Melissa's visit

We loved having Melissa with us and tried our best to show her the highlights of the area. You can only imagine our delight when she came down the escalator at the Rapid City Airport to hugs and kisses. She said that it was one of the smallest airports she has ever seen. What do you expect when you come to "podunkadunk" as Melissa calls it.

On Saturday, we drove the Wildlife Loop through Custer State Park. We stopped to give treats (carrots) to the wild burros. We all enjoyed the encounter.

After driving most of the loop, we finally caught up with a part of the Bison herd.
Pronghorn Antelope near the road.

On our way home, as we neared Grace Coolidge Campground, we were was able to see a female Big Horn Sheep. Later in the week, we were able to spot to females and one baby grazing near the road.

We made a drive through Deadwood, Sturgis, and Spearfish on Sunday (Father's Day). John was thrilled to be able to spend Father's Day with his daughter. We stopped at the Roo Ranch and were able to interact with some Wallaroos.

Here are some babies resting in a pouch in the nursery area.

We stopped at the DC Booth Fish Hatchery in Spearfish. Look at the size of some of the trout. We especially liked feeding them. The hatchery grounds are beautiful and makes the Natomas Hatchery near Sacramento look lacking.

The scenic drive through Spearfish Canyon is beautiful and well worth taking.
As we wound up the day on Sunday, we stopped at Crazy Horse (in the background). The detail is much more impressive when seen in person (I think).

On Monday, the first stop was at Sitting Bull's Crystal Caverns. I opted out of the tour as they had steep and possibly slippery stairs. I waited while Melissa and John went. They both enjoyed the Cavern tour. The best part was that they both got in free; John with his VIP card and Melissa for being young and attractive.

The next stop was Bear Country. Melissa thoroughly enjoyed the driving tour seeing Rocky Mountain Elk, Big Horn Sheep, Mountain Goats, Artic Wolves, and Black Bears. After the driving tour, we stopped at Babyland. Here we are in front of one of their Grizzly Bears.

The most fun, of course, was watching the antics of the baby bears whether they were running around or positioning themselves in the trees.

From there we headed to Old McDonald's Farm for some hands on with the animals. We all enjoyed feeding the goats and sheep. This little fella just couldn't contain himself waiting for Melissa to get some food.

On Tuesday, we headed for Keystone via Iron Mountain Road. Once again, we ran into a herd of Mules and of course, we had to keep them. Melissa got a kick out of how they stick their heads into the vehicles to get fed. The Mules definitely know how to play the tourists. Once in Keystone, we played miniature golf (one tough course and our scores stunk), took the chairlift up the mountain and took the Alpine Slide down. I took the slow lane (HaHa) while John and Melissa zoomed past me. I must admit it was fun and I would be willing to do it again maybe even a bit faster. As we wanted to attend the night lighting at Mt. Rushmore and needed to kill some time, we decided to take in the Rushmore Caves. Melissa and John both thought this tour was better than the Crystal Caverns which was good to know.

We finally made it to Mt. Rushmore and here is a family shot of us in front of the four Presidents faces.

At the close of the patriotic ceremony, the President's faces are lit. Here is what they look like at night. Very impressive.

Melissa discovered that she has allergies as she was affected every day she was here. Being the trooper, it didn't slow us down. The good news is that the weather was pretty darn good while she was here. We only had rain on Saturday night and then Melissa got to see the downfall that comes with thunder and lightning. We were gone from 10 to 7 most days and then we would play the card game Wizard until midnight or 1 a.m. What fun we had!

It was sad to take Melissa to the airport and kiss her goodbye. The good news is that it will be only five months before we see her again. John and I miss her smile and laughter and soaked it up while we could. Sometimes, I would have to sneak in a hug just because. Thanks for coming out to visit us Melissa; we love you bunches. We hope you had a good time visiting with your parental unit and the Black Hills of South Dakota.