South Dakota - Devil's Tower

Guess what we did first thing Monday morning?  I’ll give you 3 chances and the first two don’t count.  That’s right – we washed the motorhome!  In fact, our campground selection for Sunday night was solely based on if they allowed RV washing.  Many places don’t.  We called 4 campgrounds before leaving Cody, WY until we found one. 

Sunday was a long drive to South Dakota and our stop was just 45 miles into the state – our 14^th.  The Internet REALLY CAN make anything look good, and when we pulled into the campground, we looked at each other with a little apprehension.   Nonetheless, we unhooked the Jeep and checked in for 2 nights.  The guy said he wasn’t quite sure if the electric worked on some of the sites, so to follow him and he would take a meter out and check.  That was our first clue this might not be the place for us.  Mike would rather run off the generator than connect to a questionable power source.  Getting back to the site, we had to straddle a large section of the dirt road that washed out.  Strike two.  Once on the site, we could not get the RV to level (and that is important).  The third strike gave us the excuse we needed to say that we just could not stay here. 

We headed back down the road, found a place to pull over, and began making phone calls to other campgrounds.  By this point, it didn’t matter if they allowed us to wash the RV, we were tired and just wanted a place to stop for the night.  A campground called No Name City, ten miles back east, said, “Come on in”.  We were pleasantly surprised when they had a level site, allowed washing, and it was a couple dollars cheaper per night than the other place.  After the first night, we decided to stay here 4 nights and do all our day trips from here.

Oklahoma is not the only place the wind comes sweeping down the plains.  It blows right through the Black Hills, too. which made washing the motorhome a challenge.  Several times I was downwind of the water spray!  And if I had a nickel for every person that came over to us each time we washed the RV and said, “When you are done, you can come do ours”, I could pay for this trip!

 With Mike’s 3-step process of washing the RV and the Jeep, and by the time we got cleaned up, it was late afternoon when we set out for Devil’s Tower.  This National Monument was about

1-½ hours back east into Wyoming.    There really is nothing else in the area, so you

go just to see the impressive tower.  Well worth the drive.  You can see the formation from miles away.  In fact, Mike spotted it on Sunday while we were driving east on I-90.  When it comes to nature, Wyoming lays claim to two “firsts”-

Yellowstone is the first National Park and Devil’s Tower is the first National Monument. 

The info guide says there are three theories on how the Tower was formed, all variations on ground shifting, underground magma and erosion.  Indians consider the Tower to be sacred ground and there is a voluntary ban on climbing the structure in the month of June to allow Indian tribes to hold ceremonies undisturbed.  They view climbers as defiling the sacred spot.  We walked a trail around the base, which is huge boulders piled on top of each other.

The three-mile drive from the ranger check-in point to the tower is Prairie Dog City.  At first I thought the critters were statues out in the grass.  But they are real, and they are all over.

On a tip from good friends Chuck and Mary who grew up in South Dakota, heading back we got off the interstate at Spearfish and drove the Scenic Byway through Spearfish Canyon.  This drive goes right through the Black Hills.  Did you know the Black Hills are not black?  They are rock hills (when you are as short as I am, I’d call them mountains) covered with Ponderosa pine trees.  The needles on the pine trees are flat and turned up to catch the sun’s rays.  From a distance, the hills look black due to the dense growth of the pines.  On the drive we saw a waterfall, deer, followed a river, and got close-up to the rock that makes the canyon a really pretty drive.  There were log cabins (some quite nice) here and there, and we decided the owners must love hunting, fishing, snowmobiling or just plain nature because they are out in the middle of nowhere.  But it’s a beautiful, quiet nowhere.

Kevin Costner filmed “Dances With Wolves” just several miles from Spearfish Canyon. 

The canyon drive left us about 10 miles from Deadwood, so we headed there.  It was dark by now, so I didn’t get any outdoor pictures of the main street.  And one of the attractions – a reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok – doesn’t perform on Mondays. We would have been too late anyway, I think.  We could still imagine Deadwood back in the late 1890’s.  Most of the building on the main street are original.  One, the Franklin Hotel is just a few years younger than The Irma in Cody.  The Franklin has been meticulously maintained, from the polished woodwork to the tin ceilings to the gleaming chandeliers.

Deadwood today is quite different from a few years ago.  The downtown is about 3 blocks long and houses over 80 gambling sites.  (that’s got to be more than Las Vegas!) Every restaurant, every hotel had a casino.  Most occupy a small area.  But walking into each place was interesting to see the interior of these old buildings.  The souvenir shops were the only establishments that didn’t have slot machines.   A percentage of the gaming revenue goes right back into preservation and restoration of Deadwood, and the town is thriving on tourism.  Things seems a little slow, but we were told that starting mid-June, just about every weekend there is some event or festival or western something going on.

