Town of Deadwood, SD

I grew up some 45 minutes south of Deadwood long before the casinos, before Kevin Costner, before "Deadwood" the HBO series. Deadwood was the town we drove through to go skiing at Terry Peak, the town was usually covered in snow and vacant. Not anymore, the town has been restored, revived, reinvented.

"With the discovery of gold in 1876 and Deadwood was born. A Wild West town that was once ruled by outlaws, gamblers and gunslingers. Wild Bill Hickok was one of the gunslingers who was gunned down for holding a hand of aces and eight, creating the Dead Man's Hand. Calamity Jane also spent some time in Deadwood and is buried next to Hickok." Deadwood.com

We had plans to camp the night but a strong storm came through and blew over our tent. This led to a decision to drive into Rapid City to find a hotel for the night. But before that we did get to enjoy some of the town, the architect and a few casinos. 

Here is our tent before the storm on a nice grassy spot with a great view.

Devil's Tower National Monument | Wyoming

The Devil's Tower was established as the first U.S. National Monument in 1906. The Devil's Tower is spectacular. Each Plains Indian Tribe have their own belief of the Tower. Some legends say that a girl turned into a bear and running after her sister and slipped and made the scratches on the big rock; another says that a brave's wife had become infatuated with a bear and when they went to the bear he was so big that it scared the braves. They ran to the top of the big rock and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them and the rock began to grow saving the braves. There are more legends all a little different but all seem to revolve around a bear and the rock. Whichever legend you believe it is a very spiritual place and while we stand there watching the tower I could hear the tribes chants in the wind.

I loved that the park took the time to stamp footprints along the trails, some human and others not.

This is my friend Sam, the Prairie Dog. His lives in a prairie dog "town" at the bottom entrance to  Devil's Tower. He was so nice to pose for this picture. Sweet puppy but not too close, puppies will bite.  

Saw 3D | Saw it | Like it

Awhile back we went and saw the 3D movie "Saw The Final Chapter" and I wanted to share our nice 3D glasses. Rather nice wouldn't you say. It's bad when the $3.00 3D glasses look better than my $6.00 bug eye sunglasses.

Bug Eye














3D


What do you think?

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument | Montana

We spend a few hours touring the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana. We arrived in time for the ranger's interpretation on the history of the battle that took place here many years ago. This is were Col. Custer had his last stand and died along with 262 soldiers and an undocumented number of Cheyenne warriors. We drove the tour and visited the grave sites that were along the path. It was amazing to stand on the same ground were many men lost their lives for what they believed.

The Custer National Cemetery is also located at the Battlefield and is open to the public. Upon first arrival I thought these were the graves of the soldiers that died in the battle, but they are not. Most of the soldiers are still buried on the field, left at their final post.

KOA Campground | Hardin, Montana

KOA campground in Hardin, Montana. This was our stay for one night on our way to see Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. I was very pleased with our one room "Kabin". And with having just slept on the cold ground surrounded by snow the night before, the warmth and coziness of the one room was welcomed. We enjoyed a picnic dinner while watching the beautiful Montana sky as the sun set.

Taco Johns, at last!

After so many years of being apart, this summer I finally got to have my taco bravos, pototes oles with nacho cheese and one apple grande. Oh, so good. I stopped by as many Taco Johns as I could on our summer trip. I could eat there everyday, Rick could not.

The Taco Johns at Sheridan, WY was combined with a Goodtimes Burgers and Frozen Custard, which I did not tried, maybe good, maybe not, but I was there for the Taco Bravo.

Now I am hungry, wonder if I can get Rick to go. It's only a 4 hour drive to the closest Taco Johns.

The last two photos are from the Taco Johns in North Plate, Nebraska. This was my last chance at a Taco Bravo before heading back to the Denver airport to come home. I think I cried a little with my last bite.

Buffalo Bill Dam | Cody, WY

We left Yellowstone National Park and headed west, continuing on our summer trip. Next stop, Buffalo Bill Dam in Cody, Wyoming. They say that this dam was designed to be the largest dam in the world back in 1905, measuring 353 feet tall! In 1946 the dam was re-named to honor Col. William F. Cody, a.k.a. Buffalo Bill. This was a nice stop for us, a chance to get our "National Park Passport" stamped and take a few photos. I even got a shot a very small rainbow, had to hang over the railing to get it, anything for that one chance at a great photo.

Camping in the Snow at Yellowstone

After our visit to the Petrified Tree we decided to make our way to our next camping site at Canyon Village Campground. This place was nicely developed with almost all the amenities one could want, nice shopping area close by, which included a cafeteria, two gift shops, a small grocery store, even a gas station. The campground itself had laundry and shower facilities, where I had my first paid for shower and towel rental. Only thing missing was heat and a snow blower.

Here is our campsite.... did someone say that there might be snow in Yellowstone.

At least we had a cooler. 

Sylvan Lake | Yellowstone National Park

Our drive out of Yellowstone took us by Sylvan Lake. The lake still had areas of snow and ice and I had to stop (the photos really don't show how beautiful it really was).

Yellowstone Lake | Yellowstone National Park

This was a unscheduled stop at the Yellowstone Lake visitor's center which turned out to be a very beautiful one. You enter the visitor's center and then go through the back door and walk into this. Beautiful!!!

Upper Falls | Yellowstone National Park

This is the Upper Falls at Yellowstone. The walk was a little farther, but sure worth it. A very pretty place filled with a many people taking in its beauty and trying for that perfect photo of the rainbow that is created in the mist.

 The roar and vibration created by the river, as it raced around the bend, was incredible

We decided to drive around to the other side of the falls and I am glad that we did. There were not as many people visiting this side and it gave us the time to take a little hike and find a bridge were we could rest and look at the river.

Look how peaceful, hard to believe that to the left is the powerful waterfall that all this water just came racing down.