Holy Hail!!!- An Independence Day Trip Report

[HouCuseChickie]

In all of the videos I used to research, I saw everything from burros sticking their heads in cars to people getting out and hosting a burro feeding frenzy with bags of veggies. Part of me wanted to come prepared with a big bag of carrots, since people have been feeding the burros for decades and they've been known to cause vehicular damage if you don't have something to keep them chewing. There have even been a few rangers anonymously come out and encourage the practice. That being said, the official policy is that feeding is prohibited. What's funny, is the thing that actually kept me from participating in this tradition was flies. In several videos, I could see that the animals were absolutely teeming with flies, which got me thinking of disease. So, I decided to skip the feeding tradition and take my chances that a burro might nibble my door handles.





















As you can see, they are not shy! Although, I am surprised that we didn't have any heads explore inside my open windows. The vehicle in front of us was feeding some sort of chips, so I guess that at least was enough to keep them from looking for much with us.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Both before and after the burros, I have a lot of random pics of prairie dogs and hills. I think this was probably Sam's work. Clouds were moving in and out, so the lighting was inconsistent at this point.

















We also passed by the main corrals for the annual bison round up.





These corrals should have been a sign that more bison weren’t far away.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

As we were approaching a more wooded area, we saw a long line of brake lights. I figured it was an animal jam, but I had no idea how long we’d be sitting here. I want to say it took over 20 minutes to get through the jam, which wasn’t great because everyone was getting hungry.

At first we couldn’t really see much, but then Sam noticed a line of bison coming in from the right. It made for some different photo ops compared to the previous herd. There were also some great wildflowers in this spot. I would have loved to hand over the wheel to David to take photos, but I have a video I’ll share at the end of this segment showing how close they came to the cars. Still, there was galloping, grunting, wallowing, frolicking, and just general bison stuff. It’s a lot of pictures, bit I swear…the next handful of posts is really only 1/4-1/3 of the pictures.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

 

[HouCuseChickie]

 

[HouCuseChickie]

 

[HouCuseChickie]

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We were done with bison for the day, but we’d have one more round of bison for the trip. I was able to pick up speed after getting past the herd, but my photographer didn’t realize that when trying to get pics of this creek.



At least David was able to map us to some food during the bison jam. There was a little general store tied to a lodge and campground up the road. A lot of people must have had the same idea, because we wound up having to use the the lodge parking across the street. We saw some people finishing their horseback riding as we got out. I was impressed how easily they all maneuvered (even little kids)…just getting down and tying their horses to the trees had me in awe.





We all went in and grabbed some snacks. I went for regional options.





I forget what David and the kids got, but they all stole some of my elk sticks! I guess David’s waffle iron bagel from earlier just wasn’t cutting it.



We probably could have snacked at a picnic table, but decided to just sit in the car with the windows open. At least it was nice outside.



Sam was still hoping for some marmots, even though they’re not terribly common, so we started to make our way to one of the lakes. My photographer got some pics of the pretty scenery.





Unfortunately, the lake was packed with swimmers, paddle boarders, and small watercraft. I managed some fairly people free pics, but it was still too crowded for wildlife.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We decided to put off any further marmot searching plans and take another popular route in the park. I had heard about the Needles Highway and the super tight bridges cut into the rock. So we headed that way. On our way, we even passed another lake and lodge area that might have been a better spot for food. Oh well.

When we got to the Needles entrance, we were actually stopped by rangers at a security checkpoint. I was nervous, worrying that I might have booked the wrong permit, but it was just fine. She also informed me that it only had to be displayed when we were parked.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

 

[HouCuseChickie]

 

[HouCuseChickie]

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We passed another lake as we got to the bottom. Still no marmots, but more paddle boarding.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Well, I just realized that half of what I’d previously written didn’t post. Backtracking a little… I drove and David manned the camera. This road is incredibly narrow and does a lot of winding. Those tunnels are like playing a game of chicken. Just before going through the tiniest one (Needle’s Eye) David looked up so saw a mountain goat standing on a rock right above us and looking down into the car. He was standing still, but David didn’t have the camera at the ready and while I was creeping along, it was still too fast to photograph the goat. There was also no safe way to stop or turn around. Oh well… I promise…there was a goat!

We saw that lake area as we got to the bottom, but still no marmots. Oh well.

Part of why I wanted to drive the Needles Highway was because I’d heard that some of the tunnels in Custer were carved to face Mount Rushmore if you’re driving in the correct direction. It turns out that we were on the wrong highway for those views, but we were still close to the National Memorial and it did have some unfinished business.



So, that’s where we went next.





We parked, paid, and headed in.







Last time we were here, we never got to try Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream. I’d heard it was a must, so it was time to take care of unfinished business.





Aaaaaand here it is…



I do have high praises for them for working with Kendall’s allergies and they run a really efficient operation. That being said…it’s just vanilla. They had huckleberry on the menu and I debated about a scoop of each, but they were out of the huckleberry.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We finished up our ice cream in the area with all of the state flags and plaques.





We’ve been here before…twice in one day…and we weren’t sure how much more we wanted to stick around. David decided to head to the restroom while we waited on the primary viewing terrace. We noticed some security briskly go past us mentioning security issues, but we were quickly distracted by Honest Abe coming out for meet and greets.





Kendall then lost it when Theodore Roosevelt came out. He’s one of her favorites and he had no line, so they had a great chat.



David jumped in to join the presidential fun.





I asked the ranger overseeing things and apparently it’s tradition to have all four presidents on site on July 3rd and 4th as part of their Independence Day festivities. So, now I was on a mission. I needed to find Jefferson and Washington. There was a Native American indigenous persons dance presentation also starting on the terrace for the holiday, but I was on a presidential mission. So we headed downstairs.



We walk in and there he was… signing autographs with a quill.



The girls just wanted to explore, but David wanted presidential pics.



We missed George’s meeting time, but I did catch some of his lecture/discussion. It was a pretty packed house, but I found a spot on the wall for a little bit.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

That's really cool that they bring the presidents out at Rushmore.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

That's really cool that they bring the presidents out at Rushmore.

I had heard that they offer some special things right around the holiday, but I was so focused on ice cream that I didn't look into any of it in advance. It was a great surprise!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I had heard that they offer some special things right around the holiday, but I was so focused on ice cream that I didn't look into any of it in advance. It was a great surprise!

I can understand being obsessed about ice cream!

 

[Swissmiss]

I can understand being obsessed about ice cream!

I just sent the kids downstairs to the bodega across the street for ice cream

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I just sent the kids downstairs to the bodega across the street for ice cream

I might be having some soon too. Taking some visiting friends to a creamery and they have fresh cheese and ice cream there.