Deadwood to Mount Rushmore, SD

Thursday, 9/18/14 - Deadwood, SD

It's our 15th Anniversary and we are celebrating with a hotel room in Deadwood, South Dakota.  But first, we take a side trip to something called the Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  We wind our way south on Highway 112.  The landscape changes as we cross the border into Wyoming.  Cottonwoods are turning bright gold and amber.  We rise to an elevation of over 4,000 feet and the pastures have drift fences.  We drive up hills covered with cedar and pine trees.  

 

Suddenly the Devil's Tower looms before us in the distance.  Wow, it is impressive.  I've never seen the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" so I wasn't prepared even though I'd seen photos on the travel brochure.  According to the brochure, the Devil's Tower was the first national monument created by President Theodore Roosevelt.  It is an "igneous intrusion" that rises "1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet   above sea level." Well, you have to see it to believe it.

Devil's Tower

 

We go to the Visitor's Center and I get my "Passport to the National Parks" officially stamped and choose a sticker to put in the book.  I had started the passport at the Little Big Horn Battlefield monument.  It's fun to collect the date stamps and stickers at the various national parks we visit.

Where in the world is Fred?

We leave Devil's Tower and move on towards Deadwood, the ultimate destination of our trip.  Once again we are lured to make a side trip, this time to the small town of Sundance where the infamous Sundance Kid once spent time in jail for stealing a horse.  We are frustrated trying to find something that looks like an old jail and end up settling for a statue of the Sundance Kid and a photo op.

We are back on the road to Deadwood.  We arrive at our hotel around 6:00 p.m., tired and ready to relax.  We check in and head for the swimming pool.  Ah, we are refreshed and invigorated.  We have dinner reservations at a restaurant called "Jakes"  -  for 8:45 p.m.!!! 

"Jake's" is upstairs.

After our swim we walk down the brick layered Main Street to dinner.   We are surprised to discover that Jake's is owned by Kevin Costner.  The first floor is a casino, the second floor is a bar with walls covered in Kevin Costner movie memorabilia, and the third floor is the restaurant.  We are greeted by Joe, the Maitre d' who is a very friendly and congenial host.  We have to wait quite a while for our table and Joe fills us in on many of the sights around Deadwood that we do not want to miss. 

Our entire dinner is superb.  We share the artichoke appetizer, a Greek salad, rib eye steak and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Get ready Weight Watchers, here I come.

 
We exchange our anniversary cards and enjoy the rest of our meal.

Friday, 9/19/14 - Deadwood
We take Joe's advice and sign up for a tour of Boot Hill, but first I get my Passport stamped at the Visitor's Center next door.  It's a renovated train station and inside you can learn all the history of this gold mine town.  We share a delicious deli sandwich at The Pump House Deli before boarding the tour bus for Boot Hill. 

Wild Bill Hickok





 Our tour guide is funny and entertaining.  He tells us about the colorful lives of such characters as Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Seth Bullock, and many others you may have become familiar with from the HBO series "Deadwood".  Later we are told the producers of "Deadwood" spent many weeks here researching information for the series.

After the tour we get a ginger ale at the Saloon No. 10 and watch a reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok, shot in the back by Jack McCall.  Story goes he was holding what is now known as the infamous "dead man's hand" of black aces and eights and a nine of diamonds.

In late afternoon and we decide we have time to drive out to "Tatanka", Kevin Costner's tribute to the Lakota Nation and the Bison/Buffalo.  We pay an entrance fee and watch a short film about his "dream" and his frustrations at not being able to realize it.  We are the only two visitors at this time.

The sculptures portray the "Buffalo Jump" and are absolutely magnificent. They are 1.25 to life size.

We take a drive down Highway 14, also known as "Spearfish Canyon National Scenic Byway",  hoping to see a display of fall colors.  We stop at Cheyenne Crossing to inspect their menu and then head to Roughlock Falls.  This is some of the most spectacular scenery we have seen on our trip.   The fall colors are everywhere in gold, mauve, red, rust, yellow, and brown.

 

 

 

It is getting dark and we are late getting back to our hotel.  We walk a short ways to the Gem Steakhouse and eat dinner around 9:00 p.m.  Dinner is ok, but the cosmo is the best I've ever had.  I share it with Fred and he agrees.

Saturday, 9/20/14 - Deadwood to Rapid City

We eat breakfast at the hotel and take a tour of the Adams House before leaving town.  The Adams House was built around 1880 and is furnished with period pieces gathered throughout its history.  If you ever are in Deadwood, be sure to visit this landmark.  It will give you a feel for what life was like for the prosperous entrepreneurs who became wealthy "mining the miners."

We leave Deadwood and head towards Rapid City to visit the daughter and son-in-law of our dear friend Charles Peters, Theresa and Bill Ashley.  They have invited us to stay with them if we are even in their neck of the woods and we are taking them up on their generous offer.  We arrive at their beautiful home around 2:30 in the afternoon and are zealously greeted by their dog Colby.  She is a lean, long legged, one year plus mix and treats us as if we are long lost friends.

