I know it’s been said here before how much we are enjoying the great cooking and today’s breakfast was no exception. There is another aspect of meal time here at the circus. When I was growing up it was mandatory that each of us showed up at meal time. We ate what was fixed and enjoyed that time as a family. Meal times here remind me of those days gone by. Our little family-for-a-week gets to eat some good food and we all sit down at the table at the same time. How many families still eat together at the table? No fast food, no carrying food to the TV room, just friends sharing a meal and some enjoyable conversation. It helps us connect. It’s a good lesson for me to remember.

The temperatures we encountered this morning were a far cry from what I’ve experienced recently. Just before we took off, the temp was somewhere around 52 degrees. I know I didn’t bring enough jackets for that kind of temperatures. Once we were moving and the sun actually came out it warmed into the 60’s but I was still wishing for another layer of clothing to put on. The communications on the intercoms might have been real “chatter” this morning. One of our crew added 2 more layers (I won’t tell you that it was Red).

The route was somewhat of a duplicate of yesterday’s. We headed for Custer State Park with the intention of riding The Wildlife Loop. Unfortunately, the star attractions of the wildlife loop, the buffalo were nowhere to be found. In fact the sum total of what we saw were 4 burrows and 5 small antelope. That doesn’t take into account the crazy people cruising the park – just another form of wildlife I guess.

The ride to Custer and back was pretty uneventful – well there was this one 180 degree curve where the oncoming car was across the center line into our lane which came uncomfortably close to one of our group. That is not my story to tell so I’ll just move on.

The scenery in and around Custer never disappoints.

On the way back to the house it was suggested that we swing past Black Hills Harley Davidson in Rapid City. This dealership is the host for the Sturgis Rally (officially known as the Black Hills Rally). The appropriate number of t-shirts were purchased and a lunch spot was identified with the help of one of the employees at the dealership.

We enjoyed the Buffalo burgers at Mill Stone Restaurant in Rapid City. Hmmmm – that may explain why we didn’t see any buffalo in the park earlier. The food was not spectacular but was good enough. Our server Tristen took good care of us. I don’t do food pictures usually.

While we didn’t ride a huge number of miles, we were all pretty worn down when we got back to our temporary ranch.

We have a short route planned for tomorrow with a couple of interesting sites to see. Mike and Donna will be joining us again. Unfortunately when we return to the temporary ranch tomorrow it will be time to load the trailers and all the things that go into the circus wagons in preparation for a Saturday roll- out, heading for the real Henry’s Ranch and our intrepid groups own homesteads. Thank you for following along.