It’s a Bouncy Baby….

Burro. We were able to get a peek at it when it was less than a week old. Here is the link to the birth announcement. I was amazed at how nimble this little guy was on his feet. Yes, it is a boy. Side note here: As a male burro he will eventually be sold as there can be only one ‘Jack’ in the herd.

This was another morning we decided to hit wildlife loop earlier in the day then normal. I am thinking it was just the start of the small heatwave we had. I also remembered the carrots, (so much easier than apples). I think at least for me giving the burros carrots is easier because I can keep my fingers farther away from their mouths. When feeding them apples the burros get too close to me. I was growing a little concerned because we had gone past the normal places the burros visit and they were not there.

I look up and I see the small herd headed towards us. As you can see from the video the burros seem to like Roy’s side of the car instead of mine. I was ok with that as I only had one burro to deal with and feed. Roy ended up with three burros vying for his attention and carrots.

Check out the video it actually looks like he was going to come over to my side of the car and then changed his mind. I would say he made the right decision. I have to say even though I get nervous when they want to stick their whole head in the car. These burros are harmless and doing what begging burros do. Beg for food and stick their faces in cars. Roy also got an extra look from the daddy of the baby burro. I think he gave Roy the look of approval. (or he was upset that he was out of carrots.)

After the feeding frenzy Roy pulled up to the turn – off and they were waiting for us and everyone else that was there to feed them. I was able to get close enough to the baby to take some pictures. I even had a guy directing traffic to keep people out of my pictures.

Roy is an awesome judge of where things are headed and usually stays one step ahead of the animals so on to the next turn – out. I was able to use my zoom lens to capture some cool action even maybe the next generation that was until the mare decided to make it clear she had a headache. I even got a car to photo bomb the headshot of mom.

Sitting in the car watching the last beggars get fed

The herd decided that enough was enough they were all fat and happy they started heading down the road. Yes, we followed right behind them.

Earlier in the day we did see a few buffalo and a mom pronghorn and babies. So, it would not have been a total disappointment had we not seen the baby burro.

Later that evening we took another drive around the loop this time looking for night shooting spots. Well, it got dark so we were treated to what buffalo look like on the road at night.

It wasn’t scary at all in fact driving through the middle of them at night was actually fun.

It wasn’t all about balloons

Ok, it was mostly about balloons if I am honest. I loved being able to get up close to all the action. That being said Saturday was a full day for us. After chasing balloons Roy and I had worked up an appetite. Lucky for us the Lion’s were hosting a pancake breakfast. We were able to fill our bellies so we could watch the parade, visit vendors, see the car show and enjoy the day.

After breakfast we did a quick spin around the scaled down farmer’s market (the pancake breakfast took up a bit of space). We were able to get a tomato, an onion, lettuce plus stuff we will never buy again. Sourdough cinnamon bun, scone, and banana bread, they just did not taste like we thought they would.

So, off to the races and the car show. It’s funny how many times Roy leaves me in his dust with his scooter because he has the faster motor. Here is a rare shot of him at a standstill. I actually told him to stop. Side note: getting his scooter and my chair has made this trip so much more enjoyable.

On the way to the car show I rolled up on a lavender plant and there were bees flying around. So, I had to experiment trying to capture the flight path of a bee. One thing I have to say are those suckers are fast. Most of the pictures were blurry here is one though I think you’ll like.

At the car show which was right down the block I got to see a 57 Chevy just like his second car he owned. He however owned a bronze version that he had repainted white. (He does love his white cars.) I am having a hard time adjusting to the fact that some of the cars from the 80s and 90s are now classics and antiques. Yes, there were still the old classic cars from the 50s and 60s.

Check out the slide shows of the car show.

The parade was hot and sunny we were able to find shade but our view was a little obscured. What I would do is run up to the street in the sun take a few pictures and beg for candy from the kids that ran out to pick the candy thrown from floats. Yes, this was a parade where candy was available. After the parade we decided it was time to head home and do lunch. One of the rare days where we had our adventure in the early morning.

Up Up and Away

We woke up early and got to see two deer on the way out the drive, a doe and a fawn crossing the road plus two deer on the side of the road all before the first balloon launch. Click here for the videos. I do know Roy saw an elk but we did not get it captured on dash cam.

After shooting everything in sight yesterday today was all about picking certain balloons to concentrate on. I changed camera lenses to my wide angle so I could take in the whole scene. After we get Roy’s scooter out, I head up the little hill and start taking pictures. The sun had just risen so there were sun beams to take advantage of.

