Hot Springs and Pine Ridge Reservation

Today we got a truly special treat! We got to go the Pine Ridge Reservation! A place I have always wanted to go. I got in touch with a former professor Darla Korol and we met up here in Custer to do the Volksmarch tomorrow. Today she took us "Rez running with the Sioux"! Here are some pics from our day. Above is Darla with Ron Kills Warrior (our amazing and wonderful tour guide of the Red Cloud School and also a former student of Darla's).

The Pine Ridge Reservation has nine districts. We were in the Red Cloud Oglala district. Above is a sign that gave some history about this area.

Prarie Winds Casino.. We stopped here for lunch and taught my Mom how to gamble. It was her first time in a Casino! We were up a bit, but in the end, we made a "donation" of 6 dollars!

The grave of Red Cloud. The "Paper" Chief. We learned that Crazy Horse (who never signed a treaty) was the Chief elected by the people. Red Cloud was cornered after many battles and tried to save his people by being the Chief the US Government wanted. Therefore, he was a "paper chief" since he was not elected by the people, but still a very loved and respected man.

The beautiful waterfall at Kidney Springs!

Here at this Gazebo you can fill up your water jugs with free mineral water from the Kidney Spring in Hot Springs SD!

Kidney Springs - The plaque explains the types of minerals found in the water and what those minerals cure!


Below is the sign to Kidney Springs... just one of 170!

To the far right..... AN ANTELOPE

Momma and Baby Bison! The babies are so sweet and a golden color! Momma's and Poppa's are beginning to lose their winter coats..

This guy was TOTALLY posing for us..

My favorites.. Prarie Dog babies! I LOVE Prarie Dogs! I think they might be the cutest creatures ever!

Bison - Very close to the car. If you are ever out this way, do NOT get out of your car to take a picture! Buffalo can be dangerous!

A few pics from Custer, SD!

Thought these tree carving were cool. The gentleman who makes these carves them each from a single piece of wood!

Comforting....

Do I have residental ADD?

I am starting to think that I do... I was born in Williamsport, PA and lived there for the first 19 years of my life. I took the first chance I had to get out of there, which meant transferring colleges and moving to Charleston, SC for the next 7 years. Then it was off to my real home of homes, Bristol England. Sadly, I only lived there for a year, but would go back in a heart beat. Then it was back to Charleston for a year and then to Spokane, WA for another 3 years.



Now I sit in 5th wheel at French Creek RV park on my way back to place that it all started, Williamsport, PA.


It is a place that holds my past, but isn't the same place it was when I left. This above all else concerns me. I learned in my yoga class that I need to be in control of my imagination and not let it get ahead of me, so trying very hard to stay in the moment and enjoy the beautiful scenery around me.


So to help me stay "in the moment" I figured I would jump on the blogging bandwagon and share some pictures and experiences I have alone the way.

Happy Trails!