We took Labor Day weekend as an opportunity to visit B's cousin and her husband (whom we hadn't met yet!) and tour the Black Hills, the Badlands, and the Whitney Preserve, which is Nature Conservancy property that she manages. It was a blast!
We started out our first day with a hike in Custer State Park - the Lovers Leap Trail.
 |
| Scanning for buffalo, mountain lions, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, elk, and assorted birds |
 |
| If we wanted to prove our love for each other, we could have leapt off those rocks. We didn't. |
 |
| Our amazing hosts. We seriously ate so well! |
After our hike, we drove along the Needles Highway to see some of the crazy rock formations in the Black Hills National Forest.
After our outdoorsy day, we headed into the town of Custer in search of buffalo (it's actually bison, we learned) burgers. The rain became a major player, but we didn't let it get our spirits down.
 |
| Unfortunately, Kelli didn't know that's what we do when we take photos |
 |
| We can check "mountain lion riding buffalo" off our bucket list |
 |
| Downtown Custer |
 |
| This became a hilarious inside joke but it's not worth explaining. Maybe funny though, is that a minute after taking this gem, I was emptying my full bladder on the side of the road. Luckily, no cars came by. |
Forgot to mention that our day started with a snake sighting. In their garage. It was crazy! It was a tiny baby and too hard to tell if it was a rattle snake or a fake one, but it terrified us enough to not leave it up to chance. It got buried before we left home.
The next day, we headed to the Badlands, but not before stopping to see a really cool buffalo made completely from scrap metal and other junk, and a stop at Wall Drug in Wall. We were just going to get donuts and 5 cent coffee, but my pregnant self was really hungry so we went ahead and ate lunch.
 |
| "Wait, I have to sneeze." Too, late. |
 |
| There we go. |
There was a chapel inside the drug store. Along with a multi-million dollar Western art collection, and every possible souvenir you could imagine.
After Wall, we headed south into the Badlands. The National Park annual pass that we bought at Sequoia NP in March officially became worth it with this trip. Most of the photos speak for themselves.
Since we had two shooters, we have the opportunity to see the artist in action. B's photo above, and B taking that photo, below. At this point I should mention we forgot to pack our nice camera, so many of the nice photos are from B's cousin, and we are very regretful that we didn't get the chance to experiment with our nice new camera.
 |
| Female bighorn sheep |
 |
| Ready for their close up |
 |
| There's an explanation behind this one but it stands alone. |
 |
| Got to see some male bighorns! Very cool! |
After our trip around the badlands, we headed home so our hosts could make us delicious dinner. I "helped" in the garden and B took photos and got bad chigger bites in the process. We dined on grilled whole chicken, sweet corn, and salad from the garden. It was awesome.
 |
| A panorama of their property |
On Monday before we headed home, we took a trip on a Kubota around Kelli's preserve. It was a beautiful day, windy and much cooler than the rest of the weekend. We also got to meet a super cool dog who was half dingo, but we didn't get a photo of him. His owner was from a wild horse sanctuary that a few horses had escaped from, and they had been spotted on the preserve a couple times. As far as we know, they still haven't been tracked down.
It was a great weekend, and crazy that it was only a 5 hour drive for us. We highly recommend the area and if you know Kelli and Behr, their vacation package!
