We left home on this trip on April 25, 2011 and didn't return until October 15, 2011. It was possibly our best trip ever. We spent most of the first month in Texas, birding in several Texas state parks, with a week in San Antonio for Breland's reunion with the guys he served with in Vietnam. The reunion was great and I saw an amazing number of life birds in the four Texas state parks we visited.

Yellowstone National Park was our next destination. We arrived in mid-May to almost daily snowfalls and deep snow next to most open roadways. The wildlife was still in the valleys and very visible from the major roadways.

We had never visited the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore was on both of our bucket lists. We flew two grandsons in to meet us and spent a week in the Black Hills with them and another week there and a week in the Badlands after they returned. The Rafter J rv park was a perfect place in the Black Hills with a great pool, meadows, and a view of the mountains. We loved Mount Rushmore, the Needles highway, the caverns, a rodeo and the wildlife of the Black Hills.
The Badlands were a bucket list item also. The scenery was amazing but the hailstorm that broke our windshield and badly dented my cute little tow vehicle will remain in our minds forever. I was surprised by the number of new life birds I added in that part of South Dakota.