Emily's Escapades

More Frost

by emily on March 10, 2010

Tags: frost, South Dakota, Weather

Bald Eagle

by emily on February 23, 2010

We were driving down this road near the house when Jon spotted a bald eagle.  We went back to the house and grabbed my camera and 300-mm lens.  He flew off, and we followed.

Tags: bald eagle, Photography, South Dakota

More photos from flying

by emily on November 22, 2009

Some of my blog’s features weren’t working properly, but an upgrade fixed that.

Here are the rest of the photos I took when flying all around Howard in Jenny’s “Stinson Flying Station Wagon.”

Tags: flying, home, Howard, jenny, South Dakota

Spearfish Canyon

by emily on November 6, 2009

When the leaves begin to change colors in the fall, Spearfish Canyon is beautiful!  The leaves were just starting to turn.  On October 1st, it SNOWED!!  That’s too early, even for South Dakota!  (The sky really is this blue in South Dakota, almost every day.  That may be the thing I miss most about home.)

Tags: South Dakota, spearfish canyon

Mount Rushmore

by emily on November 5, 2009

After the Buffalo Round-Up, we drove through the Black Hills a bit.  Some people ask me what South Dakota is most well-known for – it’s Mount Rushmore!

Mount Rushmore seen through the trees.

There are seven tunnels in the Black Hills, around Keystone and Sylvan Lake.  They are only wide enough for one car, and motorhomes or buses fill the entire tunnel.

There are actually two tunnels that you can view Mount Rushmore from while going through.  Another blogger recently posted a photo from one.  After we drove through one tunnel, I thought I missed my chance at getting a photo.  After we drove through the second one, I made my father-in-law stop the car so I could get out and take photos!

It was quite hard to get the correct exposure, as the darkness of the tunnel surrounding the pinpoint of light coming through the end made difficult lighting conditions.  I spent quite a while in the middle of the road trying to get it right.  (photo by Jon)

We also visited the Mount Rushmore memorial.  Even though Jon’s family lives about 1.5 hours away, it’s not something we visit a lot.

Tags: black hills, mount rushmore, South Dakota

Custer State Park Buffalo Round-up

by emily on November 4, 2009

Every year, Custer State Park rounds up the herd of buffalo to vaccinate and cull the herd.  The public is invited to watch.

We spent a couple hours waiting for the buffalo to appear.

Cowboys riding up the ridge.

Close to 12,000 people gathered to watch it.  About twice as many pickups as cowboys followed the herd down the ridge.

That was it!  They came in very easily – too easily, according to the newspaper.  It was the first year that no small groups of buffalo tried to break away from the herd.  The cowboys were a bit dissapointed that they didn’t get to work very hard!

Tags: buffalo round-up, custer state park, South Dakota