Oh My Goodness... Is that a Bear?

Happy Friday Everyone! Not sure why Fridays still excite us, considering the fact that everyday is a weekend, but still... Ya gotta love Fridays!

Today we are writing from South Dakota, a state we never thought about much but has proven to be pretty fun so far, with lots to see.

To update since leaving Chicago on Wednesday, we drove to Buckhorn State Park in Wisonsin first and camped for the night. The. owners of the Powell's Inn (Aaron and Emily) suggested the park to us and raved about it. When we arrived, we could see why. The campground consisted of mostly walk in sites and only had a few that had a travel trailer pull in spot. We found a place where we could pop up Stevie and read some of the state park brochures. The brochures gave information of local wildlife and we laughed when we read the last sentence stating "...the occasional Black Bear". "We have a machete" Matt said, "we'll be fine".

Each campsite had it's own private lake access little beach area. We popped up the camper, propped our chairs, cooler and daisy by the beach and fished while the sun was setting over the lake.

The campground did not have electrical hookups and after the sunset, it was pretty dark. We loved it though... The quiet and peacefullness surrounding us.

While we were sitting around the fire later on, we both started hearing some noises that made both of our skin crawl. We would look at each other and convince each other that we both did not just hear a growl, even though we were thinking in our heads that we did. After about 15 min. and the growl noise getting louder, we both began to panic. Daisy has been trying to eat every wild animal at every campground, and she wasn't acting like there was anything near. Finally we hear a huge growl followed by what sounded like a horse. Ha!! It was an old man snoring in the campground next to us. The loudest snoring we have ever heard. It was embarassing that we let our adrenaline levels rise so high and fear take over our bodies over an old man snoring. This time, we were lucky; Next time it could be a bear and we'll be ready.

We left early Thurs. morning and drove through Southern Minnesota farmland and stopped at Palisades State Park right across the border in South Dakota. We had another peaceful night last night and woke up early again this morning to move on. We are driving to Custer State Park today to stay thru the weekend. We stopped once already to see Devil's Gulch where Jesse James leaped over a ravine to escape the law, and are stopping at The Corn Palace in about 30 miles. A Palace made of corn... Can't wait!!! Custer State park is right neat Mt. Rushmore, Crazyhorse, and so much more to see.

We are hoping for good weather this weekend. The outlook is not so good so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Last but not least, we have another shout out:

Happy Birthday Colchild!!! Yesterday he turned 24!!! We miss you and love you so much!!! See you in San Fran soon.

One more side note:
Today reminds us how lucky we are to be traveling this great country of ours. Each part has such significance and we are so thankful for the everyday heroes, past and present, who have protected every inch of it. It's so hard to believe that it has been 8 years since 9/11. Everyone needs to take time to be thankful everyday of the week and honor those whose lives have been lost. We do.

See you when we get there!