Today we got an early start as we had reservations to ride the 1880 Train that was departing at 10:00 am.  The train is a old steam engine that runs the route from Hill City to Keystone.  This old route was used by miners to get their minerals off the mountain and into town.

It was a fun ride and I took a few pictures of the countryside along the way.  Leonard (according to the guide) was sitting on his front porch waving as we went by.  On the way back, there was this small red car that kept getting stopped at the tracks on Old Hill City Road every time it crossed our path.  Missy (the employee on our car) said that the person in the red car was an employee on her day off.  She went on to explain that many of the employees chase the train on their days off.  She and a friend like to take their mountain bikes and beat the train over the mountain.  I guess that's a lot of fun when you're young (most of the kids working at all of the places look like high school or college students).

After the train ride, we came back to camp and had lunch.  Then we gathered up our laundry and completed that task.

With the laundry done and several hours of daylight left, we took a ride on highway 16A.  This is a scenic drive out of Keystone and through Custer State Park.  Out of Keystone, it's a winding climb up a mountain with good views of Mount Rushmore.  There are a couple of "Piggy Back" bridges where the mountain is so steep that you drive under a bridge and then loop around and drive on the bridge to get you up the mountain.  I didn't get any good shots of Mount Rushmore as it was behind trees and we were too far away.

Then we drove through Custer State Park and saw some wild donkeys and bison.  A guy in front of us was feeding the donkeys from his car window.  The donkeys literally had their heads in his window.  Maybe if this idiot needs a job, there will be one opening up soon at Reptile Gardens.

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