Hail yes

Being from Sacramento, we aren't use to getting hail much larger than pea size.  So it was a surprise to hear thunk, thunk, thunk on our roof while we were eating lunch.  We looked out and saw these large balls hitting the ground and rolling along so we had to get a picture.

Thankfully, the hail didn't last for long and never got larger than 3/4 inch size.  The hail passed through and then the rain, thunder, and lightning started in.  We had one thunder clap that was so loud that the lightning strike must have been really close by.  Yikes!  

Later in the afternoon, I heard that Sylvan Lake Road toward Highway 16 really got blasted with hail.  We saw proof of that when we went into town later in the evening.  While some of you have much experience with large hail, this was a first for us. 

Melissa's visit

Melissa was suppose to arrive Friday evening but due to plane mechanical problems that would make her miss the connecting flight to Rapid City, her arrival was postponed until Saturday.  As always, we were very happy to see and hug our beloved daughter.

The days' planned activities were slowed by John feeling pretty crummy.  We were able to get the prerequisite drive around the Custer Wildlife Loop where we saw antelope, deer, bison,.  What would the drive be without feeding the burros . . . or in this case, burro.

John and Melissa were going to go on a Trail Ride Sunday morning while I worked my shift but John was not feeling up to it.  Actually, it was a good thing because it started to rain just as they would have been heading out and it rained for several hours.  

The days were low keyed and  we managed to fit in several hands of Wizard and Shanghai.  Melissa was certainly on a winning streak (all time high at Wizard) until which time her dad started feeling a bit better.

I now know that PIGS CAN FLY.  How could I know such a thing?  Because here is a picture of Melissa with her fishing license!

Out on the boat with her dad:

And with a fish (the only one caught for the day):

Being a fair weather gal, the fishing trip ended once the wind came up along with threatening skies.

Today, on the way to Rapid City to take Melissa to the airport, we stopped at Bear Country USA.  This was on her list of must do's.  It is always lots of fun to watch the antics of the baby bears.

We planned her visit months ago and here it has come and gone.  It sure was nice having her around for a few days.

Another great visit

John's sister, Bonnie, and husband, Butch, arrived Monday afternoon, got set up, and settled in for the dinner we had ready for the weary travelers.

Tuesday we visited Bear Country USA, Mount Rushmore, took the drive on Iron Mountain Road through the tunnels and Pig Tail Bridges towards the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park.  Here are Bonnie and Butch at Bear Country USA.

The drive through Custer State Park proved to be more successful than last week's drive when we took our visiting friends through the park.  This time around, we saw everything the park had to offer.  Here are Bonnie and Butch feeding carrots to the "Wild" Burros.

We also got to see a couple of large herds of Bison.

The next three days were spent fishing and visiting.  Everyone caught fish on Wednesday (wish I had the a copy of the smiling picture of Bonnie with her first catch of the day . . . darn, it was on her camera!) at Center Lake.  Thursday was a bust as no fish were caught at Sheridan Lake.  On Friday, only the guys went fishing as Bonnie had a stomach ailment so us girls laid low at the campground.  John and Butch were successful  fishing.  The first Bass of the season was caught by Butch at Bismark Lake.

This little guy was released just like all the others caught on the fishing expeditions.

Saturday was a trip to Jewel Cave - the second largest cave in the world.  This really is a beautiful cave and has just about everything a cave can offer.  One of our tour companions was nice enough to take this picture of the four of us deep underground.

We capped off the evening by going up to Crazy Horse Memorial to watch the laser-light show and the night blast celebrating Ruth Ziolkowski's 84th birthday (wife of the deceased sculptor) and the 134th Anniversary Of The Battle Of Little Big Horn.   The Memorial only has two night blasts a year: June 26 and September 6 (the observance of dual anniversaries - the 1877 death of Lakota leader Crazy Horse and the birth date of sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski).  Everyone enjoyed the evenings entertainment and the weather cooperated much better this year than last year.

Sunday morning found us saying our goodbyes as Bonnie and Butch headed back to Sacramento.   Bonnie and Butch had been in Iowa visiting Butch's parents and friends and then attended an Aliner Rally in the Amana Colonies.  They swung north specifically to visit with us and we are very happy that they did!  After hugs and safe travel wishes, Bonnie and Butch got on the road while John and I worked our shifts at the campground.  What a nice time we had catching up, laughing it up, and getting to share the beauty of the Black Hills with two people who mean a lot to us.