SUNDAY - I'm happy to announce we don't have any boring road photos to share from today's drive.
There's two reasons for that, first is we didn't see one single bison on our way out of the park today and secondly, we only traveled 15-miles down the road to an Army Corps of Engineers park outside of Hot Springs, SD.
Check out time at the National Park camground was NOON, so we stayed put on the site until about 11:30AM. With only a 15-mile travel day we arrived at the Army Corps of Engineers campground right at NOON. Unfortunaltely their check-out and check-in times are both 4:00PM and on our first pass through the campground our site was still occupied with no one around.
We left the campground and had some time to kill, so we went into town and ate lunch in the grocery store parking lot. We then went around the corner to the municipal dump station, emptied our waste tanks and filled with fresh water. We were going to save this chore for after our 2-day visit here, but while we had the time we went ahead and got it done.
Then we drove up the street to the cheapest gas station in town, a Sinclair Station with $2.89 gasoline. By the time we got back to the campground it was nearing 2:00PM.
This time when we got back to the Recreation Area sign there were a half dozen wild turkeys wandering around. Don't they know that Thanksgiving is right around the corner?
Just after we were stopped taking the photos of the turkeys a truck and trailer came driving towards us from the direction of the campground. I flagged him down as he drove by to ask if they were just leaving Campsite #6, the one we have reserved for two nights.
He said they were and asked if we were the ones who reserved it for tonight. I said we were and he mentioned he saw us drive through at NOON and apologized for leaving late. I explained he actually had the campsite until 4:00PM and he seemed surprised, so I jokingly told him not to turn around and reoccupy the site. We both got a chuckle out of that!
We had just got set up in our nice and quiet campsite when the campers one campsite to our right fired up their generator. It's not one of the "quiet" types either, it sounds like a large commercial lawn mower and officially "quiet time" isn't until 10:00PM.
As I write this it's 4:30PM - 5:30PM - 9:00 and the generator is still running!
Campsite #6 is not quite deep enough for us to park parallel in front of THE POD.
You can see the cable connecting ROVER's solar panels to THE POD. We need every watt we can get to charge our batteries up from being at 30%.
Someone was kind enough to leave us a little firewood.
Behind THE POD is a short footpath down the the shoreline of a cold brook.
Up river from our campsite appears to be a crystal clear fresh water springhead.
While down river appears to be clogged with debris of some sort.
As you can see it's not very far from the shoreline to THE POD's rear bumper.
MONDAY - Tricia was up bright and early this morning to take her usual morning walk.
We are camped here near the 36-acre Cold Brook Lake. You can't walk completely around the lake without doing some rock climbing, but there is a nice walkway around three-quarters of it, which is what Tricia did this morning.
MORNING OVER COLD BROOK LAKE
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A 5:45AM view of Cold Brook Lake from the middle of the dam.
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10-minutes later you could see the sun ready to peek over the trees.
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With the air temps in the mid-40°Fs and the water temps in the mid-70°Fs it created the perfect scenerio for "steam fog" to be created over the lake.
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This small sandy beach is the perfect spot to enter the water.
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It's only 6:10AM and there's already a kayaker out on the water.
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The Cold Brook Dam helps corral the water and keep it in the Cold Brook Lake.
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These Common Sunflowers could be found all around the shoreline of the lake.
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This odd looking flower is the Western White Clematis, also very prevelant around the lake.
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There are just two campsites on the shore of the lake (#12﹠#13), but neither has water access.
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There is a separate picnic area on the campground side of the lake with a view.
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Imagine the force it took to bend that rock into that shape.
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The camground entrance road offers a view from high above the lake.
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With a final look over her shoulder at 6:35AM Tricia got a surprise sighting, two hot air balloons were starting off on their early morning flight.
Today it will become clear why we only moved 15-miles down to the town of Hot Springs, and I'll bet it's not what you think it is.
The town of Hot Springs is famous for two things, No. 1 being the numerous natural hot springs all around town and No. 2 being the site of Columbian Mammoth bones. Since we already got our hot spring desires satisfied in Thermopolis, WY last month, we must be here for the Columbian Mammoth bones.
THE MAMMOTH SITE
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Our museum visit started with a 20-minute film that went more in depth about the site.
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Once you enter the room that houses the excavation site there are mammoth bones everywhere.
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These are the two mammoth teeth that are used to chew and grind their food.
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The large tusks were the easiest to spot thanks to their uniform shape.
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I believe this was described as a large femur bone.
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They estimate 60 Columbian and 3 Wooly Mammoths are located here.
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Tomorrow we're heading south into Nebraska to check out a pair of National Monuments and a National Historic Site. The first National Monument we will visit en route to our 1-night overnight stop in Nebraska.
Looking for our Visited States Map and Data? How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List? If so, click on the sign below to be taken to our other website.
A 5:45AM view of Cold Brook Lake from the middle of the dam.
10-minutes later you could see the sun ready to peek over the trees.
With the air temps in the mid-40°Fs and the water temps in the mid-70°Fs
This small sandy beach is the perfect spot to enter the water.
It's only 6:10AM and there's already a kayaker out on the water.
The Cold Brook Dam helps corral the water and keep it in the Cold Brook Lake.
These Common Sunflowers could be found all around the shoreline of the lake.
This odd looking flower is the Western White Clematis, also very prevelant around the lake.
There are just two campsites on the shore of the lake (#12﹠#13), but neither has water access.
There is a separate picnic area on the campground side of the lake with a view.
Imagine the force it took to bend that rock into that shape.
The camground entrance road offers a view from high above the lake.
With a final look over her shoulder at 6:35AM Tricia got a surprise sighting,
Our museum visit started with a 20-minute film that went more in depth about the site.
Once you enter the room that houses the excavation site there are mammoth bones everywhere.
These are the two mammoth teeth that are used to chew and grind their food.
The large tusks were the easiest to spot thanks to their uniform shape.
I believe this was described as a large femur bone.
They estimate 60 Columbian and 3 Wooly Mammoths are located here.
