The 3 remaining museums that I haven’t touched on yet.

Buffalo Bill Museum

I have to be honest, I didn’t know much about Buffalo Bill Cody.  This museum offers you everything you could possibly ever want to know about him.  If one thing was clear it was that he sure did kill a lot of buffalo… hence the name Buffalo Bill.  His life was eventful ranging from a meat supplier to a Pony Express rider to a show man to a hotel owner (the very thing that lead to his bankruptcy).  As a side note, there was a time in history where 600 buffalo remained in this country.  They almost became extinct because they were either being killed for meat (like Buffalo Bill did) or killed to force Native American tribes move. 

My kids seemed to like the game the best here.

Draper Museum of Natural History

The design of this museum was amazing. It is basically a spiral that works its way through time around this map on the floor.

It gives an interactive account of the changes in western land and of the animals who call this place their home.   The design along with the surrounding exhibits transported us through a journey of the west.   The information was clear and simplified so that as you walked through it just all came together and made sense.

The question that was asked here, What does the wilderness mean to you?  This is Makenzie’s response.  These responses get posted on a board for others to read.

Plains Indians Museum

When you enter this museum it feels as though you have entered a different world.  I’ve always been interested in Native American history and I’ve learned so much more on this journey across the country.   There were many areas here where you could sit and reflect on our country’s Native American history .  I marveled at the beautiful bead work and sat here for a bit to listen to a day in the life of a Plains Indian (while the kids pretended to be buffalo).

We also learned a lot about this brave woman throughout our travels.

This museum is 5 museums under one roof.  It consists of the Whitney Western Art Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, Buffalo Bill Museum, and the Plains Indian Museum.  In addition there is also a raptor program with live birds of prey such as hawks and falcons that can no longer survive in the wild by themselves. Good thing the admission price included entrance for 2 consecutive days because you really need 2 (or more) days to see everything this museum has to offer.  It's impossible to pick a favorite spot, as each area offers it's own unique experience.

Whitney Western Art Museum

Although difficult, if I had to pick a favorite museum it would have to be the Whitney Art Museum.  This museum offered a beautiful variety of art.  What struck me most here was the paintings that I originally thought were photographs.  This painting of a rattlesnake was one of my favorites.

The art museum also offered an audio tour on about 20 of the paintings/sculptures.  The kids (I had the 3 younger ones with me today) were anxious to do this… I saw disaster in my head… broken audio equipment or worse yet cracked sculptures, fallen paintings.  I finally conceded hoping, praying that the novelty of wearing headphones and playing with the controller would wear off quickly… boy did they prove me wrong.  Each of them went from painting to painting listening from start to finish the details about the artist and their work.  Quite frankly I couldn’t believe it;  so I quickly grabbed a head set for myself and found that I was also mesmerized by the information and details given.  We wound up spending most of our second day here.

They were even listening while doing their own artwork here, with this view as inspiration.

Hard work for a 4 year old.

“Elk in the Shadows” by Makenzie

Cody Firearms Museum

I’m not a fan of guns…period…  which sounded funny to a couple we met in a campground.  “You mean you can’t buy a gun in Walmart in New Jersey?”  Umm…no!  This was the second time I was asked this question.

And although many of the guns all looked the same to me, I was impressed by the wood carvings and metal carvings in some of them.  The detail and intricate designs must have taken these artists many long hours to complete.  The art piece of the guns were really quite beautiful to observe.

But there was something even better at this museum and hands down the kids favorite part of the firearm museum.

The shooting range… the PRETEND shooting range.  Rifles and shot guns!

After a few tips from Dad they didn’t do too badly.

Watch out!!

Raptors

The raptors we learned about and watched; a great horned owl named Teasdale, a red tailed hawk, a turkey vulture, and the American kestrel falcon.  These birds have been rescued from the wild and can no longer survive on their own in the wild mostly due to a prior injury.  This  is a great way to inform the public about these birds while also getting to see the real thing.  We really enjoyed this program.

