Less Traumatic...at least for us...

Today we went back to the Badlands, (more good pictures) through Buffalo Gap Grasslands, Custer State Park, and to the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt. Rushmore. The Badlands were amazing again, but we still did not see blue skies. Custer State Park had lots of cool rock formations, but the absolute funniest incident was the picture above. We passed this buffalo going one way. He was standing only a few feet off the road. We decided to turn around and get another look. Instead of being on the side of the road where we found him on the first pass, he had crossed the road--in fact, he was walking along the side of the road. (I think he may have been looking for a ride.) This dimwit in a van (from South Dakota no less) pulled up right behind the buffalo. The animal scooted over just a bit, and the van from South Dakota tried to pass him.

Apparently, this did not settle well with the buffalo. He stopped, turned perpendicular to the van, and started to charge (hence, the picture). The van took off and the buffalo turned and scurried (as much as a buffalo can scurry) into the woods.

There was a split second when Tim and I thought, "If that car moves on and that buffalo is agitated, we're going to go head-to-head with him!" Fortunately, he had had enough of people and left us alone.

Note the quality of this picture. I took it through our front windshield!