Weekend in the Black Hills

After a few delays and some bad weather, I finally made it out to Rapid City late Friday night. At one point it was looking like I wasn't going to make it all!! And I am happy to report that my luggage even made it!!!

On Saturday we got up and went into Custer and lunch with Ryne's parents at the Sage Creek Grill. OMG... that food was sooo good!! I had the best BLT sandwich of all time!! After lunch we went to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. This is the world's largest mammoth research facility and you can tour an active dig site. It was very interesting and neat to see the bones being excavated. Hard to believe that mammoths once roamed the earth! After the Mammoth Site we then went to Edgemont to see the trains--something my dad would have loved! (Ryne's dad is a train engineer.) I have never seen such long trains -- over 7,000 feet!!! And let me tell you, if you get caught at a crossing guard like we did (3x!) you can end up waiting a long time for that train to go by!! We then had dinner with Ryne's parents' friends. It was a great day and a great start to my trip!!

On Sunday Ryne and I got up and cooked breakfast for his parents. After breakfast we out to check on the buffalo. I am on infatuated with them... probably because I didn't have any roaming around my yard in CT! It's calving season and so far 4 of the buffalo have had babies. One calf was born only hours before I arrived on Friday night. The calves are so cute!! They are a cinnamon color and they really don't look like buffalo. I learned, though, that the mothers are quite jumpy when they have their calves and do not like you getting too close. One buffalo in particular, #88, stared me down and kept grunting at me. When I took a few steps she got really agitated and I realized it was my time to exit!

We then spent the afternoon at Jewel Cave. This the 2nd longest cave in the world, at 142 miles. Jewel Cave got its name from the calcite crystals that fill the cave. We took the scenic tour, which is a 1/2 mile trail through the cave. On this tour we climbed 730+ steps!! The temperature in the cave was 46 with 95% humidity! With all of that moisture in the air some of the trail and steps were a little slippery. The crystals were beautiful and pictures do not do it justice. After the cave, Ryne and I then went and go some ice cream. We drove back to Chadron last night and had pizza and watchded a movie. It was a great way to end the weekend!!

Tonight we are staying in a cabin at Chadron State Park. We've invited some of Ryne's friends and family to join us for a cookout tonight at the park. I will be sure to post more pictures!