A few life lessons:

1.  Spending the night in a Walmart parking lot is not much different than a campground.  You are among a sea of fellow travelers.  But I will say I prefer a campground.

2.  Snow does not look pretty when camping in a Walmart parking lot.

3. 29 degrees doesn’t feel so bad when you have a killer view to go with it.

4.  There is no such thing as a quick game of UNO with 6 people.

5. Puzzles and moving RVs, not a good combo.

6. Tracking down a UPS store in the middle of WY to pick up our van mirror replacement is not as easy as you may think.

Top of the Bighorn Mountain Pass and our first encounter with snow.

Top of the pass	Sculpting
Using the good utensils to chip away ice.	Excitement over doing donuts with an RC car on ice.
Looking for fresh snow to make ice cream.	Who needs ice cream?

I think Freya wants some.	Mountain made chocolate ice cream.

I didn’t supervise this ice cream project.  I was outside helping Jeff replace the van mirror.  I do know that the sugar container was practically empty when I found it.

The views during this drive were spectacular!  There are 2 passes over the Bighorn Mountains and apparently this is the less scenic of the 2.  After being quite impressed with this one I can’t wait to someday see the other one.

I took entirely too many pictures of this A-M-A-Z-I-N-G place!  It’s one of those places you can’t take your eyes off. 

Can you spot the camera crew?  Today they were filming an IMAX movie here.  It is also not uncommon to see climbers on this tower.

I’m not sure why there was a chalk board in the men’s bathroom.  My girls felt a little gypped as we had nothing special.   Korben used this chalk board to write an advertisement for his youtube channel.  Love the entrepreneur spirit of this kid.

This is the town where The Sundance Kid got his name.  My kids asked who is this Sundance Kid, whose name is all over town and who the campground owner mentioned?  I had to explain to them that he is famous for things like... well, let's see... bank robbery, murder, and stealing.

Why is he famous for things like that?
Umm... well... Because he was really good at it.

This small town is very proud that Harry Longabaugh took his name, The Sundance Kid,  from their town.  At the center of town there is a statue of him and I must have had 3 people tell me not to miss it.

The Crook County Museum (yes, that is the real  me of the county) is free, so after we saw the must see statue of The Sundance Kid we headed there.  It was a nice museum.  The man who runs the museum is a wealth if knowledge on WY history.  As I was leaving he was following me out to give more maps and things to do while in Sundance.  The only problem is that there isn’t much to do in Sundance and everything he recommend was about an hour to 2 hours away.  But I appreciated his lively spirit, especially when talking about the history of the west. 

What we liked the most  about the museum was learning about the Vore Buffalo jump (which was right down the road).  Before the Indians had horses they would stampede the buffalo off the edge of a sinkhole.  The buffalo either died immediately or were killed by the Indians right after they fell.  In these pits are the remains of hundreds of buffalo bones.  The Vore Buffalo Jump tours were closed for the season but we did get a glimpse of the pit when riding by.  We have this on the list of things to do next time we come around.

If I could change one thing about this museum it would be the height at which they hang their buffalo heads.  I hit my head so hard on a low hanging buffalo head, I was seeing stars.  We’ve seen a lot of buffalo in the past few months but I never quite realized how big their heads were until I came face to face with one, literally.  In spite of the dreary weather outside, we had a fun day.  We also had our first sighting of a magpie.  This may be one of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen.

How could I have forgotten to mention this fantastic place in Hill City, South Dakota?

We were returning from one last quick evening stop at Mt. Rushmore. Kenzie loved Mt. Rushmore (who doesn't) and she wanted to get back one more time to buy something at the museum shop.  When we were leaving someone mentioned stopping for hot chocolate.  Sounded like a plan.  When we arrived in Hill City most of the shops looked closed, except Mountain Treats. They were just about to close but we caught them in the nick of time.

