April 17 travels: More pictures to help you decide this would be a great vacation spot.

 If you know me at all the CCC is one of my favorite government programs of all time. Simply put, it worked. It put young men to work, took most of their pay and sent it to their families, trained them, and ran the camps with military discipline. I think we all know people who could benefit from this background and all of us benefit today from the work done throughout South Dakota and particularly throughout the Black Hills.

 South of Keystone you drive by this old cabin. I have to do some additional research to find out what was the attraction. My guess is dates back to the mining boom in this area.

 Mining boom town of Keystone, this was the school built in 1899. It was built to hold 300 students which it never did. The town currently has just over 300 people. It is a must see community on your Black Hills travels, mining was done on a massive scale here and you can tour a gold mine.

 One room school from Keystone, 40 students in grades 1-8 could be packed into one of these.

 Click on the picture and you'll see this is a Chicago air compressor. Used in mining throughout the Keystone and Black Hills area.

April 14 Drive

 Fewer and fewer of us remember the one room school house unless you live in South Dakota where they were more common much later in the 20th century. Exit 37 off I-90 on the way to Sturgis will take you to this site.

 Shortly after a left turn at the school house you get this amazing view of Bear Butte. Use your imagination, the bear's head is to the right and his rump is up in the air on the left. This is a great hike and the region is unique because there are no other geographic features like it nearby. This is a sacred site to Native Americans so when hiking be respectful. This is the bear that "carved" the grooves in Devil's Tower.

April 17: Bison Life

 Healthy male after a long winter in Custer State Park. We had our third coldest winter and two blizzards. You can debate the causes but climate change is here and most of us in the banana belt (Rapid City) don't care for it.

 This gives you an idea of how thin bison can get over a long winter. I'm sure this is an elderly male (so am I) and the effort to find meager grass over a long winter is difficult.

 This small herd was relaxing after a morning of continuous eating. I didn't have my telephoto lens so the very small calf couldn't be photographed. I don't get close to bison, they are far bigger, faster, stronger than I.

Maundy Thursday

During this Holy Week may your thoughts have been on what Jesus was doing. What were His thoughts as each day passed that brought Him closer to the cross. May you and your family be blessed as you reflect upon His sacrifice for each of us.

Northern Hills Action

Sculptor Dale Lamphere has been working on this project for Sioux Falls. Vick and I drove by to get some pictures.

For additional information:  https://www.blackhillsfox.com/content/news/503089652.html

Break has ended!

It's been awhile since publishing a post but the break was needed and I will get back into the swing of posting regularly again. The above photo is our recent addition, Timber (short for Timberwolf). He is a 10 year old long hair and I do emphasize the long hair.