July 17th

It is the end of our first week in Custer SD.  We have had such a good time here.  So much to see and do.  We will spend one more week and then start traveling east.  It has been quite a busy week for us here.
We headed up to Sylvan lake on Wednesday the 13.  Had a great hike around the lake and did a bit of fishing.  After the lake, Jess had a hike for us.  We went off trail with all of the kids up to a place called "the poets table".  It was such a neat place.  Up in the peaks of the mountains surrounding Sylvan lake.  People have been heading up there since the 60s and writing poetry.  Somebody even took a table and chairs up from the valley.  Not a small set either.  Full on wood table and chairs.  From the hike it was off to the needles.  Rock spires that you can climb and play around on.  We had a blast.

Thursday the 14th we all headed to Stockade lake for the morning.  The kids swam and I went fishing while Tres and Jess visited.  Next up was the Badger Hole, named after Badger Clark.  Badger was a writer and poet that carved himself a sweet niche into Custer state park in the 1930s.  He built a cabin by hand and had, from the looks of it, many visitors.  The cabin is in the same state it was on the day he died.  Everything in its place.  Off to Jewel cave for a nature/information hike around the grounds.  After the nature hike we took all of the kids on a 3.5 mile hike around the Canyons trail.  It was probably in the upper 80s-low 90s.  Hot in the canyon.  On the way out of the canyon we walk right up to the only natural entrance to jewel cave and the blast of ice cold air is soooooo welcome.  It is like standing in front of a freezer with the door open on a hot summer day.  Everyone was spent.  Time for some much needed sleep.

Friday was my fly fishing morning.  I took the kids to Jess's place to play for the day and I headed into Custer State Park for some much needed alone time.  What a beautiful place to fish.  Some action, but nothing like home.  When I returned to the casa, Tres had some more work to finish up on so I headed down to Hill City for a new pair of Tevas.  (I blew my sandals out in the needles).  Once home again, Tres and I headed out to the Wildlife loop in the park and checked out the antelope, prairie dogs and the wild burros.  Half way around the loop,  the check engine light popped on.  Great timing.  We nursed the truck back, surging and hard shifting the entire way.  Worried that the truck would konk out at any time.  I got on the Internet and found that I can turn my key 3 times in the ignition and get the trouble code off of the odometer.  Pulled the code, looked up the problem on the Internet and found how to fix it.  It was a throttle positioning switch that had gone bad. The NAPA here in town doesn't have one so I had to make the trip into Custer.  To late in the day at this point so off to dinner at the Carroll house.

Sat. I went fishing with Jess's Dad Frank in the morning.  Sylvan lake is gorgeous at 0530.  No one else on the lake yet.  We spent a few hours fishing and talking about whatever popped up.  He is an interesting man with so much to teach.  Now it was time for the dreaded repair.  Off to Rapid city for the autozone and to try my hand at fixing the truck.  The 40 mile drive to Rapid City was a drain.  We got in and got the part, with my assistant Tres at my side we were done in about 15 minutes.  2 bolts, 2 Torx screws, one band and finished.  Thank you lord!!  Truck is running great again.  We were not even out of the Autozone 5 minutes and some 17 year old girl runs right into the side of the truck.  We all pulled over and I went around the truck thinking I was going to see a big hole in the side.  She just barely grazed us.  Her mirror was ripped up, but she said that it was already like that.  My scratches will buff out, no harm no foul.  She was scared to death.  She apologized and we were on our way.  Up to Ft. Hays to check out where they filmed Dances with Wolves.  Ate lunch and checked the old stuff out.  The kids made a hemp rope with a machine from the early 1900s.  Pretty cool.  We had a beautiful drive back to Custer thru Keystone and up the pigtail highway.  Breathtaking.  We finished that day here at the trailer with Jess and the kids.  BBQ and great conversation.  Kids playing and having the time of there lives.

Today was our opportunity to head into Jewel Cave.  The cave had been out of commission for a while so they could fix one of the two elevators that take guests into the cave.  It was well worth the wait.  It is a great cool place to take a walk on a hot summer day.  Beautiful formations everywhere you look.  The tour lasts about an hour and a half.  You should have seen the near panic on my beautiful wife's face when the elevators opened and we were in the airlock room.  Stuffy and damp.  Can you say claustrophobic.  She took a few deep breaths and as soon as the ranger opened the door she was good.  We will finish the day with the Carrolls again tonight.  We have been invited to dinner and will enjoy the time with friends while we can.