Mon, Jan 31
01.31.05
We woke up around 8 and were on the way to Jewel Caves by a little after 9am. Brenda was a bit perturbed that we were probably going to be there on time instead of 10-15 minutes early. We got there just before 10am and while the place was open there appeared to be nobody around. We were wondering if we missed the tour (Harlan would have been in big trouble then for being late) when 2 rangers showed up and we learned we’d be the only two folks taking the tour. While in the off season this tour is given twice a day (assuming folks show up to take it), during the peak seasons the tour we took leaves every 20 minutes and is almost always filled with 30 people per group. (there are 2 or 3 other tours that run in the summer as well that are also full.)
The tour was great – after some initial failures with the digital camera, we got a bunch of nice shots that are already on the photo gallery here. We asked lots of questions and had a very nice time. We left and headed straight for Wind Caves, and got there about 10 minutes before the next scheduled tour, and just before the tour started a couple of other folks showed up so the 4 of us got the tour. It was also interesting, and while the two sites are similar, they were different enough to be individually interesting.
We left there and headed down to Hot Springs, and along the way we saw more prarrie dogs, bison, and deer (regular and perhaps a pronghorn or two). We filled the gas tank (and poured in a gallon of windshield washer fluid), and decided that it was too late to try and visit the Mammoth Site (an archaeological dig site). We started looking for some geocaches on the way to wherever we felt like driving, and just passed a bunch that did not inspire us.
We drove thru Custer State Park, where Brenda was sometimes intimidated by the size of the bison. We also saw more deer and some rabbits. Maybe a hawk. We took some scenic roads and stopped off at one geocache at the top of a mountain that had a scenic overlook of the area, including Mt. Rushmore.
As it was getting late (near sunset), we headed off to the Gas Light restaurant again (it seems to be the only nearby restaurant with decent food) where Brenda had the parmesan-crusted halibut and Harlan had pieces of filet in a burgundy mushroom and onion sauce over noodles. We shared an OK dessert of a brownie with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. Harlan wondered why *anybody* would use Hershey’s chocolate sauce on a dessert (if you’re gonna use a choco sauce, at least use Hungerford Smith’s Mellocream Fudge), and why they didn’t heat the brownie first. No leftovers tonight.
We headed back to the Hotel and each found a couple of more pieces to the crossword puzzle, then headed off to the room where Brenda had a soak in the tub and Harlan uploaded the day’s pictures to the website.
We’re shooting for another 8am wakeup and more touring of the area.