Well, my bi-annual road trip & vacation is off to a great start! My brother and I met some family members at Sheridan Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota to visit and we camped overnight. In the morning we pressed on to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. Wow! It's amazing and unlike anything I've ever seen. It's the remains of a prehistoric sinkhole trap that's been excavated for 40 years; the remarkable thing is that they built a building over the dig and turned it into a working/'living' museum! Through the week you can watch the archeological work as it's being performed. I arrived on a Sunday so the crews weren't digging but a few students were giving tours of the facilities. Our guide Katie was charming and funny and here enthusiasm was infectious.

Best of all I had the chance to meet ETS's very own Hikermor! He's kind of a big shot there in fact. It will come as no surprise to you all that he's a wonderful fellow! Sadly we only had an hour and a half to visit but it was terrific. Hikermor, I hope you have another dozen summers yet to dig. I look forward to coming back next year, and maybe we can take our Moraknivs out to explore the Hills.

I'm posting this from Helena, Montana. Tomorrow we're off to Missoula to meet some friends out there,probably do some shooting and camp for a couple days.