Black Hills Vacation- Part 2

Our second day in the Black Hills was very busy.  Both kids went to bed without a peep tonight.

We started our day at Bear Country USA.  Bear Country is basically a drive-thru zoo.  Before we started the two mile drive, we unbuckled the kids and let them sit on our laps during the drive.

 We saw elk, deer, big horn sheep, mountain goats, reindeer, bison, mountain lions, wolves, grizzly bears, and black bears as close as a few feet away from our car window.   The bears were definitely the highlight of the trip.  There were probably 40 or 50 bears roaming right next to our car.  We even got to see the bears getting fed (day old bread).  There was a walk-around area at the end of the road with baby bears and smaller animals like skunks, badgers, fox, etc.  Buddy enjoyed seeing all the animals and waved hello and goodbye to them.  He perfected his bear growl and chose a plastic bear figure at the gift shop (after we told him he couldn't get another horse). 

After a picnic lunch, we decided it would be a good idea to drive through some of the scenic roads in the Black Hills.  We thought it would be perfect timing for Buddy to hopefully take a nap.  We headed to Iron Mountain Road to search for the roaming burros.  Punky was most excited to feed the donkeys and had been asking to do it for the past few days.  Grandpa Max gave her a bag of donuts and we also brought some stale crackers and cereal we had at home.  We found one lonely burro on Iron Mountain Road.  He was very gentle and no one was scared to pet him.

As we looped our way towards Custer State Park, we spotted three buffalo sitting in the shade right next to the road.

Little did we know, we would see hundreds of buffalo and many more burros at Custer State Park.  Punky was very excited to see more "BUR HOS" (she threw quite the fit when we had to leave the first guy).

All those black dots in the background are buffalo.

The burros at Custer State Park were much more aggressive.  We were a little worried the kids would get knocked over or get a nibble on the finger. 

Next we headed through Needles Highway.

In the end, we spent over 5 hours in the car this afternoon.  The kids were exhausted by the end of the day and sick of sitting in the car.  We sang songs, listened to The Fresh Beat Band CD about 10 times, and played so many of Punky's silly games (library, Calliou and Kai Lan).

We had reservations for a Chuckwagon Dinner and Show for tonight.  Punky was pretty cranky and didn't want to go.  She was set on going to the hotel and swimming.  But, on the way there, she fell asleep in the car and woke up in a better mood.  We were prepared for a chaotic dinner and for chasing the kids around during the Cowboy Show.  But, Buddy got sleepy and mellowed out.  And Punky met a new friend and danced with her during the show.  She could not remember the girl's name and kept calling her "my new friend."  It was so funny!

"That's so silly, my new friend!"

When we got back to the hotel, Daddy put Buddy to sleep and I took Punky to the pool for a little while.  We've got another big day planned for tomorrow, but I think we'll be able to fit in some more time for swimming and hanging out around the hotel.