Time is going by way too fast! Our days are filled with morning school work and then afternoon and evening exploration. Usually we leave our lodging (tent, hotel, or friends house) by 10:00 a .m. and return late in the evening just in time for dinner. By early evening we are all ready to collapse in bed, but not before reading from our special book. Currently we are reading Aldo Leopold. We spent the past two days exploring Wind Cave NP and Agate Fossil Beds NM. Both were totally amazing. Our long time park friends live in Hot Springs, SD and work at Wind Cave. We took a tour of the park and the cave yesterday. Wind Cave is the 7th oldest National Park (I did not know this!). The cave is the fourth longest in the world and has 95% of the worlds boxwork formations. It is not your typical cave with stalagmites and stalactites. The scenery beneath the ground was interesting, but what was above the ground was even more spectacular. We drove the 20 mile scenic drive took us through the most beautiful mixed grassland praries I've ever seen. Herds of buffalo were grazing along the roadside at almost every turn and prairie dogs barked as we stopped the car to watch. Several pronghorn antelope were also seen along the road and up close.
Our visit to Agate Fossil Beds today was awesome. We drove about 113 miles to northwestern Nebraska. We hiked through grassland prairies and ancient rock formations that preserve 20 million year old small mammal fossils. Here's a story for Em's classmates . . . when we arrived Emily had to go to the bathroom. I just told her to go over to the tall grass and go by the parking lot. When she returned we grabbed our backpacks and found the trailhead for our short hike. The first signs we saw were warning signs for Prairie Rattlesnakes and they said, "Warning, Rattlesnakes. Stay on trail." Emily was so mad at me! Abbey and Emily completed the Jr. Ranger program and became "official" Jr. Rangers! Abbey was a good sport!
Tomorrow my mother is flying out from Virginia to explore Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Badlands, and Custer State Park with us. She will be visiting for 7 days. She has promised to help the girls with English while I do the math!
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