I was taking pictures from a distance and a woman came up to me and stated if I wanted to get closer I could. The balloon she was crewing for is called Morning Manna. (They will also be at the Hotsprings balloon festival in August.) I did journey closer to the balloon and took some pictures of the flame from a close distance.

When the crew told me to come closer. I do have to say that I would not make a good balloon crew member it was too hot. I enjoyed getting close enough to see all the way up into the balloon.

Most of the morning was spent chasing the balloons after lift off.

We decided to follow Morning Manna to see where the wind would blow. It would be a journey of 14 and 1/2 miles as the crow flies. This is where the game lodge is and the landing zone for multiple balloons. They all seemed to go in every which direction you could imagine.

We had to wait at a few different turn outs for either the balloon to catch up to us or the balloon to radio down to the chase car what direction the wind is carrying them.

Once we got to the landing zone there were other balloons touching down. There was a moment when it looked like a balloon was coming in for a hard landing. The hard landing wasn’t as hard as it could have been because of the fast thinking of the ground crew. Everyone was ok just a little shook up.

Last balloon standing. The balloon touched down at the landing zone then lifted off so we followed it. It was cool how they had to walk the balloon to the edge of the road so, they could pack it up.

Looking forward to more balloon chasing in my future.

Full of Hot Air

Roy seems to think I am. I said no it is the balloons that are filled with hot air. I was able to witness how much hot air goes into a balloon this past weekend at Custer’s 100th Gold Days. Saturday was a full day that included the balloon launch, the chase, pancake breakfast, a parade, a car show and a carnival. The highlight for me was getting up close and personal to the balloons. Like anything I do that is new the first day I was timid and not sure what to shoot there was action everywhere. One of the sponsors of the balloon launch and participant was Black Hills Balloon

Roy positioned the car perfectly for the filling and lifting off of the balloons. I on the other hand, was on Roy’s scooter and was mobile. I did not move around as much as I could. I could not believe how massive these balloons were. I guess they would have to be big considering how large they look when they are in flight. The size of the balloon is just one of those things that the mind doesn’t grasp until you actually see it.

It starts with the basket coming out of the trailer, then you have to spread the balloon out, attach the basket and then it is time to add the hot air. I am not sure that I would get that close to an open flame.

Once there is enough hot air in the balloon it is like magic as you watch the balloon lift and pull up on the basket and all it takes is a lot of hot air.

At this point I was not sure where to look everything was blowing up and lifting off, there was so much color around.

It seemed so surreal watching them lift off and just hearing a slow hissing sound of the fire heating the helium to get lift.

So off to the races so to speak. It seemed to me that the balloons were moving slow when in reality they were moving quite fast.

Well like everything there always has to be that one. The one that has to be different or a little difficult. I am not sure why the basket and balloon could not get airborne. It was interesting watching it try to take-off. I was able to catch some interesting looks on the riders faces during this whole process. I am not sure I would have continued with the flight. (Who am I kidding I would have never got into the basket to begin with.)

They were able to get airborne and catch up with the group. We decided to follow the balloons to the landing zone which was fairly close to the lift off zone. The drive over was one of I wonder where they are going, they are headed with the wind.

They went through the trees around the trees and finally in front of the trees all to reach the landing zone.

We had a front row seat to the almost choreographed landing of three balloons right in succession and so close together.

There was a balloon having trouble landing. I did not realize that it was the same balloon having the landing issues that also had the take-off issues until I was going through the pictures.

The hard part about landing seemed to be the wind. You know the general area to come down in. I was a little worried when I saw this balloon descending almost on the roof of our car. I thought I might be able to reach out and touch her. I think she was thinking the same thing.

I had so much fun that I knew getting up tomorrow morning and chasing balloons would be worth it.

Only 68 miles.

That is how far away the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery is from our campground we are staying at for the summer. I bring this up because. Spearfish and Deadhorse was warm and sunny. We had an amazing time even stopped for ice cream. On the way home we were delayed by some big horn sheep. right outside of Deadwood. You can see a few clouds in the sky and a bit of blue. So, it should be nice like that at home, right!

That was not the story at all. 68 miles away there was a freak storm. I get a text from Monica the owner of Timber Ridge Campground (which is home base for the summer). Asking where we were and how was the weather. I said Deadwood and the weather was good. She then sends me a video.

