Deadwood, South Dakota

From Sheridan we drove to Devils Tower National Monument. I have wanted to see this amazing geologic feature since the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and it was as impressive as I imagined. Teddy Roosevelt designated it as our first national monument in 1906. The Butte is considered sacred by many Northern Plains tribes. They call it Bear Lodge or Tipi because it looks like a giant bear clawed the tower. After a picnic lunch our coach drove us to the base of the summit. From there we walked around the entire perimeter. It was quite a hike! We observed several climbers scaling to the top. The views looking up and looking out were amazing. We didn't spot any aliens, unless they were disguised as tourists.

Our next stop was Deadwood, South Dakota. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills, miners discovered a gulch full of dead trees and gold and the town was born. Wild Bill Hickock was shot and killed here holding his aces and eights and Calamity Jane is buried next to him. We toured the town in a rickety old bus with a very colorful driver and guide. He would just stop the bus in the middle of traffic to point something out and literally scraped by a couple of signs. We were all glad to get back on our nice Trafalgar coach with excellent driver, Ken.

After checking in at our Rapid City hotel, The Rushmore, we attended a nighttime ceremony at Mount Rushmore. Despite a brief rain shower the monument looked spectacular lit up.Read more