Buffalos and Burros

Okay, the buffalos weren't nearly as fun as the burros.  We left this morning with plans to go to the Jewel Cave.  We thought we left in enough time to take the wildlife loop.  We probably would have made it if we didn't get stuck by the burros.  Three of my four kids loved it, so no harm done.

 Preston the Dog

 Here they come!  Michael & Lisa warned us to bring carrots.

 Maysen

 Preston

 Jorja had the best seat!

 I love this picture!

 Back to Jorja

 Good-bye Burros

 These two did not want us to pass.

Luckily we threw carrots to the side of the road to distract them.

The reason we were unable to go to Jewel Cave was we wanted to get to Reptile Gardens before they closed at 4:00.  We didn't think we would make it if we had to wait for the next tour at the cave.

 Preston

 Stephanie, Maysen, Stockton, Jorja, Preston

 Yertle the Turtles!

 That's a LONG tail

 Stockton & Preston

 Maysen & Stephanie

 Maysen

Stephanie

 Maysen

 Preston

 Jorja

 Stockton

 Cheyenne

 She has lived here for 11 years

 She was wounded by a bullet

 Poor left wing

I really, really, really wanted to find the center of the United States. When Alaska and Hawaii were added to the country, this spot was determined as the geographical center of the United States.  We were so close, how could we not try to find it?  This spot is a little out of the way, so they made a monument in a nearby town. . . .although we could not find that one!  We drove 7.8 miles on this dirt road.

We found the barn on the right and were supposed to see a flag flying on the left.  There was no flag there, but we did find the flagpole.  The instructions said to "feel free to climb through the barbed wire fence". So we did.  Well, actually we hopped the gate next to the barbed wire.

 Stephanie

 You can barely make out the flagpole in this picture

 Stockton, Maysen, Preston, Jorja, Stephanie

 Center of the Nation!

 Mike & Stephanie

 Preston

 Stockton ~ another perfect Windshield Geography location

 Stockton & Preston

 Maysen & Preston

 Stockton, Maysen, Preston, Jorja, Mike

 The view at the center of the nation

 Stephanie & Mike

Luckily Mike didn't die next to this hay

Stephanie next to the cows wearing a cow shirt

 Now the drive back ~ I drove this part!

We stopped a little before the North Dakota border.  We had been cooking dinner and pulled off the side of the road to eat it.  It sure was pretty.

 Proof that we went to North Dakota!

Preston, Stephanie, Maysen, Jorja, Stockton

 Preston, Stephanie, Maysen, Stockton, Jorja

 Preston, Mike, Maysen, Stockton, Jorja

Preston then wanted to run across the street and take pictures in front of the South Dakota sign.  We didn't see any harm in that!

Preston, Jorja, Maysen, Stephanie, Stockton

 Preston, Jorja, Maysen, Mike, Stockton

We were only in North Dakota for about an hour before we made it to Montana.  I had Mike pull off so we could get another picture.  There wasn't much room on the side of the road, so it was a bit scary.

Maysen, Stockton, Jorja, Stephanie & Preston

 I think this picture of Preston is funny.

We got the Jorja and Preston to sleep and drove for another hour before we stopped at a Walmart.  Mike and I ran in and got some milk and a few treats.  We slept in the parking lot here.  Long day!  Fun day!