Black Hills: another day…

Today was our first real day at the campground (more properly, the
Rafter Bar J Ranch). We have three of their “comfort cabins”: roughly 20′ x 20′ one-room cabins with a small bathroom, sink, microwave, and dorm-size refrigerator. There’s one double bed and a pair of bunks, plus a small dinette table. Everything is clean and in good repair, and there’s a great open courtyard where the boys can run around and holler– quite a relief after 1200+ miles trapped in the car.

Mom had either mad-car disease or altitude sickness; she wasn’t feeling well, so she missed the morning festivities. The rest of us got sort of a late start because we were all tired, but once everyone got moving we headed out to two nearby attractions: Old McDonald’s Petting Zoo was first. It was, well, full of animals. Thomas was enchanted with the chicks in the incubator room, since you got to pick them up; Matt’s favorite was probably feeding the goats (see below), although he didn’t like it when they got too personal. David liked everything; he’s been a real treat to have with us on the trip because pretty much everything suits him just fine.

Our second stop was Reptile Gardens, which was outstanding. We stayed to watch the alligator show, then spent some time on Death Row– the Gardens’ large collection of venomous snakes. By the time we got done with that, it was getting late and everyone was hungry. We headed back to the cabins to pick up Mom, then went into Hill City for lunch at the Mount Rushmore Brewing Company, a nice little restaurant that serves a mean buffalo burger. After a swim, Tim and the boys built a campfire, and we roasted hot dogs and made s’mores. No one stayed up very late.