Well we got our hot chocolate and a whole lot more.  This shop is owned by couple, Grandpa Dave and Shelley.  This couple…how can I describe them?… are two of the friendliest and the most authentic people I have ever met.  You are immediately drawn to Grandpa Dave by his wit and humor.  And Shelley makes mean salted caramel fudge.  After talking to them for just a few brief moments you are captured by their zeal for life.

The kids learned so much from Grandpa Dave, about kindness and laughter.  He also introduced us to the beautiful art work of Bev Doolittle.  Check out her work. Her use of horses in her art is truly stunning.  This is my favorite: Hide and Seek Composite. Can you see the horses in each one of the squares?

 
Grandpa Dave also writes a Proverb a day and posts it in the shop on a yellow note pad, nothing fancy. Each morning he reads a Proverb and then writes his spin on it.  He shared many with us and we laughed right along with this wonderful couple. What a treat (no pun intended) it was to share some of our last moments in South Dakota at Mountain Treats.

If you ever find yourself in Hill City, SD be sure to stop here, you won’t be sorry.

First the bad news:

1. The motor home has a leak… well, 4 leaks to be exact.  Or at least we think it’s 4, it could be more but definitely not less.

2. It’s been raining for almost 2 solid days with more rain in the forecast tomorrow.

3. I hit a deer in the van.  Jeff and I were driving separately, me in the van and Jeff in the motorhome. Why?  Because we were driving through mountains in the rain and the towing can be tough on the motorhome.  After the thunderous sound it made on the van, I discovered I was missing the drive side mirror.

4.  At the exact same time I was hitting the deer, Freya decided it was a great time to test the locks in the motorhome by opening the door.  The lock failed and the door opened.  So Jeff and I were simultaneously freaking out a bit over 2 completely separate events.

The good news:

1. After talking to people about our leak problems, apparently this is very common.  It seems that everybody who owns a motorhome has had a leak at some point. And 4 leaks is better than 10.

2. After tomorrow the weather warms up into the 70s again.

3. I didn’t kill the deer, so Korben tells me.  I couldn’t look back but he did.

4.  I only lost the side mirror.  Deer have been known to cause way more damage than just mirror troubles.

I’m trying desperately to look on the bright side of these series of events.  What else is a girl to do?

We went back and forth about going to Mammoth Site.  We heard great things about it but for some reason we had it in our heads that we were leaving Custer, South Dakota on Monday.  It was now Monday and I was beginning to tie up some loose ends to prepare for a travel day.  While finishing up a few last loads off clothes at the laundry mat the employee made a point to tell me not to miss Mammoth Site.  I didn’t ask about it, she just offered the information.  She said that even as a local she has been there 18 times because the site is always changing and that if she had to pick one thing to tell people to see in South Dakota it was this.  That sealed the deal for me, we must go to this active dig site.

I don’t always take peoples recommendations but in this case I’m sure glad we did.  Mammoth Site was unbelievable!  In 1974 a developer bought the land that is now Mammoth Site to put up a housing development.  As the excavation began for the homes, large bones were discovered.  Initially the developers thought there were just a few and began to keep digging.  The more they dug the more they uncovered.  They decided to stop the housing project and had paleontologists come investigate the site further.  The paleontologists planned to be there for 3 days thinking that was plenty of time to complete the research but it didn’t take long for them to realize this was more than just a few fossils.  The developer sold the property (for the original purchase price) to a non-profit organization set up just for the Mammoth site.  Several years later an entire building is on top of the dig site allowing visitors to see the actual area where paleontologists continue to uncover the fossils or Mammoths and other animals.  The active dig today still has hundreds of feet of soil waiting to be uncovered.  Each time you visit the dig site will have changed and who knows what will be unearthed.  

