On to Wyoming

Wednesday night I made it to Mount Rushmore in time for the evening presentation and illumination of the mountain. After seeing Crazy Horse, the Rushmore sculpture does not seem spectacularly large. However, the ideals for which the sculpture stands carried a lot of weight. It was a very moving/patriotic visit for me. I couldn't believe how many people were there early. The program began at 9:00 and when I got there at 8:20 I had trouble finding a seat in the amphitheater. Where is the restaurant that was in North by Northwest? I was hoping to dine there.

I promise not to say another word about Pronghorn Antelope. A couple of days ago I saw my first, and today I saw dozens. I guess they're not that rare for anyone that has been out here. I will say that National Geographic (and others) are deceitful. On TV, I have always seen herds of Pronghorn roaming the prairie. Out here I rarely saw more than 3 together at a time, and most of them were singles. My new favorite animal of the trip is the Mountain Goat. I saw this little fellow and his mother on my way to a morning visit to Mount Rushmore. It was nice to see it last night, but I wanted to see it again in the morning light.

My next drive was up to Deadwood City. I thought I should see some of the fabled towns in the area. They have a nice little cigar shop that I had heard about so I stopped in (and bought a cigar or 5). I think slot machines are about the only thing that keep this town going. The picture at left is not my best Deadwood picture, but it is my favorite. See the couple in the picture? They were my annoying neighbors a couple nights ago at the KOA. She's a naughty girl that can't handle her liquor.

After Deadwood I drove through Spearfish Canyon to the city of Spearfish. A spectacular drive with the top down. I was out here snowmobiling about 12 years ago, but never saw this part of the hills. In Spearfish I reloaded the cooler with fruit. New grapes and raspberries. I'm good to go for a few more days. Sorry, no picture of the Safeway in Spearfish.

Next was my Richard Dreyfus moment. Every time I see Close Encounters of the Third Kind I have the urge that I must get to Devil's Tower. I finally made it there today. Very cool. I walked all the way around the tower and there was no military UFO landing pad. I was duped once again. TV and movies let me down 3 times in less than 24 hours. Don't believe everything you see on TV.

I upgraded camp tonight. The down side to taking side roads is the length of time it takes to get anywhere and the lack of amenities available. I headed north out of Gillette in hopes of finding a place to camp. I ended up in Sheridan at about 8:30. I decided camping wasn't going to happen tonight. This will be a good chance to recharge myself and all of the electronic devices I brought along. The warm shower was great and tomorrow morning there is no camp to disassemble. I feel I cheated, but I'll get over it. Back to the tent tomorrow. I promise.

Best Road Song of the Day - The Allman Brothers - Jessica

Today's learnings/thoughts/ misc.;

• You can do bullet points in the blog!
• Some days it is tough to pick just one song of the day.
• Each day I can find about 500 things I want to stop and take a picture of. There a lot of stories out here. It would have taken me a month to get this far if I had stopped at everything that looked interesting to me.
• Highway 14 between Gillette and and Sheridan has antelope and deer 10:1 over people.
• The old people with Corvettes - They are everywhere, and vanity plates are a must.

As we travel through life at 65 MPH, a lot of bugs will hit our windshield. Sometimes it's necessary to pull over and clean them off in order to improve our view of the world.

Tom