We woke to the gorgeous blue sky that’s become synonymous for South Dakota (at least, to us!) It was a quiet Wednesday morning – the quiet is amazing out here, especially with no wind. I was hoping to hear coyotes again, but they must have pressed snooze.
Nothing on the trail cam, either, I was hoping to get something lurking about. We mounted it on a power pole about 100 ft. from the trailer. We’ll try again tonight.
After breakfast I went out to dump sausage grease from a frying pan and saw about 30 head of cattle across the way. I poured out the grease near the fence, a ways from the trailer, headed back and saw the cattle walking very fast toward me. They either 1) saw me and thought they were getting fed, 2) saw my frying pan and thought they were getting fed. I just prayed the fence would hold. It did.
With my one bar of 3G (thank you Verizon!) I was able to download and install the StarTrails app, and stack the images I took last night.
Tonight I’ll try to capture the Big Dipper, to our west.
We ventured into Buffalo to our north, population 301, at last count. Hardware Hank’s is the bomb! They have everything you could think of.
Super friendly and helpful. They had the part we needed to fix the hot water tank and we were on our way. We then searched out the campground we thought we saw in town before, which I thought had closed. It’s a self-serve place called the Buffalo Trailer Park and was filling up with hunters this time of year. I found the numbers I needed to call about dumping our tanks before we winterize and head home. On our way back we were tickled to stop by the roadside park on the southern border of Buffalo and find dump and water facilities. Problem solved!
It was shaping up to be a sunny gorgeous 70+ degree day. I got in touch with my friend Andrea, who was staying in Rapid City. She made the trek out, bless her soul, and we spent the afternoon touring the back 40.
We came upon 3 different sheep carcasses, sadly. Our neighbors have a flock and when we talked with them later, they knew they had lost several over the winter. We made it back to the seasonal creek and I was happy to see the most water in it I ever had. My thoughts immediately went to my kayak! LOL Not a good idea, I know. I’m not looking for a snake bite. But how cool would that be!
Upon returning to camp, our neighbors stopped by and we talked for a while. I was happy to get a shot of our first campwarming!
We took Andrea back to her car at the Crow Buttes and headed into Buffalo again for dinner at the No. 3 Saloon. The sun set, making the entire western horizon an orange glow I will be dreaming about for a while. Nothing like what we’re used to in Michigan.
Driving home in the twilight, cattle dotted the rolling hills and the road in several spots. It reminded me of the scene in Twister – “I gotta go, we got cows!”
Tomorrow is our last day at our property and I’ll try not to cry too hard. Friday is a HUGE bucket list item – the Custer Buffalo Roundup. I hope to have much more to share with you!
I’m off to bundle up and try and shoot the dipper in this clear western sky. Good night!