An email reminded me of two things from the Cody Rodeo I wanted to mention (thanks, Dave!).  You’ve all seen at major sporting events where they bring people out of the crowd to attempt a field goal at football games or a free throw at basketball games.  Well, at rodeos, they have Boot Kicks.  Six people were called down and given a cowboy boot.  The winner was the one who could get it to fly the farthest. (it was a girl!)  Then they have all the kids, 11 and under, come out to try to snatch a ribbon off a calf’s tail.  Probably because it was $5 night, but there were over 100 kids!  They let two calves loose, and the race is on.  Kind of like flag football.  Those calves can run fast!

More exploring South Dakota next!

                                                    Now this is a good state border sign                                       

                                                    View of Devil's Tower driving there.

                                                                    Prairie Dog

                                                Devil's Tower from visitor center parking lot

                     Indians tie prayer cloths and prayer bundles in the trees surrounding the tower.

                               The Black Hills from Spearfish Canyon.  This gives a good view that
                                  the hills are rock under all the pine trees.

                                                        The Franklin Hotel in Deadwood

                                                       All interior shots of the hotel

                                          Deadwood - Where Western Legends Were Born

Rootin' Tootin' Fun

Sunshine!  Saturday brought warmer weather and blue skies.  We welcomed both.  Our campground was west of Cody (only 35 miles to the East entrance of Yellowstone!) and each time we drove into town we passed the Buffalo Bill Dam so Saturday morning we stopped at the Visitor Center there.  It is free, and we like free.  The center itself, though small, had a really good film on the making of the dam in the early 1900's.  And we walked out on to the top of the dam, with terrific views of the canyon to the east and the reservoir created by the dam to the west.(just don't look down!)  In the late 1890's, Buffalo Bill had tried to harness the Shoshone River, which swells in the spring from the snow melt, and save and divert the water to the ranches for the dry summers, but he realized the project was beyond his scope and got the government involved.  The construction started in 1905 and the last bucket of concrete was poured January 16, 1910.  At the time the dam was the highest in the world at 328 feet.  How do men accomplish such a herculean task with the tools available in 1900?  They battled sub-zero temperatures in the winter, the flooding river in the spring (several times their progress over the winter was wiped out by such flooding), and digging through granite rock.  It boggles my mind.  (like, I'm still waiting for someone to logically explain how the Internet works!)
The dam was originally called the Shoshone Dam but President Harry Truman renamed it the Buffalo Bill Dam in recognition of Cody's early efforts at irrigation.

We went for lunch at a town outside Cody called Meeteetse.  Can you call a place a "town" when the population is 300-something?  Maybe village, or hamlet is a better term.  Meeteeste's business district was a block long.  Our destination was The Cowboy Bar, which has been there since 1893.  The back bar (see picture below) was brought here from the Chicago World's Fair that same year The walls of the bar were covered with brands from area ranches and wanted posters.  One was for Butch Cassidy (Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid is one of Mike's favorite movies).  Both the girl behind the bar and a local guy sitting at the bar said that Butch Cassidy was arrested outside the bar, but our Google research could not confirm that.  The drive there was worth it as the buffalo burgers were terrific.  I could have bought the glass my iced tea was served in for $3, but instead I asked if the cowboy boot shaped shot glasses behind the bar were for sale. (I thought it was a perfect souvenir.  I could use it for serving syrup and the boys for its intended use!)
The gal said they weren't for sale, but she would give me one.  She said she hardly used them as they were difficult to clean (I may have to rethink my using it for syrup idea).   As she handed it to me she laughed and said, "Now you can tell people you got the boot at the Cowboy Bar."  (booted out. . . get it?)  Mike jokingly (I hope) said he had been booted out of bars before but that this would be a first for me.  There was a photo op jail next to the Cowboy Bar so I went in there to pay for my crime!

The other reason to drive to Meeteetse is across the street - a chocolate shop owned and operated by The Cowboy Chocolatier.  He uses no preservatives in his handmade truffles so they have to be eaten within 5 days.  As if that would be a problem for me!  We chose Meeteetse Mud (a rocky-road type concoction). YUMMY!
Meeteetse is halfway to Thermopolis, Wyoming's largest hot spring.  Since we had seen them in Yellowstone, we didn't to there, but I think you can go in the hot spring there, unlike in the park.

