sheep)

Our first stop was being introduced to Craig (Manager), Dee (coordinator), and Lance (Supervisor) who was out doin supervisory stuff.  Once we were signed in, received our Camp Bible, loaded up with flashlights, name tags, shirts, hats, sweatshirts and rain coats we were on our way back to the rig set up in Wind Cave National Parkto load up and head out to the Blue Bell Lodge & Campground.

We took Hwy 87 north off of Hwy 385, however before we arrived with jeep in towed, we stumbled upon just a glimpse of what was in store for us.

Wild Turkey in the center crossing over a log and lots of deer and Pronghorns (similar in appearance to antelope).  Many Prairie Dogs along the way also.

As we arrived  into the campground we were greeted by

We leave you with this last photo.  If you look closely in the center, you will see a newborn buffalo calf laying on the ground next to momma.  Looked smaller than a beef calf.

And finally a view of what is to come. Taken from our front door where we are parked for the summer.

Della, has given her "Seal of Approval"

Della is sending an invite to all of our friends to come and visit us during the summer. She is willing to let you stay in her 2 room tent and enjoy the surrounding areas. 

P.S.  Boomer, Lucy, Tank & Gracie , please come and visit me, Della.

Safe Travels and Journeys
Susan, Dale, Della & Tilly

On the Final Leg to Custer State Park

Da Girls Rv arrived at the Elks Mountain Campground inside Wind Cave National Park, just south of Custer SP around noon on 4^th of May after leaving Pioneer City Park located in Torrington, WY.  Pioneer City park  is/was a very nice city park with about a dozen sites. We tend to seek out these small parks as they usually turn out to be quaint. The cost is now $10 per night. This includes water and 30 amp power. There is also a dump station. Unfortunately we were unable to pay for the night as the Iron Maiden was damaged and we were unable to leave the money.  We didn't disconnect the car and hoped that someone would stop by to collect.  I think I'll put the money in an envelop and send to the city....

The sites are not to bad and allow for pull thru or back in. The ground is sandy and firm. Since we were by ourselves we opted to park a little differently...sideways.

We decided to take a little walk around the neighborhood and observed that this is one of those towns that developed during the cattle days.

The town seemed close up around 1 pm in the afternoon on Saturday, and quite a few people go down to the park for meet and greet or go fishing in the river that runs by the park. In the evening, it is mostly young people at the basketball courts. We enjoy our time here but when we woke up, we realized it was time to say goodbye and head out toward Custer State Park.

We arrived at Wind Cave National Park around 12ish.  It took us a little time to find a site suitable for Da Girls Rv. But with a few blocks under both passenger side tires and levelers we managed to get it done.  As a National park the rate is $18 per night (no electric or dump-station, but the park has many water stations).  $9 with our America the Beautiful pass (we just love being 62+). We also met the Law Enforcement Ranger. Guess what?? He moved to SD 4 years ago from Organ Pipe National Forest (Arizona). Not only that, but he is from Maine, just a few miles south of where I worked many years ago. Small world, isn't it.

After an hour of getting things done and lunch I took off of a short walk and captured a few shots of the rig and the area.

The point of the above photos is to show that Della approved of this location.

I think I am going to start a new category called Della’s Seal of Approval.
This site got "Della's Seal of Approval"!

Dale, Susan, Della & Tilly