More Close Encounters....of the Wild Kind

The Official Quackenbush Family South Dakota Heritage Tour began on Tuesday morning about 8:00 a.m., when all members of the tour began showing up in the tour headquarters, which had been moved the previous evening to room 157. There they were served a breakfast buffet of cereal, fruit, and they still needed some coffee! Needless to say, before any of the tour could get on the road, there was a run made to the nearest Starbucks for those who needed it...and there were several. (There actually aren't very many Starbucks stores in South Dakota and fortunately for the coffee drinkers, the Motel 6 is very close to one of the few.)

After all had received what caffeine they needed, we were on the road. The official touring vehicles consist of the 5 passenger Hyundai Sonata that has brought Paul safely this far, and a five passenger Honda mini van with a lift and wheel chair spot - it is really a great vehicle to have.  The temperature was about 53 degrees and holding as we headed out to Custer State Park. We had great expectations as we set out that we would have numerous encounters with the local wild life.

We were not disappointed. As we drove into the park and lined up to pay the entrance fee, there sitting at the side of the road was one big buffalo. Many of our group immediately jumped out of the car to get a few shots at him, keeping in mind the posted sign..."Buffalo are dangerous animals."

What followed was many hours of slowly driving through this park and stopping every time an animal or a group of them came into view. At one point, we joined a whole group of cars that had stopped. There seemed to be something blocking the road. As we got closer, we saw that what was blocking the road was a herd of donkeys....very friendly ones. They seemed to be inspecting people's cars. We actually got a very friendly, nosey inspector that moved over to our car. He was one of the bigger donkeys, and he was NOT shy. Nathan, who had rolled down his window in the back seat was his main interest. Before we realized what was happening we had a full donkey head in our back seat! I was sitting next to Nathan. I think that if it was at all possible the donkey would have shoved his whole body into our back seat. Fortunately, he couldn't do that, but Nathan and I got a little worried when he appeared to be wanting to eat Nathan. Nathan was very brave indeed. He gently, but firmly started pushing the donkey's head back out of the window. For a moment we were worried that the big headed donkey was not going to be able to withdraw, but with Nate's help, he got out, and Nathan quickly rolled up the window.

When the donkey herd finally moved off the road, we were able to move on as well. We more than got our view of buffalo. There were several herds that we passed. In our favorite herd were several calves who were running and chasing and having a great time. Mostly the herds were a distance from the road, but every once in awhile we would see a solitary one sitting by the side of the road, which at first looked like a boulder. The park keeps the herd at about 300 members. Once a year they have a round up and they take some out and send them to other parks, or sell them to people in the buffalo business. Custer Park is one of two parks in the U. S. that maintains a herd of pure buffalo strain. Many other herds have had some cross breeding with cattle. I must say that some members of our group (to remain nameless, have enjoyed buffalo burgers at some time on this tour.)

Among the other types of wild life that we observed in Custer Park were Prong Horn Deer - a type of antelope, and quite magnificent to view, more prairie dog towns, wild turkeys, and lots of other interesting birds.

We were getting very hungry and stopped for a picnic on our way out of the park. Unfortunately it wasn't picnic weather. It was still 53 degrees, though it was not raining yet on Tuesday. We found a picnic table and huddled around it, wolfing down our peanut butter and our turkey sandwiches.

We then head to the Wind Cave. It was a great place that offered us a special tour of the cave that would accommodate wheel chairs. There are over 200 miles that this cave stretches. They have an elevator that took us to one of the big rooms of the cave several stories below ground. There are other ways to get into the cave. The only natural entrance is a small hole, a little bit bigger than a basket ball. It takes about four hours to get into the big room from that entrance. (Cara and Kelly are pointing it out in the picture.) Another way to get into the big room is by stairway.

There is very little water in this cave, which gives it a little bit different formation than many caves. There is an interesting formation for which this cave is famous called "boxwork." This area of the country was once an inland sea, and evidence of this is apparent in shell fossils which are in the cave.

The guide took us to two large rooms, actually, and as a finale, turned all the lights off. This is not my favorite activity. I like to have lots of windows and natural light, but I survived it. Interestingly, the temperature in the cave was about 53 degrees (Same as outside ) and it stays the same year round. (Perhaps during a cold South Dakota winter, I might decide I prefer caves.) It get its name (Wind Cave) from the wind that either gushes into it or out of it at the opening, depending on the air pressure of the day.

It was about an hour drive back to Rapid City from the Wind Cave. the rest of the evening was spent enjoying food and drink at a local pub. All tour members fell into bed afterwards and enjoyed a great night's sleep, dreaming of buffaloes and pushy donkeys.