The Mammoth Museum and The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary

June 10th 2025

After coffee and breakfast( Eggs, bacon and pancakes), I headed down town to the Mammoth Museum. Kim started up nicely. I was dressed for the 90 degree weather in shorts and a moisture wicking tee shirt. The museum didn't disapoint. At the entrance, they had large boulders that showed along with written displays, all the periods of earth up to the ice age. The Mammoth Site was discovered by a man named Anderson, when he was digging to build a subdivision. Anderson immediately stopped digging and called the right people. Their discovery revealed what had been a large sink hole durding the Ice Age. As years of excavation and painstaking work have uncovered, many large Mammoths of two different species, fell prey to the sink hole. They are not petrified. They figured out that it is 140,000 to 190,000 years old. They think that during the Ice Age, the hole was filled with warm water with grasses growing in it. When the Mammoths went into it thinking they were going to have a nice meal, they got stuck and couldn't climb out. It was very facinating. They had interactive sections that you could listen to on your phone. Definitely worth the 15 ticket price. They had a second section of the museum, with all sorts of skeletons and bones from many other animals that roamed the earth during the ice age.

After the museum, I went across the street to The USA Cafe. I had a BLT in honor of Linsay(We had BLT's when we were on our trip to SD in 2017) since I was going to the BHWHS afterwards. Boy was it hot out. 90 degrees and dry is still HOT. I kept hydrated and drove the 20 miles to the sanctuary. I took it slow on the 3 miles of hilly gravel road, but made it to the gift shop just fine. I bought a T-shirt, a new hat, and a few gifts. I let the volunteer at the shop know that I had an appointment with Susan Watts the director. Linsay and I had met her when we visited the sanctuary in 2017. She was expecting me . She invited me into her air conditioned office. We had a lovely long chat about Takota, horses , and family. Her great grandson is 1 years old. He was moving all around the office in a walker sharing his cute smiles with us. She took down some notes on me and Takota. She called me a biker babe. She said my story would make a great human interest piece. She called her volunteer who gives the tours, and asked if she would give me a short tour to see some of the horses. Because of the heat, most of the horses were out in the open pastures or near the water holes. I was the gate person while we went out in search of the horses. The horses were beautiful and free to roam as I remember. As before, some of the horses were bobbing their heads to keep the flies off of their noses. Others were resting their heads on a friends' hindquarters. There were a few curious ones that came up to the truck. One was given a treat by my guide. My guide is from Massachusetts. She usually house sits/pet sits and does gardening for people. This year she is giving tours at the BHWHS. Our last stop was to see the Spanish mustangs. They are so beautiful. Some with the greyish grulla coloring stand out. She took a few pictures of me for Susan Watts with the horses and hills in the background. What a day. We headed back to the gift shop and said our thank yous and goodbyes.

After using the restroom, I made sure to drink some water and wet my neckie for the ride back to the campground. I mounted up and took a deep breath as I navigated the hilly gravel road out. I took one step at a time. The drive back meandered through the green black cliffs and hills. I stopped at the Sinclair gas station near the campground to see if they had any oil and more chain lube for the bike. They did, just not the kind I needed. I decided to stay in the AC of the gas station and have some dinner. A subway sub, a gatorade and a cinnabon roll for dessert. When I went up to the checkout the girl at the register was the waitress from the USA Cafe where I had had my lunch. As I was leaving I met a couple on BMW's that were trying to get a campsite in Custer State Park. They were from Idaho. They had been all over and even down to South America. They wore all the gear as I do. In stark contrast, a Harley pulled up next to them and the woman riding it was wearing only a tank top and sunglasses.

I got back to the KOA safely. It was pretty hot still, so I was going to go in the pool as my laundry went around. There were bunch of kids in the pool playing, so I watched them for a bit. When it was time for the clothes to go into the dryer, I decided that a cool shower would be a better option than the pool. Showered and laundry done, I went back to my site to pick up and write. This was a great day. As I am writing, I have to get a big moth out of my tent. Meanwhile, the coyotes are barking in the nearby hills.