We left the delightful little town of Hulett Wyoming, stating that it was our best stay on the trip so far. We headed back North, to pick up the road to Sundance, the town that Sundance Kid was named for. Temperatures in the 60's, sunny clear skies. We traveled through Bear Lodge mountains, just the edge of them, Lots of rolling grasslands, and free range cattle. Great roads. Highest about 1 mile in altitude.
We didn't see a visitors' center, but we found a nice museum in Sundance. The volunteer was very helpful and informative, and was a 3rd generation family living on a ranch in Sundance. Saw some great artifacts in the museum, including a mortar and pestle,
some old pharmacy apothecary bottles.
a great golden eagle, which I am sure is what I saw in Yellowstone. And the chairs in the background were what the jury sat in during the trial of the Sundance Kid. Beautiful woodworking.
We traveled on the Wyoming, experiencing such a difference in geology, and of course, stopped at a visitors center for more information.
Out side the building, a piece of a petrified tree on the ground, hard as a rock, but looked just like a tree. More bronze statues, too.
Saw a beautiful red, white, and blue hand woven basket on display.
Ken is getting much better at doing the self portraits. This had a beautiful view back across the grasslands. It was an amazing center.
A good shot of the view, and my favorite guy!
Never really thought about riding a horse, so this was a safe trial. Actually didn't get onto the saddle, but it was fun, especially watching the guy ahead of me trying it! Quite a hoot!
I know the print is small, but Vore Buffalo Jump is an historical, archaeological dig site. From 1500-1800 AD, native Americans would drive the buffalo off the rim of a natural sinkhole, then harvest the meat and hides for survival. For almost 300 years they used this practice. Because of the hole, it naturally became covered and unnoticed until road construction in the 1970's. Now, a large building covers the base of the hole, with hopes of the construction of a visitors' center, and continued artifact research. Very interesting.
Traveling on, we reached Spearfish, another nice town, wide good roads, and it was just noontime, and heard the chimes to mark the hour. Very nice. Spearfish is known for the Corvette Rally, held every July, and those beautiful sports cars cover those wide open streets. We found the visitors center, just behind us in this picture, and gathered so much information from a delightful lady that was working there. Oh, yes, and Ken got fistfuls of business cards! The worker gave us some tips on which route to take, more scenic, and what to see along the way. We were not mislead.
We noticed right off that the hills contained more black stone, than we had seen in any of Wyoming, thus the name, Black Hills.
First stop, Bridal Veil falls, and because the light was not working with us, you can barely see the falls (in the dark spot between the trees.)
Another site that was recommended was Roughlock Falls. A short drive off the main road, and a short walk, down around the falls, was well worth the stop.
A nice wooden walkway went down around, over, and up a ways on the other side. So much has been put into making these sites accessible to the public, and very much appreciated
After leaving the falls, we had the best lunch at the Spearfish Canyon Resort Restaurant, off the beaten path, but the best, affordable lunch imaginable.
Just after leaving Cheyenne Crossing, and that's about all it was, a junction in the road, we came upon the most vibrant mustard yellow patch of aspen trees. It's about the only color that one sees, except for the green of the firs and pines, and an occasional bright red low bush.
Traveled through some other quaint towns, like Deadwood, which is now a gaming town, and were quite surprised at what it had to offer. Lovely Main Street, with all the businesses that one would need if they stayed there. It was developed when gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1876.
We arrived in Rapid City, having traveled a delightful 150 miles. Rapid City is a city, and after spending just a short time in our room, we decided to cancel the next 2 nights here, and move on to Keystone, near Mt Rushmore, and a town that claims over 300 for a population. We have become small town travelers. They seem to have so much more to offer than the cities, or at least more of what we are looking for.
Tomorrow is Mt Rushmore, and a full moon. So many check marks, and firsts. I hope I can remember all of them, to tell my grandchildren all about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment