Swimming, wildlife, and Mt. Rushmore

Our next stop was Custer State Park after a dismal visit to Gillette, WY for lunch.  We were glad to get out of that city and away from all the traffic.  We reserved a spot on the road for a campsite at Center Lake.  We didn't want the stress of having to get a spot if we didn't arrive until latter in the day.  However, our camp reservation specialist didn't give us a site that had any flat spots for tents.   Again, I can't tell you how frustrating that is.  Not everyone has an RV.  It does matter if you have a flat spot when you sleep in a tent.  Luckily for us the upper loop at Center Lake was pretty empty so we had our pick of spots.  Unfortunately, we had to waste time driving through the loop writing down what numbers were okay and then find the reservation phone (cells didn't work) to change our tent site number.  Way more complicated than it needed to be.

After setting up camp we went down to Center Lake for a cool off dip.  It was a nice small lake with a little beach.  It was just perfect for what we needed.

 After dinner we drove the wildlife loop road and saw these deer,

and one burro eating food from the car ahead of us.  We were disappointed not to see more.  On our last trip here we saw so many.

 We headed towards Mt. Rushmore next to see the lighting ceremony. 

 

 It was a pretty cool experience.  The vets from any war were asked to come up on stage and the national anthem was sung.  Cheesy, but rah rah American.

 The view on the way out:

The ceremony didn't start until well after 9 so the kids were exhausted on the way home.  It was still worth keeping them up so they could see it.

This is the map for Custer State Park:

Windsor Lake is no longer Windsor's best kept secret!

 

Went to the beach w/ the kids today.  What a gorgeous day, 85 degrees and lightly breezy.  We got there around 10:15 and it was already hopping.  I remember the days that I would get there at 10 and be by myself until noon.  Those days are no longer, at least on Fridays, it seems.  Even though it was busy the kids had a great time and there was plenty of room for everyone.  It's great that we have a lake so close that is free to swim in and a good place for the younger crowd.  They even have paddle boats to rent for $5/30 min.  A snack bar, toilets, and showers make it even better for a visit.  The water doesn't get very deep until you are pretty far out so you don't have to worry about the toddler/preschooler as much. We drove over in the Jeep w/ the top down.  It doesn't get much better than this!  (Okay so a margarita would have made it a tiny bit better!) :)

Boyd Lake

 The bike ride started out at Seven Lakes Park in Loveland.  The flax were out and beautiful.  The playground occupied the kids for quite some time.  They even had some different play elements here:

 

 I thought they had outlawed the good old fashioned merry go round.  Apparently, not!  The kids had fun trying to balance on it.

 

Had a nice tour of the lake.  It was a quiet time of year without too many boats.  I don't imagine there will be many more days like this until the fall.

 

 

 I saw this tree and thought it looked like a great photo op...was I ever wrong!  "It smells like a bathroom in there."  The honesty and directness of children is always refreshing!

 

 Fun trees to walk on and look at:

 

There were 3 different parks throughout Boyd Lake and we stopped at every single one of them!

It seems like this has been a snake year.  I don't think we've been on one hike without seeing one.

  

Bike: Boyd Lake

Trails Used: Seven Lakes Park to Boyd Lake and Back
Distance: 7.31 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 5.5  mph
Overall Time: 1 hrs, 19 min
Total Ascent: 97 ft.