Ghost Posts

I have no idea what I did, but I lost (or deleted) all my posts from  our trip last week.  I've spent a lot of time today researching how to get them back, and I was successful with all but the first two.  And wouldn't you know it, they were by FAR the best and most entertaining, and had some prize winning quality photography, too.

If I find them, I will re-post.  The first post was named Bags are packed, or some such clever thing.  The other was about a long driving day, but we still had fun.  Since these covered the first 2 days, I will go ahead and post a few pictures anyway.


Somewhere in Iowa.  We had to look it up to see what was what.

 Turns out he was the only man who died on the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Left this large so you could see a portion that is complete for this year.

At Murdo, SD,  the town with the Pioneer Auto Museum

The yahoos at Wall Drug

All the South Dakota rest areas had some nod to this theme.

From underneath.

Hmmmmmmmmmm

This reminder was sent by my dentists office a few weeks before my trip.  I was disappointed that the real faces didn't have these sweet smiles.

 At an Iowa roadside park.  Word.

We did NOT rise to the challenge.

Our friends were cat bombed early on.

Catching up with pics, striking gold, ghost town, Wild Bill

Monday, June 16, 2014

The porta potty mentioned in previous blog "don't pull my chain"

First waterfall on our drive through Spearfish Canyon.  Our favorite.

2nd waterfall

3rd, Bridal Veil Falls

 I have no explanation for this, except it takes all kinds.  This was on the main street in Deadwood.

During Wild Bill Days they also had 2 days of competition of Dock Dogs.  We watched for awhile, and enjoyed it.  I had never heard of dock dogs, but apparently, this is something real and all over.  I'd watch again, for sure.

Didn't see a big ball of string, but did see a giant Abe head.

Which came first, Flat Stanley, or Flat Abe?

Street view Friday night in Deadwood for the concert.  Diamond Rio was Friday night, with a couple of warm up bands.  Saturday night headliner was Pure Prairie League.  I stood for awhile, and 5th song in, heard one I knew.  Left to go pack after that one, or I would have known more.  Not that I recognized many, but I looked up their discography.

Saturday, went to Broken Boot Mine and took a tour, but first had to discuss whether the mine would be claustrophobic for someone I won't mention by name, but his initials are John Melton.  He did fine, didn't scream once, and we enjoyed the tour.

Mary Jo and I panned for gold, both of us found some.  I really wanted to do this, so was thrilled that I'm now rich.  I found enough gold to equal about half the cost of panning, but it WAS fun.

 My winnings.

Near the south end of Spearfish Canyon is Cheyenne Crossing, a restaurant that has been around since 1878.   It was a stagecoach stop, and a cafe was added at some point.  We had Indian Fry Bread.  We all expected it to be something other than we got, but it was fine.  It was sorta like once big flat funnel cake.  John, being John, had a piece of blueberry pie, and said it was excellent.  

We drove to Galena, a "ghost" town 15 or 20 miles from Deadwood.  They were having their once a year shindig to make money for the 1882 schoolhouse maintenance.  They had a bluegrass band, hotdogs, hamburgers, etc, and a mapped out walking tour of the town.  I really enjoyed that, too.

I hope they made enough to fix this window, because apparently Deadwood isn't giving enough to do it.

 Tom and Mary Jo stayed by the schoolhouse enjoying the music, and John and I took a trail walk in the mining area above the town.

 Essential structures in Galena

 Didn't see a giant ball of string, but DID see a big spud.

Sunday morning, left early for a long drive across South Dakota.  Stayed in Sioux City, IA last night and visited an Independent League baseball game, Sioux City Explorers vs Grand Prairie (TX) Air Hogs.  Nope, didn't figure out what an air hog is.

About half way home, and Tom drove the rest today (he actually drove the WHOLE trip, which I loved), stopping for lunch in St. Joseph, MO, at my fav Barbosa's.  

Good trip!

Waterfalls, no critters today.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

If you hurry, you can make this today!!!!!!





Short drive today, but still a variety of landscapes. Lead (LEED) is the town closest to Deadwood, but is much larger. They've had a friendly feud going on for 125 years.