Mammoth site was formed millions of years ago when a sink hole was created here as a result of a collapsing cave.  As it filled with water, it became a drinking hole for the animals in the area.  The problem was many of them slipped in and couldn’t get out, in particular the mammoths which are not as agile animals for climbing up out of the steep walls.  The mammoths would then either drown or as they struggled to get out, a short faced bear had them for dinner.  

What was cool was that many of the larger bones and tusks were left in the original spots where they were found.  This was so fascinating and we were all glad we decided to stay an extra day South Dakota for this awesome place.

The sign in the first picture reads; Mammoth Pelvis.  The walkways are build to be moved around easily, as exploration continues.  The large area in the middle of the last picture has yet to be touched by paleontologists.

Taking it all in…

What a day?  If you ever find yourself in the Black Hills of South Dakota be sure to not to miss these 2 amazing places. 

Needles Highway

Give yourself at least an hour to drive the 14 miles of Needles Highway.  There are several places you will want to pull over to just take in the view and stand in awe of this fascinating place called the Black Hills.  If you are into hiking there are also some awesome trails along the way.  All the trails we found were a bit too long for the little one.  The scenic highway ends as you pass through a narrow tunnel, in the area called the Needles, with the highlight being the Needles Eye.  And although the eye of the needle was really cool, what I liked most was all the little nooks and narrow spaces that were just waiting to be explored.  We spent a bit of time in this area.

Needles Eye

Needles in the distance.	Looking for mica.
The final tunnel.	Exploring the Needles.

Sylvan Lake

My buddy, Jesse, at the laundry mat told us to check out Sylvan Lake.  When I was looking at all the things we wanted to explore this week I wasn’t sure we would be able to fit in Sylvan Lake.  So when we came upon Sylvan Lake by sheer luck, I was psyched.  What a beautiful place!  It looks like these rock formations are growing right out of the water.  It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  When a place looks this magical, the mile hike around it is a must!  Instead of finding pictures in clouds, we were finding pictures in rock formations during our hike.

I have to quickly make a plug for the Lost Sock (I just love that name) laundry mat.  The family that owns this place are great people.  I had the pleasure of talking to Jesse, a 19 year old, who helps his mother run the business.  He is super friendly and a great resource on local places.  The laundry mat gave out free popcorn and lollypops which is great in enticing the kids to help with the laundry.  Thanks to Jesse and the Lost Sock to adding to our amazing week in Custer, SD.

We showed up at Wind Cave to find that it was National Public Lands Day.   On this day, among a few others throughout the year, all national parks and monuments have free admission.  We have a national parks pass so our admission is always free but there would have been a charge for the cave tour but thanks to Nation Public Lands Day our tour was free!!

The most stunning and notable thing about Wind Cave is its display of boxwork.  Boxwork is a calcite formation.  Wind Cave holds 95% of the worlds boxwork.  If I remember correctly the other 5% is found in the Ukraine and Australia.   Wind Cave is the 6th longest cave in the world with more and more miles being discovered each year.

Boxwork

When we got to the van I looked at Jeff to unlock the car while he was looking at me to unlock the car.  Turns out that neither one of us had the keys, with me being the last to have possession of them.  The keys seemed to have up and vanished.  I searched and searched because I am known for placing the keys, among other things, in places that are the absolute least logical place of all.  For example, the van battery was just dead because I left the keys in the ignition turned part way on or the time the keys were in the hallway closet (that was when we lived in a house with a closet, no closets in the motorhome). 

But the place we found the keys this time was a first; off the side of the wall on preserved land in Wind Cave National Park.  While sitting down on the stone wall that lines the sidewalk of the entry walkway, the keys must have slipped off the edge.  There they were glistening among this beautiful land.  Ranger Andrew was called to the scene where he had to climb up the hill to retrieve our precious keys.  He slipped a few times while he was climbing up but I held in my laugh as he was my lifeline to getting back to the campground.  Thanks Ranger Andrew!  I’m sorry that this once undisturbed land has now been left with a set of footprints.