Most of us woke up early for breakfast in the hotel. This little one slept through it all!
After breakfast we made our 4.5 hour trek to Custer, South Dakota from Denver. It was extremely remote and there was absolutely no where to stop and eat, use the restroom or even get gas! It was fields and fields for miles! We did have a goat traffic jam, which the kids thought was pretty funny. Unfortunately Conor got altitude sickness and was pretty sick the entire drive. I felt really bad for the little guy.
We made it to Custer! It was a long drive, so we decided some lunch and pie was a good idea!
We had made the last reservation for the day at Wind Cave National Park for the Natural Entrance Tour. Unfortunately, Michael and Conor had to miss out on the tour since Conor wasn't feeling great.
This is the natural entrance to the cave. I can't imagine climbing through that entrance. Also, it was so interesting to learn that the cave breathes a little. We watched as the entrance to the cave opened and closed ever so slightly with the wind.
The cave is famous for their boxwork. It was really cool to learn about.
Caitie was all smiles before they turned off all the lights for 90 seconds. They wanted us to experience what it would have been like to explore the cave in complete darkness. It was pretty disorienting. She asked us wave our hand in front of our face. Although you couldn't see your hand at all, your brain tried to imagine the movement. Caitie did fine, but there was another child who was extremely scared and screamed. After the complete darkness she turned on candlelight so we could also experience the cave through candlelight. I didn't think the kids were old enough to do the candelight tour, but i'm sure it would have been a very fun tour!
After the cave tour we met back up with Michael and Conor and explored the land above the cave at Wind Cave National Park. We drove through the park a little, stopping at the prairie dogs. The kids absolutely loved watching these little guys. They run around and speak to each other and it is really cute.
We spotted some pronghorn's in the distance!
Found another entrance sign
We knew that buffalo lived in the park and we went off on a search to find our first buffalo! We were all so excited. We saw one in the distance and then saw one right out of our window.
We saw a couple in the distance and were so excited we had spotted some buffalo! Michael had packed a picnic and so we pulled off at a parking area where the sun was setting. We were enjoying our picnic when the two buffalo we had spotted came walking right in front of us. We were the only people for miles and it was so surreal to see two buffalo cross by us in front of a gorgeous sunset. The kids were so excited and enjoyed watching them roll around in the dirt and trot by in front of us. I know we will all remember this first experience of seeing these amazing animals.
Can you see the buffalo behind us? I was a little nervous there were so close to us, but we were right next to the car in case they came running towards us. They just kept to themselves and kept trotting by!
After the buffalo had passed and we finished our snack, we headed towards the exit to the park. Right before the exit we spotted a huge herd of buffalo. We now knew where those two lone buffalo had been going. We got stopped in the middle of the road in a buffalo jam. It was so fun to watch the huge animals right outside our car!
We had planned to jump in the hot tub to round out the night but a pop up thunderstorm prevented us from that plan.
Wind Cave isn't one of the most popular parks, but we had one of our best experiences in this park. There is nothing like having a national park all to yourself and witnessing the gorgeous scenery and wildlife around you.
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