Second day in SD

The second day was a lot of fun and the attractions were closer to our hotel. First we went to Reptile Garden. We saw a show on snakes. The handler was a kid around 24 years old who was pretty funny. Luke sat in the front row so he could see all the snakes and he took lots of pictures. We learned a lot about snakes. We then headed to the gator exhibit for the second show and it was the same kid giving the presentation. There were about five or six gators/crocs all hiding in the water. They came out one at a time to eat which was kind of scary because sometimes the kid had his back to the gator but he survived.

Then we went into the building which had a ton of more snakes. We went back outside to see the giant tortoises before ending the day in the gift shop which was amazing. Again, we spent too much time and money there. There was also a beautiful bald eagle who was unable to fly in the outdoor exhibit. He was big and strong looking.

We then headed to Bear Country...a drive through park which took about an hour. Bears were all over the place sleeping, walking across the road in front of us, swimming, etc. We also saw deer, wolves and mountain lions. We were too broke and tired to go to that gift shop!

We debated about going to the caves...we all wanted to go but with my sight, Pete's claustaphobia we decided to skip it and go to the geology museum which was at a college in Rapid City. We were there about an hour before it closed. It was cool but I've seen enough rocks for a lifetime.

That night it stormed and we watched it from our hotel window for a good half hour.

Tomorrow, the air and space museum and the Badlands.