Buffalo Roundup

Published Sep 26, 2014

We knew nothing about the Buffalo Roundup, we just so happen to land in Custer the Monday prior to the roundup which was on Friday. There was a lot of talk in town about the Buffalo Roundup. It turns out that this is such a big deal that over 14,000 people come into Custer to attend this. Some come just to see the roundup, others come for the buffalo auction, some come to attend the art festival, and many come for all the weekend activities.

So I kept asking everyone, “What is this Buffalo Roundup and is it worth the early wake up? We were told the gates to the park open at 6:15 and we should get there by then and still be ready to sit in a bit of traffic. We ignored this useful piece of information and thought that leaving by 7:30am would be just fine. And we sat in more than a bit of traffic. At one point Jeff and Koah got out to walk and if they had continued to walk I think they would have gotten to the parking lot well before we did.

We still managed to make it in time to see the roundup. We waited and then watched as 1600 buffalo, that typically roam freely in the park, came running over the hill in the distance being driven by cowboys. The cowboys then drive the buffalo into the carrels in the park. Seeing 1600 buffalo charging at full speed ahead over a hill is quite a sight. This event was not easy to photograph but here is a small glimpse of what we experienced.

Here they come (in the distance):

Slowing down:

After the buffalo are rounded up some of them are auctioned off. They are not sold to be slaughtered, many people come to buy buffalo to add diversity to their herds back at their farms, some as far as Russia.

I love this picture. Koah refused to look at the camera and I laugh every time I look at it.

Cascade Falls, Hot Springs, SD

Published Sep 26, 2014

When you’ve been on the road for 5 weeks and have seen many sites of this amazing country its hard to pick a favorite place/park/state. But I have to say this place lands in my top 10 favorite spots so far.

It took us awhile to find this place, confusing Cascade Spring with Cascade Falls.

But when we did finally find the spot marked Cascade Falls the gate to the park area was closed. We were a little reluctant to park and slip under the gate to go anyway. But we had just watched a group of Native Americans slip under the gate and continue down the path so I thought if they could do it why can’t we. I’m so glad we made the decision to go.

For some reason I had in my head that this was a natural hot spring with water temps in the 80s. It is a natural spring but it is not hot. And it’s good thing it wasn’t hot because the chilly water was rather refreshing on this 100 degree September day in South Dakota.

There was a nice little area for Freya to swim in and then an area off the rocks where the water is approximately 10 feet deep. I took the first dive and kids followed in time, along with another family that had joined us.

Sitting at the picnic area at Cascade Falls you can’t see or hear this water. If you didn’t already know it was there you might miss it.

This place is like a hidden gem. And we couldn’t have picked a more perfect day to come. I highly recommend Cascade Falls if you are in Hot Springs, SD… and it’s free and we just love free!

Mount Rushmore, Presidents Trail

Published Sep 25, 2014

Couple quick facts we learned about Mount Rushmore from the Park Ranger:

1. Borglum completed this monument in just 13 years.

2. Originally Lincoln’s head was started on the left side of Washington’s but the stone was found to be unsuitable for carving.

3. Funding for the monument was completely cut after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. Borglum died while trying to raise more money to continue the monument.

The park ranger started telling me about some of the interesting people he meets and the funny questions he gets asked. His all time favorite question came from a woman who asked “Do the presidents heads get lowered at night to be stored and then raised up in the morning during the winter months?” The park ranger said he was pretty much speechless, as was I.