Most everyone has something they slept with as a kid- a blanket, a doll, a teddy bear... I had Honey (a doll) and Blankie. If Loren would allow it, I would probably still sleep with them. I have had them both my entire life and they are still a comfort.
Today we saw a much different sort of teddy bear. Those of the real variety! Much like the day that we went to the Mystery Spot, Loren was reluctant to go to what he thought was just another cheesy and costly tourist trap. The place is called Bear Town USA. It is a drive thru wild life park. I have been to this sort of attraction before and have always had a great time. When you arrive, you get a bag of treats for the animals. As you slowly drive thru with the windows down, you watch the animals roam around. The fun part is when an animal decides to come over to the car. Zebras and ostriches stick their heads in the window and eat the treats from your hands. Most of the time, the greedy little buggers steal the whole bag of snacks. I have always loved these up close experiences with the animals so I talked Loren into letting us do this wildlife drive.
At the gate of Bear Country, the rules were explained and they were VERY different from what I have experienced in the past. It was forbidden to feed the animals or drive with the windows open. We were given a map and we understood the reason for this. Instead of the zebras and ostriches of the other places, here we would encounter wolves, coyotes, bison, big horned sheep, and bears! We did see all of the animals, but the weather was unusually hot and most were asleep. An employee was stationed up in a tower over looking the park and could be heard using a speaker to tell people to roll up their windows. Soon, a truck came thru and put food out for the bears. They all came to life and suddenly the cars were surrounded by bears. I was so excited that I was literally hopping around on my seat. Bears of all sizes and shapes walked around our car and stood in the road causing us to wait until they moved.
The fun was not over when the drive was complete. There was then an outside area to walk around and see more animals. The greatest part was the area of sweet little real life teddy bears. We watched them play fight, swim, run, climb trees, and just act like naughty toddlers. We learned that the babies are weaned from their mothers after a period of time and brought to their own area. Apparently the adult male bears can be a serious danger to the little ones. Those little bears looked like they couldn't have asked for a better life. It was hard to leave the cuties, but we had to get to Deadwood for a tour. I will get to that shortly.
Our day did not start visiting bears. It started at Mt. Rushmore. We were surprised that it was only $10 to get in. Hard to believe that we had now gotten into 2 separate national parks for the same price as one Chicago parking garage. Doesn't make sense. The pay binoculars were still there, probably from 50 years ago, but we paid the 50 cents and had a close up view. The detail of these sculptures was amazing. We could clearly see that even pupils were carved into the eyes. As there is little to do other than look at the monument, we didn't stay long. We drove the few miles over to the Crazy Horse monument.
This experience went a little different than planned. For those of you who don't know about Crazy Horse, it is a sculpture in the mountain side similar to Mt. Rushmore. I drove up to the entrance gates and the man told me it would be $24. Loren had not been paying attention, but as I was handing over the money, he asked how much it was. When the man repeated that it would be $24, Loren refused to pay it. We had to turn around and go to a parking lot near the road to snap a picture. I was so very embarrassed at the time, but we started talking to other travelers who refused to pay when it could be seen from the road.
Our last stop in our very long day was for a ghost tour at the Bullock Hotel in Deadwood. We had watched shows about the place and had read a great deal about the history. There are several books in the lobby filled with comments from guests about their paranormal experiences. Once again, the tour was too crowded. The guide was also a snore. We basically just walked around the hotel and saw/learned nothing. We finally just snuck away from the group and left. It was a total waste of time, but I truly blame the guide.
Tomorrow we will go to the Mt
Moriah cemetery to visit Wild Bill Hickcock, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock. We plan to then head on to Colorado, so stay tuned!
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