Southern Hills RV Park, Hermosa, South Dakota
He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes my son. Who is it?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.” Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God gave me success.”. . . Then Isaac said. . . “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.” Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognize him for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied. Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him . . . ~ Genesis 27:18-27 I know this is a lot of reading for one day, but I felt it was important to show the depth of the deception. Isaac knew immediately that something was amiss, and six times he questioned Jacob about his identity, but Jacob had an answer for everything. Isaac even point-blank asked him who he was, and Jacob lied to his father. How must Isaac have felt when he discovered what his wife and son had done to him? How do you suppose their relationships changed after this – for the next 40 years? How sad God must’ve been to watch all this transpire. What are the depths of deception we’re willing to go to in order to get what we want?
We ended up staying in on the 21st. Mostly because we were tired, and there was laundry to do. We originally planned on going out for a few hours, but it was beyond stinkin’ hot today.
The weather is so weird around here – you look at the forecast and they show 0% chance of rain, and the next thing you know, the wind kicks up and a severe storm rolls through! With hail! We didn’t have any thunder or lightening, but it poured down the rain – several times – and around 3:15pm we had some hail.
I worked on the blog, and Blaine worked on reservations for this winter, trying to find a route to Alabama (where my brother lives) without stopping at places we’ve already been.
We’d also thought to go back to the rodeo this evening, but nixed that idea as soon as it started raining. What a mess it’ll be there!
So now, we’re to the 22nd.
We usually have to wait about 10 minutes for a car to come get us and guide us through the road work.
It’s a really long stretch of road they’re working on.
Since we basically sat all day yesterday (and learned on the evening news that the rodeo did indeed take place), it was time to get out there and don hiking boots. On our way through Custer State Park, we broke out in song (well, I did anyway). Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play . . .
There was an enormous herd hanging out in the field by the Peter Norbeck Education Center (where we watched the Bighorn Sheep the other day)! It was such a marvelous find, and today, they were making these low, guttural noises, that sounded a little like driving over rumble strips for a few seconds. Soooo cool! Thank You, Father!
They just walk down the road without a care in the world. 
Eventually, we moved on to our chosen 7-mile, four-hour hike that combined the Grace Coolidge and Lost Trails trails. We didn’t see any wildlife whatsoever, but there were a lot of stream crossings. Most of the time, the Park had set up boards so you could cross without getting your feet wet. Other times, we had to carefully step on rocks. Of course, there was also the beautiful scenery. 😊
The trail information said there would be the possibility of ticks. Don’t need that!
Although, I don’t know how wearing long socks helps with that.
Can’t they cling to those and walk up your leg?
Anyway. No ticks today.
About halfway through our hike, we came to the shore of Center Lake. As our trail took us around it, we passed several people (and dogs) swimming, paddling, fishing . . . We walked by a dad fishing with two young daughters. The 4-5 year old saw us and said, “Hi! What are you guys doing?” “Hiking. What are you doing?” “Fishing.” “Fun! When you catch one, are you gonna eat it?” “No.” But dad quietly said, Yeeesss, so she said, “Yes!” “That’s great! I bet it’ll taste good!” “Maybe we’ll catch TWO fish and sell one to you!” LOL!!!
She certainly has an entrepreneurial spirit! Wonder how God will chose to use that?
That short exchange kept us smiling for quite a while. 😊
And we need to go here . . .
Based on the map, we did the loop first.
We returned to the Jeep and headed home the way we came. Guess what?!?!? We saw some Bighorn Sheep!
And then, guess what?!?!? The buffalo were still hanging out in the exact same place where we left them this morning! We wanted to watch them more, so Blaine pulled into the Peter Norbeck parking lot, and we got out, washed up inside, looked around a bit more, and talked to a staff person working in here. She said it’s rare that they hang out here – especially for so long. We also asked if it was rutting season based on the noises they were making, and she said it just started, will continue for the next four weeks, and when they do their round-up in September, they’ll check the females to see if they’re pregnant. How fun to be here for the round-up! Unfortunately, we’ll be back home in Ohio by then, and truthfully, we’d rather see our family and friends, given a choice!
No way should anyone be outside their car when the buffalo are so close!
When we exited the building, there was an empty picnic table under a tree, so we parked our weary bodies and spent nearly an hour watching and listening. Wow! What an experience! We loved the sounds!
Don’t know what he was doing going off by himself.
We waited for a good amount of time before walking to the Jeep,
but the ones here weren’t moving on, so we just hustled over and got in.
We thought we were going to get an up-close and personal encounter between a male and female, but she seemed to grow weary of his close proximity and trotted off – – with him following close beside her. Beside. Not behind. 😊
I read that once a male chooses a mate, he walks beside her until she’s ready for him.
That’s exactly what was going on.
As we were leaving today, we noticed that some of the buffalo along the roadside were licking dirt, which I suppose is less gross than the one we saw this morning licking flowing urine. YUK!!!!!
Anyway, now that you’re totally grossed out, the reason they eat dirt (called geophagy) is either to obtain minerals lacking in their diet, and to prevent toxins from being absorbed into their bloodstream. There are actually 200 species of animals/birds who are known to eat dirt. Never let it be said that you don’t learn anything on this blog post.
Back home, things were a bit anticlimactic after the day we’d had! How blessed we are!