Road Kill, It's whats for Dinner (Well sort of)

After a spectacular light show through our skylight last night, we awoke to a beautiful morning with some cooler temperatures and a strong South Dakota wind.  Jim fixed a hearty camp breakfast and enjoyed his percolator coffee as we slowed down just a little bit before starting our day.  We then headed north toward Sturgis.  Winds were reported at near 30 miles an hour so our little 2 door Jeep was really bouncing around as we rolled on down the highway. Two hands on the steering wheel for this one. First stop, Sturgis Harley Davidson, well. . . just because when you go to Sturgis, you have to go.  Jim traded his Harley a couple years back for some different toys, but the love of all that is Harley never leaves you.

Next stop, Bear Butte State Park.  A 2 mile hike up the mountain with a 1,000 foot ascent in elevation.  Many Native Americans, including the Lakota and Cheyenne, consider Bear Butte a sacred mountain, a holy place where the Creator has chosen to communicate with them through prayer and visions.  Leaders such as Red Cloud, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull all visited this mountain to pray.  There is a powerful energy on this mountain, a connection that is palpable.  Our experience today will stay with us for a long time to come.

That tiny speck near the top is us!

We ended the day with dinner at the Blue Bell Lodge back at Custer State Park.  For the first time, we tried rattlesnake!! As we've hiked these hot, arid hillsides, we have been continually reminded to beware of rattlesnakes.  Little did we know they are so plentiful that they would end up on our menu!!  Blue Bell offered an appetizer called "R & R", rattlesnake and rabbit!  I tried a bite and that was all for me.  The taste was very, uh. . . snakey I guess, because it certainly did not taste like chicken!!  Jim finished the dish, which included a complement of aioli and carmelized onions.  The sides did help mask the flavor some but I couldn't get past the idea that I was eating a snake.  So I guess it's official. . . today we ate roadkill!  Ugh!

Oh, and just in case you don't have enough room for your bison. . . 

As always, we have enjoyed our time in South Dakota.  The state parks are treasures and a welcome respite from crowded commercial campgrounds sitting on the side of a highway!

Tomorrow we pack up once more and continue on . . . to Wyoming, like no place on Earth!