Specter Family Blog

Steph here. Yeah, what a day yesterday was. Full of highs and lows. Spent the morning and early afternoon taking in the sights of Custer State Park. Really, kicks the socks off of any other state park we've been to. We kept saying how it is just as good as any national park. Besides the fact that the Black Hills scenery is incredible (very different from the Badlands and not that far away from it) the wildlife is just so very cool!

We saw so much -- deer (pronghorn, white tailed, and mule), donkeys (the cool part about this one is that they are the only animals here that the park says it's ok to go out and pet them and feed them -- we didn't have any food with us but some nice people there gave us some of their carrots and we got to feed them -- I, for some reason, LOVE donkeys and was ecstatic about this) and last but not least, the buffalo.

We saw a few buffalo who were on their own here and there. They are pretty amazing just by themselves because of their sheer size. Enormous creatures. I think the fact that they were all but elminated from the planet at one point and now are doing better is also part of what makes them so cool to me. Even cooler, though, is seeing the herds of buffalo. Including quite a few calves (some of whom were nursing and just so sweet and cute). And the herds were close enough to the cars that we could hear them snorting and snuffling (which we loved). More than once, these huge guys and girls crossed the road in front of us and we had to stay put for a while. Although buffalo are herbivores, the signage in the park repeatedly reminds its visitors to leave them alone as they are dangerous. Anyone who gets a close-up look at one of these and thinks it'd be ok to pet them is just crazy. Much better to admire from a distance (or at least, with car parts between the person and the animal).

We ate lunch at one of the lodges in the park (State Game Lodge). Matt suggested it in the first place because he saw that they had a lunch buffet. We gravitate towards buffets in our family because the kids can get their food quickly and can more or less pick and choose their food. It turned out to be really high quality food. The mashed potatoes were seriously to die for. SO tasty. The meat (I am not a champ of "know your cuts of meat" but it was beef sliced thin) was awesome. We learned from our server that they bake all of their baked goods right there in the kitchen and the bread and desserts were great. Oh yeah, they had a small salad bar too. Whatever. ;-)

After lunch, we dropped Bob, Matt and the babies off at the RV's and Karen and the big girls and I went to a petting zoo. It was close to the RV park and was a very small but wonderful little operation. Just this man and woman who have a small barn with a pig (Homer), a miniature horse (Cream Soda), a donkey (Amos), two sheep (a black one and a white one -- sorry, Sissy, I forget their names), 3 or 4 goats and a llama. We bought some food and fed them (the girls even did it -- Faith is not as keen on this as Mari). THEN...the girls got to go on pony rides! They have probably 6 or 7 ponies hooked up to one of those turn around things (oh wow, I am a city girl...) that they turn on and then the ponies walk around in circles. Faith was on Callie and was pretty scared at first but got used to it after a few minutes and loved it. Mari rode Click and seems to be a natural rider already! She looked great in the saddle and loved it the whole way!

Came home and all you know what broke loose. The big girls were very challenging, esPEcially Mari. Well, really mostly Mari. Just not listening to us at ALL and disobeying us left and right. Besides the fact that she is 3 1/2 (and we think "3" is much more difficult than "2") she has had not enough sleep (going to bed late and not having "rest" or nap opportunities) and little to no routine. A death sentence for a 3 1/2 year old.

So, Mari went to bed around 7pm (and fell asleep in like 15 mins. tops). The twins went down around 8pm and soon after, the rest of us enjoyed a REALLY good dinner by the fire. Karen and Bob fixed meat loaf, baked potatoes, salad and apple crisp. Really good stuff.

Some more thoughts (sorry this is so long already -- Matt will for sure roll his eyes when he reads this -- he is, obviously, much more succinct than I):
I had a hard time at the Minuteman Missile II tour. It was VERY interesting and well-done but I was uncomfortable the whole time. I am not 100% sure why but I THINK it is because being there made nuclear war SO much more real to me. Maybe it was also because our tour guide pronounced it "nuc-yuh-lahr" (like a former president). Just kidding. But seriously, it was sobering. At the launch command center place we were split in to small groups so that we could all fit down there. The family of 4 that we were with posed for pics in front of the launch equipment. I felt REALLY uncomfortable with people posing as if it were some fun photo opp. Upon learning that the Minuteman Missile III's are located in various states in the great plains I was even more freaked out. Maybe I'll post more thoughts on this as I can figure them out.

I felt much much better the next day when we went to Mt Rushmore. I know Matt posted about patriotism earlier and I agree wholeheartedly with what he said. But seeing these four presidents so appropriately enshrined as they were refreshed me and reminded me of the POSITIVE parts of our country. It truly was breathtaking. Amazing. BEAUTIFUL. I felt much better afterwards. The pit in my stomach that was left after the missile tour was much, much smaller. I know that one of the points of the missile tour was telling us that these missiles helped keep peace in the Cold War and even now. The U.S. will only send a nuke if they know one is coming towards us. What's the point? It's just so childish. You're going to obliterate us so we'll obliterate you too and all of humanity. Ugh. But these four presidents dedicated their whole lives to improving humanity and not thinking of destroying it. So much easier to stomach.

Ok, I have hungry kids and a stressed husband waiting for me to help out (he's actually not stressed but he will be if I don't hurry up). Thanks for sticking it out and reading this!
Steph