I've mentioned several times over the course of our journey that we were unable to do some things because they were closed, mainly because we were too early.  We hit it just right in Cody because two of their popular, trademark activities start June 1 and go until the end of August.  So the late afternoon brought us back to the Irma Hotel where every night they block off the side street and hold a shoot-out. Being the first night, I think it was like a dress rehearsal for them. (I had walked into the Irma to get the picture below of the bar and overheard one of the performers say to the other - "Are we doing it just like last year?")  The shoot-out had Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Rooster Cogburn, and Calamity Jane, to name a few famous cowboys (and cowgirl).  It was part slap-stick, sometimes corny, sometimes funny (when one of the bad guys got shot, the doctor said he'd take the bullet out but couldn't give him any anesthesia.  When they guy asked why, the doctor said because it said so on page 153 of the Obama Care plan!  Maybe that's not so funny if you love the Obama Care plan. . . ) and overall entertaining.  And it was free (did I mention we like free?).

The shoot-out is done in time to get to the Cody Rodeo, the other activity that starts June 1 and runs every night through the summer. In fact, a rodeo clown urges everyone to come to the rodeo before the shoot-out starts. Opening night the cost is only $5 - a bargain because the regular price is $18.  We were given the same tip by 2 different locals so we headed to the opposite grandstands called The Buzzards Roost where the bleachers had seat backs and armrests.  Plus we were right above the chutes  the broncs and bulls exploded from with their brave, albeit crazy, riders.  How these cowboys don't snap their necks or backs is beyond me. The very first rider we saw got bucked off the horse, but his hand got tangled up in the rope and he couldn't get free.  That bronc dragged him around the arena until a group of cowboys that rushed out could get the horse settled down enough to free his hand.

Cowboys are very patriotic.  The shoot-out began with a presentation of the colors and we all stood to sign the National Anthem.  Ditto for the rodeo, which also included a prayer.

My favorite part of the rodeo was barrel-riding by the girls.  I could not get pictures of this because they all just looked like a blur with how fast the horses were going.  They have a timer on a big screen so you can see the progress and after a rider has went around the last barrel and headed for the finish point, I was often rising out of my seat, urging them on.  They cutest thing was the 11and under division for girls.  Some of them never got faster than a trot and it took several tries to get the horse to go around the barrel.  When this was the case, everyone cheered as if they had set a world record!  The last little girl could have competed with the adults.  She came roaring out, racing around those 3 barrels, her hat flying off and finished with a time that would have put her in the top 5 of the older girls.

My least favorite was the little boys riding the smaller bulls.  They all wear helmets (thankfully) but none of them stayed on more than 2 or 3 seconds (you have to stay on for 8 seconds to receive a score).  At least two of them looked a little shaken up when they fell.

Saturday night pretty much brought to a close our time in Wyoming, as we are driving to South Dakota today.  We loved most everything about Wyoming.  Some fast facts:   They have no state income tax.  The state runs a surplus due to revenue from oil, natural gas and mining interests.  It is the least populated state.  The average ranch size is 3,700 acres.  Also, Wyoming was the first state to allow women the vote!  We decided we could live on a ranch here.
Several conversations reinforced for us how truly fortunate we were at Yellowstone.  A couple from Ohio sat next to us at the shoot-out.  They, too, had just come from Yellowstone.  She asked if we saw any bears.   When we said 4 - they were amazed.  They hadn't seen any.  And a local girl in a shop said she has lived in Cody her whole life (she was 20-ish) and for as many times as she has been to Yellowstone, she has never seen a bear.  We consider these gifts to be blessings that have made our adventure so wonderful.  (We asked the same couple if they went to the Dan Miller show, because they would like it.  They had the dilemma on Saturday night of choosing between the show or the $5 rodeo tickets.  Dan doesn't perform on Sundays and the rodeo tickets go up to $18.  They chose the rodeo.  I must be related to them.)

We may have turned the weather corner because today (Sunday) is sunny and warm again.  I'm typing as Mike is driving.  Our drive through the Bighorn Mountains to get to I-90 east is reminiscent of the rock formations in Utah  and Arizona.  We had 59 miles where we never went over 30 mph because of the twisty, curvy road.  (how many times have I used those terms to describe roads we have been on?!).  We usually do these roads in the Jeep, but there were no signs with length of vehicle limits (and we have seen such signs), our RV GPS brought us this way, and we passed a motorhome our size coming from the direction we were headed so we knew it could be done.  Many signs on the route indicated types of rock and age.  One sign said 2.5 billion years.  How do they know that?  (my mind gets boggled easily).
 This is an indication of the type of road we were on: several times on this stretch there are other signs that said when the flashers are flashing, the road is closed and you would have to turn around.  There was always a gate that would prohibit any going further.  Thankfully, that wasn't the case today with the nice weather.  It would have been nearly impossible for us to turn around. (remember, we can't go in reverse unless we unhook the Jeep).
We went through Granite Pass, elevation 9033 ft. and the road down was as tricky as the road up.
We are now on I-90, where Mike breathes a sign of relief.  We see great scenery when we are not on the interstates but often the driving has to be so focused that Mike doesn't get to see what I see! Plus, he   says I am not writing a book so here are the pictures for today:

                     I enjoyed looking at the names of ranches.  This was one of my favorites.

