Bear Country USA

Saturday 6/14/2014

Custer, SD

Woke to a heavy thunderstorm during the early morning hours and it was still raining when we pulled out of the parking lot.  We were heading to Rapid City to visit Bear Country USA.  Bear Country USA has over 20 different animals native to North America and they are not in cages but roaming free and you drive your vehicle through the refuge.  Rules stay in your car, keep your windows up and do not feed the animals.  I was so concerned about the rain and we were praying God would stop the rain so we could see the animals.  The rain did slack off but did not stop.  When we pulled up to the entrance we asked the girl if we would see any animals and she said this was perfect weather because the animals like it cool – well God knew exactly what to do and I should not have been surprised.  We started through at a slow crawl and saw reindeer; Bighorn Goats; Prong deer; buffalo; bears; wolves; artic wolves; mountain lions and more.  There must have been 100 bears roaming in their section and walking across the road so we could not continue.  They walked past the side of the car so close you could run your hand down their back.  Moving on the wolves also circled the car and walked so close I wondered if they were going to jump up on the windows.  The kids (especially Todd) were so excited.  He wanted to see a bear more than anything else and to see 100 of them climbing logs; eating grass; shaking water off their backs; playing and actually looking at him and walking within inches only separated by the van was so much fun.  Then they have a section where you walk and see small animals like otter; a Grizzly Bear; skunks and several small baby bears all playing and tumbling in the wet grass.  Leaving Bear Country we headed for Sturgis and Deadwood just to see them since we have heard so much about both.  Sturgis is larger than I had expected but I could imagine thousands of motorcycles roaring down the main street.  Deadwood is much larger than I expected and the main street is blocked off and while there are several parking lots it would require a lot of walking to check it out and that would be too much for Zoey and to tell the truth too much for me; my interest just wasn’t that high.  We returned to the hotel by route 385 which is a scenic route with little to nothing except camp grounds and some of the most beautiful views you can imagine.  Just outside of Deadwood we did see the Boondocks a 50 style restaurant.  There was also the oldest still operating gas pumps I’ve ever seen.  Walking inside the diner it was obvious this was not a new location made to appear like the 50’s style this place was operating in the 50’s and just never changed.  Judging from the pictures on the wall it was a hopping hangout for the youth of Deadwood in the 50’s.  And a hamburger and fries was a handmade burger a good six inches across.  Heading back to Custer Todd and I decided to walk down town and do some sightseeing and shopping.  Baths and dinner of salads; fruit; applesauce and chips and we will head to bed soon.  Plan to leave tomorrow morning heading for Cody Wyoming.