Lead is the location of the largest gold mine. It shut down in 2002, but still has 3/4 of the gold available.

(Note:  for some reason, I was unable to upload the rest of the pictures I had for today.  I'll try to add them later.  Just imagine the best pictures you've ever seen)

 The pit shown below is huge, and the Homestake mine itself goes down 8,000 feet.

This is the porta potty that was used in the mines. Apparently, as a joke, other miners would give it a push on the rails as one was using it. Ha Ha. Then, it was chained to the end of the ore engine, but people would yank on it hard, still causing problems. They think that's where "pulling my chain" came from.

This box holds 1 Ton. It took 7 of these to process enough gold to equal a nugget about the size of 1 hershey kiss.

First of three waterfalls we saw today along the Spearfish Canyon Byway. this one was Spearfish falls, although it is the furthest one from the town of Spearfish. Go figure. It was our favorite.


2nd waterfall, Roughlock Falls

3rd waterfall, Bridal Veil Falls.

Back mid-afternoon, and a little nap. We are pooped. Tonight is the first night for Wild Bill Days. Not sure who they are, but Diamond Rio is playing, in the street, about a block from our hotel. Any bets how long I can listen to country music?

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Bear's Lodge/Devils Tower

Thursday, June 12, 2014

A very good day. But first, we keep seeing these in fields not far from the highways. Anyone know what they are???




Didn't take us long to get to Wyoming. They were very helpful in having a lay-by for us to pull over for the requisite picture. Someone must have known Tom was coming, and he really felt special.



We stopped again when we first saw Devils Tower. Again, Wyoming had a nice little parking area for us, so John felt "moved" to take in the view.






View in Wyoming





What an awesome monument. It was a beautiful day, probably in the 70's, and we walked around for a while, admiring this magnificent structure.






This guy photobombed my friends. He was totally oblivious.





He moved, and I got a nice shot of our friends. When I saw the guy again, I complimented him on the nice bomb. He laughed.





On the way out of the park, there was another Prairie Dog Village. I begged for a stop so I could take a few more pics. What I really wanted was for one of them to climb in the car with us. Didn't happen. They kept ducking into their burrows.







Back in Deadwood, we went to the Adams House. It was the wealthiest home in Deadwood , and has a unique history. When the owner died, the widow (who was 40+ years younger) boarded up the house, moved to California, and nothing was touched in the house for over 50 years. There were even cookies in the cookie jar, and they are still there now. John wanted one, but I promised him a candy bar if he'd leave them alone.





Outside the Adams House.





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Wild Bill, Seth, and Calamity

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Yesterday, at the Crazy Horse monument, among many other items, John saw these trade beads on display.  Unbelievably, these are THE trade beads, part of the sale of Manhattan!


At our lodge yesterday, I went for a little photo walk before breakfast, and saw two adult marmots having their breakfast.



Then, I found a huge rock with lots of holes, and found 2 babies.  They let me get pretty close.





Then, on to Sturgis.  Nary a cycle in sight.  Thank goodness.  We purposely decided to avoid an August visit.


On to Deadwood, where we checked in for the next few days.   A lot like Eureka Springs in atmosphere, except slot machines everywhere you look.  And sights like where Wild Bill was shot and killed.


We went to the Adams Museum, and spent some time there.  Interesting collection of Deadwood history, and of  legends of the area.  they had an area called curiosities.  Here are a couple of unique items from there.


Yes, a fetal calf (see below).  This was about the size of a pocket dog.


After the museum, we went to the famous Mt. Moriah cemetery.    Stone-leavings, coins, and other items were prevalent among many of the graves.  Wild Bill:

Just to the right in this picture is Calamity Jane, but there is nothing to indicate it except for a plack on the wall between her and Wild Bill.  No dates, Nada.


As high as you can go in the cemetery, then another 750 feet higher is Seth Bullocks family grave.  I didn't see it in person, but luckily, some nice men from Iowa were coming back from here, and he sent me some pictures by text.  I love technology.  It probably prevented a heart attack!


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