Hanging out in South Dakota

We're having a day off today,  after spending 3 long days on the road from Calgary.  We're in Lewis and Clark state Park,  near Yangton, So. Dakota. It's a lovely autumn day and the air is filled with the sound of birds and insects. The park is near to empty,  and Sam & Tawny are making the most of it. Sam is chasing red squirrels,  and Tawny is eating every bug in sight.  Sam found himself in the midst of a clutch of wild turkeys this afternoon, and stood his ground mightily.  That was quite a sight!

We got away about noon on Friday 12th and made it as far as Havre,  Montana before dark -  well, actually after dark; we put the leashes on the cats inside the truck in case they got out while we were getting settled in our campsite.  We would have never found  Sammy in the dark!  The first day's drive was good.  The cats enjoyed their rest stop near Suffield: Tawny went down a badger hole and I had to step on her leash as I didn't know where she might come out! Sammy spent the whole time mousing... We stopped for dinner in Cypress  Hills, and Tawny got in 2 laps of the park while Sam hunkered down and watched deer.

Saturday night found us at Patterson Lake near Dickinson, ND.  Once again we barely got in before dark and the kitties didn't get their evening walk.  John had trouble the first 2 nights with our power cord, and so Sunday we found a new adaptor and have had no issues since (with power anyway). The scenery through a lot of North Dakota reminded us of the Drumheller area of Alberta. Very beautiful badlands.

 Sunday we made it as far as Ellendale, ND,  just shy of the So. Dakota state line. We got settled before dark and had the cats out for over an hour before making our supper.  Monday morning we awoke to a flat tire on the trailer which put us a bit behind schedule as we had to wait for it to be repaired since we only have one spare. The cats made the best of it with another hour and a half walk.  They found a playground for tots and Sam jumped on the low swing and actually stayed on it (!) while Tawny jumped onto the top of the slide, lost her footing on the wet plastic, and went down the slide standing up! Very funny to see. We finally made it out of town about noon and drove until 4:00 without a stop. The cats were pooped from their playground experience! After a quick kitty stop in Corsica, So Dakota, we drove on to Lewis & Clark state Park, where we are now.  We got in just before dark,  and got set up in time to get the cats out one last time.  It's been a great break for us all, and a chance to catch up on trailer maintenance, get some groceries, and of course chase bugs and turkeys!