My Chevrolet Express van Class B- camper
I have been camping in my 1990 Chevrolet Silverado Blazer 2-door for the last 20 years. When I removed the back seat there was just enough room for a 3/4 sized (Hollywood, as some people called them)...
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Now that I have made some improvements to my van camper it is time to put it to good use. Last weekend the temps were predicted to be in the 60's & 70's for the Black Hills regions of South Dakota, we headed out for a camping trip to Custer State Park which is south of Rapid City, SD.
On the wildlife loop of Custer State Park you can always see buffalo from a distance.
Sometimes the buffalo get up close and personal. They have been known to damage cars but we gave them plenty of space. It gets a little more dicey if you are on a motorcycle.
There are more wildlife to see than just buffalo. On the trip back home on I-90 we saw a herd of about 50 antelope formed in a perfect circle (like circling the wagons in an old wagon train) with all the outside ones looking outward. I had never seen this before and, unfortunately, didn't get a picture of it. My wife looked it up on the internet and learned that this is a protective formation taken when a predator is near by. Did not see the predator.
More wildlife on the loop included several colonies of prairie dogs.
We saw about four magpies on the loop drive. This one sat patiently while I grabbed my camera.
Back in the campground on our walk we saw several nuthatches.
The lake at the Game Lodge Campground was still frozen over and the cattails were starting to shred. The visitor center was open just beyond the lake.
Looking up I spotted a nice contrail. You often see these because of the nearness of the Ellsworth Air Force Base and their big bombers.
While looking up I noticed the full moon quite visible in the middle of the day. The previous night it was so bright you could see moon shadows.
All of my pictures are reduced to 640x480 format for faster loading. If anyone would like a high resolution shot or a pdf of my guide to the Black Hills I give to my science teacher friends please contact me at:
Mike.Barondeau@gmail.com
On the wildlife loop of Custer State Park you can always see buffalo from a distance.
Sometimes the buffalo get up close and personal. They have been known to damage cars but we gave them plenty of space. It gets a little more dicey if you are on a motorcycle.
There are more wildlife to see than just buffalo. On the trip back home on I-90 we saw a herd of about 50 antelope formed in a perfect circle (like circling the wagons in an old wagon train) with all the outside ones looking outward. I had never seen this before and, unfortunately, didn't get a picture of it. My wife looked it up on the internet and learned that this is a protective formation taken when a predator is near by. Did not see the predator.
More wildlife on the loop included several colonies of prairie dogs.
We saw about four magpies on the loop drive. This one sat patiently while I grabbed my camera.
Back in the campground on our walk we saw several nuthatches.
The lake at the Game Lodge Campground was still frozen over and the cattails were starting to shred. The visitor center was open just beyond the lake.
Looking up I spotted a nice contrail. You often see these because of the nearness of the Ellsworth Air Force Base and their big bombers.
While looking up I noticed the full moon quite visible in the middle of the day. The previous night it was so bright you could see moon shadows.
All of my pictures are reduced to 640x480 format for faster loading. If anyone would like a high resolution shot or a pdf of my guide to the Black Hills I give to my science teacher friends please contact me at:
Mike.Barondeau@gmail.com
