American Bison, or buffalo, handle frosty winter weather very well with a thick layer of fur insulation. This bull in Custer State Park didn’t seem bothered at all by the temperatures as I took his picture out my vehicle window on the Wildlife Loop Road.

Chad Coppess, Senior Photographer

I love this time of year, getting ready for the annual family Memorial  Day trip to the Black Hills.  This has been a family tradition for a number of years and if you’re like my family it seems we spend a lot of time in anticipation and not enough time on planning.  But then I’m now the make a list type, I prefer to just pick up and go and then regret not making a list later.

This year it’s different!  I swear!

I’m  going to plan this time…not too much as that would put my wife into shock, but enough to make getting ready to pull out of the driveway a little less traumatic than past years.  So first things first.  The family  truckster.

Even though gas prices are way down since last year every penny saved is worth it, so I’m getting all the things done that help with gas mileage…you know tires properly inflated, oil change, air filters.

I’ve already checked  the Fuel Facts page at official South Dakota Tourism website to get a quick read on what to expect to budget for gas this year.  We figured that this year we’ll probably save about $60.00 this year compared to last year.

The other thing we are going to do is plan a little better  what we want to do and see so we can get as much out of the day as possible…fishing, golf, exploring, pizza etc.   Figure a little planning will save some miles along with having the right maps so we don’t waste time getting lost.  The Trip Planner has been helpful making that a little easier than I had expected.

I’ll keep everyone posted…next up how to keep two teen-aged boys occupied on the drive.