Buffalo Roundup at Custer State Park

Gina and I want to thank everyone for your prayers and thoughts for Gina’s ear. They're doing much better. Today is also our brother-in law's birthday. Just for you brother, Gina and I hope your day is as "Special" as you are!!

Happy Birthday Rickey

I woke up at three o’clock in the morning to write and post our blog entry. We were out the door at 5:15. We thought we would beat the crowds. However, that was not the case. There was almost five miles of cars waiting for the gate to open at 6:15.

A long line of cars


We were treated to a beautiful sunrise while waiting

We finally got parked around eight o’clock and found a great place to watch the buffalo as they are herded into the corrals. We still had three hours before the buffaloes would be rounded up and ran into the corrals.

This is our view for seeing the Buffalo Roundup

We just sat down talking to all the people around us. Somewhere in there a channel 21 reporter from Rapid City interviewed me.

Being interviewed by Krista from KNBN Channel 21
Here is a link to the article written by her, sorry no video link. However, I did make the news. My fame for about one minute.

Before long we saw a small herd being brought down the hillside. Then a little while later more buffaloes were herded into the valley. Now that more than 1,300 buffaloes were in the valley we waited for them to be ran into the corrals. It finally began and what a show. Not only could you hear and see them. You could actually feel the ground rumbling under your feet. We took a lot of pictures and these are just a few of them. If you would like to see more please click this link: online photo album.

Small herd being pushed to the valley


Most of the herd being pushed


The show begins


You cannot tell but they're running


A cowboy keeping the buffaloes running straight


More cowboys running the buffaloes


More of the herd being pushed


They are now being pushed toward a small gate


There is over a thousand buffalo in this picture


Almost half of them are through the gate


Here's a cow and her calf in the corrals

The roundup only lasted about 15 minutes but it was such sight. From there we walked to the corrals. While at the corrals we ran into Ron and his wife Jennifer. Ron is the chief law enforcement officer here at Custer State Park. There is a lot of history between Ron, Mom & Pop’s. I'm sure Pop's will write about it in his blog on Wednesday. Just before Mom & Pop’s stopped working at the park, Pop’s gave Ron his saddle he won in 1953 as the All Around Rodeo Champion in South Dakota.

Pop's with his rodeo saddle he won in 1953


Pop's with Ron

We walked around for a few minutes and then decided to take a shuttle back to the truck and drive back home.

We passed this bull on our way home
Some of the older and bigger bulls just do what they want, so the park just leaves them alone

Once we got back home I decided to take a short nap while Gina looked at the pictures she had taken. The evening was pretty normal as we enjoyed our social hour. I did grill two pork tenderloins that we enjoyed with leftovers from Sunday. Everyone was tired and we all called it an early night. What a fantastic day. Even though we woke up early and waited three hours for a fifteen-minute show it was worth every second. Gina and I both highly encourage you to put this in your bucket list.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Enjoyed a Relaxing Sunday with Friends

Sunday morning I woke up to a cool 41 degrees and I even had to turn on the heat to get the chill out. Gina woke up a little later with her ears hurting. We had taken a pork roast out of the freezer so I got that cooking in the crock-pot for dinner. Gina and I then decided to accomplish a couple projects on the cabin today. We completed the dryer exhaust vent through the ceiling and Mark helped me install an outside light by the door. It looks really nice. I only have a couple of projects left now before we leave next Sunday.

Around four o’clock John and Michal came over for our social hour and around 5:30 we ate dinner. Besides the pork roast, Gina made homemade mashed potatoes, Mom made a spinach casserole and Dale steamed carrots and onions. It all tasted wonderful. Not a very exciting day other than eating a wonderful meal.

Before everyone went home we all planned our activities for Monday. We are leaving here at 5:15 in the morning heading to Custer State Park for the Buffalo Roundup. We have heard so much about this that we cannot wait to see it. We should have some good pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned, as I’m sure we’ll have a fantastic day at the Buffalo Roundup. This should make for an interesting blog entry for Tuesday morning.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Arts & Craft Festival and Touring HIll City

Friday found Gina and I riding up to Rapid City with Mom & Pop’s. We all needed a few items before we depart Custer and today was the perfect day. It started out a little chilly. However, the day turned out beautiful. Once we arrived back home it was time for our social hour and John and Michal were coming over. They are another fulltime RV’ing couple that drive a big Volvo truck like ours. They are staying just down the road at Broken Arrow Campground.

John & Michal

Gina cooked up a pot of chili after gathering a half-pound of ground meat from Dale and a half-pound of buffalo meat from Mom. After chatting for awhile we decided that it was time to enjoy a delicious bowl of chili with all the fixings. It was getting a little cold outside so we called it a day. We all said goodnight and then went inside to stay warm.


Saturday morning found us up early as we were going to the Custer State Park Buffalo Round-Up Days Arts & Crafts Festival. They had lots of booths with a lot of unique stuff.

Looking down a row booths


Yes, you could even get buffalo burgers


This guy is making arrow heads


Of course, there were horses there too


Gina managed to get a picture of this female Bighorn Sheep


Dale, Pop's, Mom, me, Gina, John & Michal

We made it back home a little after noon and I grilled some hot dogs. Gina and I then decided to take a drive to Hill City while Mom & Pop’s decided to take a motorcycle ride for the afternoon.

Once we got parked in Hill City we just browsed through the stores and somehow we managed not to buy anything.

Welcome sign into Hill City


A unique statue of a horse made out of junk steel

We then drove a little further up the road to a Christmas store.

The Christmas Store Sign

When we walked in someone called out “Who Dat”. That caught our attention and then I realized I was wearing a New Orleans Saints tee-shirt. There were two ladies that were wearing “Who Dat Nation” tee-shirts and after talking with them we found at that Betty was from Baton Rouge and Linda was from Delhi, Louisiana.

Betty and Linda (How bout dem shirts)

You never know who you will run into while traveling. Gina continued her shopping and I believe she looked at everything in the store. She made a few purchases and then it was time to head home. I’m not sure what time we got home but we walked over to Mom & Pop’s and visited with them. We said goodnight to them and walked home just in time for the kickoff between LSU and West Virginia football game. We watched the game and congratulations to LSU for the win. By this time it was after ten o’clock and we both went to bed. We had a relaxing and wonderful day. We’re off to church this morning and then I need to finish up a few items on Mom & Pop’s cabin.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.