Theresa and Colby

Bill and Theresa take us to visit Mount Rushmore to see the famous rock sculptures - Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.  It's a beautiful drive, along a winding road through rock tunnels.

 

Theresa and Bill

The Visitor's Center stamps my passport book and we watch a 15 minute film about the making of Mount Rushmore. After that we walk along a pathway below the monument, taking several photos of the famous faces.

We return to Rapid City and have dinner at Botticelli Restorante.  It's a popular spot and well worth waiting the 30+ minutes for a table.

Sunday, 9/21/14 - Rapid City

Theresa cooks a yummy bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, a concoction of oats dates, chopped apples, flax, pumpkin, and spices.  It's been a fun and enjoyable stay, and it's time to actually begin our trip home.  We hug goodbye to Bill and Theresa and take a last photo of Colby.

Next:  The Badlands of South Dakota

 

 

 

POWELL JUNCTION, ID to LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD, MT

Sunday, 9/14/14 - Powell Junction to Bozeman, MT

We are in Big Sky Country, that's for sure.  The highway vistas of gold plains stretch as far as the eye can see. 

 

Tonight is our night to stay at a hotel and be pampered.  We are spending the night in Bozeman, MT but on this Sunday night one of our favorite hotels, the Hampton Inn and Suites, has a huge tour bus out front and we are disappointed to find out it is full.

 

I get on Trip Advisor and the #1 rated hotel in Bozeman is the Comfort Suites just a block away.  The minute we walk into the lobby we can see and feel why.  It is sparkling clean, decorated in what I would describe as modern-contemporary.  Very attractive.  Cookies and coffee are waiting for guests. 

 

Our room is lovely and spacious and the bed is bouncy comfortable. There is a note on the bed that informs us they have provided two types of pillows on the beds:  the harder are in the back and the softer are in the front.  We are impressed with their attention to detail and the extra measures to ensure guests are comfortable and taken care of.

 

 

We put on our swimsuits and head for the pool and spa.  The pool and spa are also sparkling clean and both have chair lifts for handicapped guests.  Ah, we are happy campers for sure.

We take the suggestion of hotel staff and have dinner at the Montana Ale Works in historic Bozeman.  We share a rib eye steak, after all we are in cattle country.  We agree it is one of the best we have ever eaten, cooked to perfection.

Next day we mail a package to granddaughter Delaney and head down Highway 90 towards Billings, MT

 

Monday, 9/14/14 - Bozeman to Billings, MT

This is the land of dry golden grasses dotted with dusty clumps of blue-green sage.  Stacked round hay bales and black angus cattle zip past us.

                                                                                                                               

We happen upon a KOA in Billings and discover it is the first KOA built in 1962.  Yes, the KOA concept began over 50 years ago right here on the banks of the Yellowstone River.  We decide this is a good place to stay.

Tuesday 9/15/14 - Billings to Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, MT

We decide to take a side trip down Highway 313 and investigate something called the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Montana.  But first we stop at the PowWow Pawn Shop in Hardin, MT, to see if there is anything we just have to have.  There isn't.

The Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is located in the southwest corner of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.  As we travel down Highway 313 we pass acres and acres of sugar beets.  A crop duster flies overhead.

 

We enter this national park and stop at the ranger's station.  The friendly ranger tells us it is free to enter if we have a Golden Age Passport.  WE DO!!!  Just so you know, if you are 62+ years of age, this wonderful little passport gets you into most national parks FREE or at a good discounted price. He also informs us that we get to camp for FREE as well.  What a deal.

 

Yellowtail Dam

We pick a spot by the Bighorn Lake and listen to the Canadian Geese choose their spot for the night.

 

Wednesday, 9/17/14 - Bighorn National Recreation Area to Little Bighorn Battlefield

We arrive at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument around 11:30, just in time to catch the video presentation of the history behind this famous battlefield.  It's a stirring and emotionally powerful story.  Fred and I try to hide the tears that well up.  Native Americans struggling to maintain their culture and way of life, to feed and protect their families



Little Bighorn River

Last Stand Hill

By 1876 most of them were on reservations but there were still many who refused that life.  These were groups of Lakotas, Cheyennes, and Arapaho.   Basically it was the 7th Cavalry led by George Armstrong Custer who was given the task to ensure these groups return to the reservations.  It all came together on a river called the Little Bighorn.

Native American monument

This national monument (yes, we got in FREE with our passport) is larger than we expected.  There are no tours available on this day, but there is a walking tour you can take with your cell phone by just entering the phone numbers listed on the marker signs at each guide stop.  It works easily and is quite interesting. The road winds along for several miles along the Little Bighorn River.

We spend the night at the Wayside RV Park in Broadus, MT.  It's nice and the fella running it is real friendly.  Plus he has a greeting committee of two adorable Corgies.

Next:  Little Bighorn to Deadwood, SD