Day 8 Into Wyoming

"Tower Power"--or so they say at Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Our camp site is right at the base, so we have an excellent view. It is an awesome sight to see, very strange. We watched some climbers come down today--Phil decided NOT to make the climb! ;-) We could go watch the movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", the Steven Spielberg movie made at this sight, but wanted to stay in tonight and are watching "Lonesome Dove" instead (again).
Found out today that even a breakfast can turn into a memorable experience. We stopped at a small cafe in Hill City on our way out of the Black Hills. After we sat down in a small, secluded room, we thought we had to ourselves--in walked 12 Bikers and their "Babes" completely decked out in tats, studded black leather from head to toe, all speaking a foreign language (sounded German). They separated and sat down completely surrounding us. Phil says he felt like a very small pebble! Turns out they were from Austria, with only a few of them speaking enough English to barely order breakfast--and here they were, in a small town in the Black Hills of S. Dakota, biking their way, to who knows where! Leaving the cafe we saw a beautiful metal sculpture of a horse. Couldn't resist a picture, with some close ups of the "parts"--wrenches, saw blades, etc.
We took our last scenic drive in South Dakota, the Spearfish Scenic Byway to Deadwood. This was a beautiful drive through the Spearfish valley. Stopped to take a photo of one fall, the Bridal Veil.
Deadwood, a National Historic Landmark, was such a disappointment to me. Phil tells me to not share my feelings here (really got angry about a tour bus!) so, I'll just briefly touch on the town. Deadwood started as a gold mine town...dirty and rowdy. That is why "Wild Bill" Hickok, gunfighter, scout, lawman, and gambler was there, to make his fortune in gold. He ended being shot at a poker table there holding what is now called "the Dead Man's Hand"--aces and eights, with a queen kicker! We visited Mount Moriah Cemetery, high on a hill above town, where Wild Bill is buried, along with Calamity Jane beside him--(at her request!) My historian friend, Robert, tells me that Jane was madly in love with Wild Bill, and that he had partially gone to Deadwood to escape her--but alas, she followed! Jane was a woman of semi--ill repute, and I say semi because she was proud of the fact that she had never bathed! Hard to draw customers that way I imagine! Thanks Robert! Main street in Deadwood does have some beautiful old buildings, but you are surprised when you open the door to see casino after casino, which helps fund restoration projects! I guess that is a good cause!
When we reached the Wyoming border, the sky just seemed to open up. Never have I seen such beautiful wide open spaces! Rolling hills, dotted with Ponderosa Pines and sky as big as you can imagine. Beautiful country...then stick Devil's Tower out there in the middle! No wonder the Indians thought it was sacred. They hang medicine bags, and talismans in trees around the base, which Phil walked around, I might add--I just ran out of gas and relaxed in the truck. So now, we can mark off another sight we wanted to see. Tomorrow on to Cody for 2 days to see a fabulous museum that they say is the Smithsonian of the West! We'll see.
Been noticing some cute names for businesses up this way: Curl Up and Dye (beauty parlor), Bobbie Pins (alteration, sewing shop), Sole Perfection (shoe repair shop)--clever folks up here!
So, that is all for today from the McCamp, where the women are going to bed early tonight, the men are engrossed in "Lonesome Dove", and we finally talked to one of the children at home today--NO PHONE SERVICE now....email me if you need to!