It was raining on Saturday night when Vivian picked us up, but Sunday was a nice day. A bit on the cool side, but perfect for sight-seeing!
Our first stop was to Hot Springs, South Dakota to the Mammoth Site. The Mammoth Site is an ancient sink hole, filled with the bones of both Woolly and Colombian mammoths, as well as skeletons of giant bears. It was discovered in the early 60's when excavation began to build a subdivision.
The developer alerted archaeologists, who realized what they had stumbled upon. It's now an active archaeological dig, and they are continuing to unearth bones today. It was totally amazing to walk among these ancient bones and think about them roaming the earth.
If you ever get to South Dakota, this is a must visit site!
The skeleton of a mammoth
Skull and tusks
Really, really big bones!
A jaw bone with teeth. Like elephants, mammoths have 6 sets of teeth that develop during their lifetimes.
They have a great hands-on exhibit, great for kids (and us, too!)
Lee and Vivian with the bone
A replica of a Colombian Mammoth
After visiting the mammoth site, we had a wander around Hot Springs, a great little town with great architecture
The sandstone hotel
On the way home, we spotted some big horn sheep at Custer State park! They were totally unconcerned with all of the people taking their picture.
It was an amazing day! Susie, Dan and Clay came for dinner on Sunday evening, and it was great to catch up with them make plans for Monday!
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