it was too much to drive from Rocky Mountain National Park to to Custer State Park, so I’d booked one night at the Riverside RV park in Scottsbluff, NE. The bluffs were pretty cool (see Russ’s blog: russloomis.com), but the RV park turned out to be a good example of why I usually avoid RV parks: noisy, crowded, and over-lit at night. I have no idea how Russ managed to sleep in his tent under lights better suited to a football stadium. By the time I got up at 6 am, I wanted out of there. We left at 8 am.

We were early, so stopped off at Wind Cave National Park, which I’d never heard of, to see if we could tour the cave. Unfortunately, the tours were booked until later in the afternoon, so we made a note to try again on another trip. Arriving early at Custer State Park worked out just fine, as we came into the park through the wildlife loop, which did not disappoint.

There was a bit of a problem when we arrived at our campsite: we arrived a day later than originally booked; I’d tried to notify them by calling the main booking office, but apparently the message didn’t get through. Our site had been given to someone else. After going through at least three levels of beaurocracy, we were given a backup site (no shade, but electric hookup). No big tragedy; we were only there for one night.

And the park continued to delight. As I drove the short distance to the camp store to pick up provisions, I encountered a herd of bighorn sheep right by the road. I pulled in, and watched the ewes and lambs graze in the small grassy area right next to the parking lot.

I learned that ewes and rams both have horns, but only the rams develop those distinctive big curled horns. The lambs, like lambs everywhere, gamboled about adorably.

After dinner we took Moe for a walk along the paved hiking/biking path and saw even more wildlife: this time, mule deer relaxing near the path.

The evening was cool and lovely, and the next day had more surprises for us, as the road out of the park went through some pretty spectacular scenery, and some heart-stoppingly small tunnels.

There was less than a foot to spare through that last tunnel. The car and camper are still intact—phew!

And with that, we were off to the Badlands.