All I could text back was holy CRAP. I guess it came out of nowhere. It did not appear on radar and only lasted for 10 minutes. Her hubby Pete was shopping in Custer SD which is only 14 miles from the campground, and it was blue skies. Just strange how weather can be so different within a few miles. After about ten minutes the skies cleared, and the sun came out. It took us about an hour to get home and there was still hail on the ground. The damage we received from this hailstorm was very minimal. It involved the lid to the citronella candle, our decorator lights and a bunch of leaves in the yard. The lights looked like someone used them for target practice. The awning had tiny bb wholes near the edge that is attached to the trailer. The awning is self-retracting and will roll itself up if there is a threat to it. This worked like it was supposed or we could have had more damage.

I don’t remember every being in a hailstorm before. This is one first I did NOT need to experience. We got ‘treated’ to a hailstorm the next night. It seems I needed to get the full effect of a hailstorm not just the damage afterwards. We were just leaving Rapid City after dinner and some shopping when, the hail started to pound. You can see us pull under the awning of a gas station to wait for it to pass over us.

We pulled out from under the cover when it looked like it was letting up. This allowed us to stay behind the storm. Our dash cam was able to catch the aftermath of hail on the road by catching the steam rising from the road. Once in the trailer and getting ready for bed the sky let loose again. This time I think the hail was larger. It sounded like someone was throwing rocks down on the trailer roof. One sounded like it was the size of a bowling ball had hit the roof. Lucky for us the only damage was a small crack in the skylight over the shower.

This has been a crazy summer of weather. I was however able to practice shooting lightning so that is a plus.

Here Fishy Fishy

No, I have not taken up fishing. We did however go to the D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish SD for the day. (We chose the best day to go more on that later.) This is a FREE attraction it is situated right next to the city park in Spearfish SD. It looks nondescript when you park in the lot and walk across the boardwalk. Once inside you see turn of last century buildings, water and fish the grounds are well kept.

Our first stop was the pond gift shop to get the lay of the land and buy some fish food. Roy never misses an opportunity to feed the animals. I never miss the opportunity to photograph him feeding the animals. We headed down the elevator to see the underwater viewing windows. In the pond there is rainbow, brown, and cut throat trout. The fish in this pond are only for display they will not be released to the wild. Some of the fish are over 8 years old and about 14lbs. Big uns I tell you. The window was a tad muddy due to all the recent rains and the small flood the hatchery experienced earlier in the month. I couldn’t figure out why all the fish were moving back and forth and jumping out of the water, it looked strange. I was seeing the underneath action from the fish being fed.

We headed back up and decided it was time to feed the fish. The amazing thing is watching from above was not as cool as watching from below. Although I did get to see a few fish breech the surface. You could also see that the ducks knew where free food was.

We tried to figure out where to the start the journey. The museum of course. This building was the original 1899 Spearfish Hatchery.

Inside there was a model of a Fish Rail Car. The model was made for $400 and was displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition. The car itself had crew quarters for the employees who had to ride along and make sure the fish arrived alive. The system for aerating the water was advanced for its time. This was only one mode of transportation to get fish from hatchery to stream. Here is a link to the fish car era.

Some other methods of transportation include, backpacking, trucks, planes, and helicopters. The containers included backpacks tanks on trucks and even milk cans. The photo to the left captures stocking fish using a milk can. Whatever container the fish are in the water still had to be circulated, cooled, and oxygenated.

Also in the museum was the hatchery office. It included the original roll top desk, plus two pieces of equipment I even used when I was younger. Unfortunately, kids today have no experience with this type of equipment. (I felt a little old after seeing these.)

I learned that the fresh water from Spearfish Creek was brought into the hatchery via cedar water pipes. This occurred until the 1970s when most of the pipes were replaced. The hatchery made their own fish food by grinding up raw meat and mixing it with grains prior to the invention of fish pellets.

After the museum we headed up to the Booth House which is where the superintendents lived until 1983. The house was constructed in 1905 it was one of the first houses in Spearfish to have indoor plumbing and electricity.

Finishing up with the hatchery and enjoying the beautiful weather we stopped for ice cream then headed towards Deadwood and home. Where a surprise was waiting.

A True Sunday Drive

Sunday the 9th we headed around wildlife loop in search of animals. It was a beautiful partly cloudy day perfect for photography. I haven’t done much landscape photography this trip so I thought maybe we can do some of that today. There are a series of hairpin turns heading down onto the wildlife loop.

Roy pulled off in a turn out and I got a few pictures showing some of the vastness of the park. The dirt road you see is Oak Draw Rd, this is sometime where you can see buffalo also.

We had a little bit of a surprise rounding a curve we come upon some stopped cars, thinking oh it is probably prairie dogs because we were in that area of the park. Turns out it was the begging burros.

I enjoy watching little kids interacting with the burros. I am not sure if this little one was enjoying it or just a little nervous about touching the burro. We stuck around for a short time watching them pose and do selfies with the burros. But we headed off for more of our Sunday drive. Buffalos were waiting for us somewhere we hoped.

At the other end of wildlife loop rd. where we hadn’t seen buffalo this year, there they were. I think this Sunday drive was a drive full of oddities. We were near the middle of the line of cars waiting to move ahead and get around the buffalo. We had been waiting awhile with no movement in sight, it was then we saw what we thought at the time to be stupid people trying to get selfies. This was not the case.

It turns out that the holdup was not stupid people but bikers who were having some tire issues. Not something I’d want to have happen surrounded by buffalo. In the video you can see the bikers walking and standing off to the side of the road.

Speaking of bikers and buffalo it is interesting to see the wide berth the bikes do give a buffalo who has decided to stand in the road and not move, so you must go around. I know sometimes when they are that close, I get nervous. I don’t think I could be brave enough to do it on a bike.

We inch our way through the buffalo and decide now we can get back up to speed and head back to the trailer only to be stopped in our tracks by this buffalo who was going nowhere fast. Roy did end up going around him after a short time.

Sometimes you just have to take your time and drive like you are out on that Sunday drive.

Friends on the road

Last week it was cool catching up with the Lance people we met in Fruita CO on the start of the journey. Rachel and Greg, were exploring the Hotsprings and Custer area so we got together with them, caught up on their adventures and our adventure. They drove through Custer State Park and saw a few buffalo but nothing like being engulfed by them. I think the buffalo are resting up for Sturgis which is in a couple of weeks.

Roy and I decided to run Wildlife loop before heading into Custer for our dinner date. There were no buffalo to be found but I was able to get some photos of the wildflowers along the side of the road.

We did however get to see a few pronghorn even got one for my in the mirror series. On the way out of the park we did see a deer just hanging out on the side of the road.

We also got to catch up with Rachel and Greg at the Badlands Astronomy Festival. They were still camping in the Badlands which was where they were headed after Hotsprings. I forgot that they were still there, so it was cool bumping into them. The presentation was interesting about where we live in the universe and how small the earth is in comparison to the whole universe. It is hard to grasp how large the universe is until it is put into perspective.

We said goodbye and they headed off to Yellowstone and Glacier NPs. We on the other hand were headed off to some night shooting, Milkyway baby. It turned out to be smokyway though.

It is always great bumping into people on the road. Hope to see them on our pass through Fruita in September.

Open Windows

Yes, it happened again. No kisses or attempted kisses, she just wanted to let me know she would like an apple. The begging burros were at it again. This is the first time that one has actually stuck their head inside the car. I froze but I will say I’ve come a long way. You can judge for yourself by these two photos. The first photo was from our trip in 2013. I was terrified and Roy I think bribed me with maybe ice cream or something later. That’s my story at least. The second photo is this year when one of the burros probably, the same white burro or a relative of the white burro who terrorized me previously stuck his head in. If you look closely in my right hand you will see a piece of apple. I did feed him, and I wasn’t as scared as I was in 2013.

I have never understood some of the irrational fears that I have. Birds, trains, animals that can’t eat me but are friendly. I am getting better with all of these. (I however will not get over my fear of helicopters.) I’ve gone from bowling for burros as a way to feed them (see photo) to gingerly handing the piece of apple to them and quickly pulling the hand back.

The funny thing is Roy enjoys and gets a kick out of the burros. This is a picture of him from 2013. If you notice I am safely in the car. It is enjoyable seeing him twinkle and smile as he is exploring the animals up close. I on the other hand will sit back and continue to take photos of them.

This year Roy commented about how soft the lips and mouth was on the burro. He also said that they don’t bite they are just interested in the food you have. (Apples are what we feed them). I still am not buying that. Maybe one day I might get a tad braver. I think both Roy and the burro enjoyed the encounter.

the burro wasn’t finished

I do like to sit and watch just how other people interact with the burros. The video on the right has a person with an empty bag being followed by a burro. The burro was not buying that the bag was empty even though the person showed him.

These burros are friendly and fun. Who knows maybe by the end of the summer I will look like Roy when I feed them.