                                                      Outside the Buffalo Bill Dam

                                         Cody city sign.  The silhouette is The Scout statue.

The back bar from the Cowboy Bar in Meeteesee.  It came from the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.

                                                  Outside the Cowboy Bar with my boot.  

 
              In jail in Meeteesee.

I didn't get the whole grandstand in this picture.  It says, "Cody Wyoming.  Rodeo Capital of the World.

                   The original Buffalo Bill bar in the Irma Hotel.  The wood was beautiful.

                                                            The start of the shoot-out

                       Hope you can see the smoke from the guns. They use real guns with blanks.

                                                                       The Cast

                                                          Bare back riding at the rodeo.

                                                                        Calf roping

                                 At the beginning of the rodeo.  Right after I snapped this picture, three cowboys rode out, each with a flag.  One red that said "God". The next white that said "Bless" and the blue one with "America"

Cody, Wyoming

It’s a good thing I didn’t say everything I wanted to about Yellowstone in my last post because Mike read it the next morning and said it was a little long!  So here are a few last thoughts and observations of our first National Park:

The weather wasn’t the greatest as we had rain, some sleet, and generally cloudy skies.  But we decided it was a good time to visit Yellowstone because the park wasn’t too busy.  Don’t get me wrong – there were lots of people, what with tour buses and some school groups we saw, but nothing like what the summer months would be like.  And you can see so much from your car, no matter the weather.

Do you remember seeing postcards or documentaries on Yellowstone that show people sitting in their cars with the windows down feeding bears?  It always appeared like the bears were everywhere.  Well, those days are gone.  In the 1960’s the park service began aggressive measures to stop bears from consuming human food so that they would return to their natural eating patterns.  So we feel fortunate to have seen the several that we did.  In fact, we were thrilled with all the wildlife we saw.  We know that there would be more to see if we had hiked some of the back trails, but the weather was a factor in that.  Plus, I would not want to be on a trail and encounter a bear or wolf!

As we left the park early Thursday morning, I looked over to my right and there was an elk standing in the river.  I was awe-struck by the perfect solitude of that lone, beautiful creature wading in the water.  I didn’t even try to take a picture.  I just enjoyed the moment.  (I am too often fixated on getting the picture).

And speaking of pictures, my recommendation is 1- GO SEE YELLOWSTONE and 2- take high-powered binoculars and a camera with a good telephoto zoom capability (in other words, don’t be like me and rely on your phone camera!)  But don’t be like the Asian guy next to me at Old Faithful.  He must have taken 200 pictures of the geyser, and 100 of those were before it erupted!  And I am not exaggerating!

We made it to Billings on Thursday without the need of the wipers (you have to be thankful for the little things. . . ) even though it did sprinkle a little at times.  We got there early, the wiper part made it there, they got us in early, and we were out by 3 in the afternoon.  We then drove a little over 2 hours to Cody, Wyoming, where we are now.  On the way we went through a town in Montana called Bridger.

The sign at the city limits said, "Home of 743 friendly people."  We both thought the town looked a little bigger than that, so maybe there are a few hundred that aren't so friendly!

We are discovering that there is a big difference between the West coast and The West.  The West includes the Old West and the Wild West.  We saw ranch signs, along with miles and miles of fencing enclosing cattle, but no buildings.  No barns or ranch outbuildings.  Several times we saw dozens of deer grazing right alongside horses or cows.  

Right before entering the town of Cody, there was a cowboy in full gear (hat, chaps, vest, bandana) leaning against his horse.  That was a treat for me.  This is The West.

We were in the town of Cody and had just pulled over to get our bearings on where our campground was when we heard a bang.  A pickup truck's side mirror hit the back of our motorhome.  Fortunately it only broke the plastic covering over our taillight.  And we have duct tape from our broken latch incident.  A nuisance, but not a catastrophe.  That is how we have looked at the few mishaps on this journey.  Nothing has happened that has disabled us or prevented us from continuing.  And neither Mike nor I have been sick.  Thank you, Lord!

When we got set up at the Yellowstone Valley Inn and RV Park, we exchanged the rain from the past few days for wind.  Whipping wind like we had back in Santa Fe and Arizona.  We put up our satellite  (the Tigers were on TV) and immediately put it back down.  We have had just enough quirky things happen that we didn't want to add "satellite blown off our roof" to the list.

Friday morning was no better, wind-wise.  Mike brought in our slide-out that was facing the wind for fear its awning might rip.  And we couldn't open the vent in the kitchen when I made breakfast.  You have to understand-  When I am cooking, Mike and the kids know a meal is done when the smoke detector goes off.  In my defense, I will say the one in the RV is hyper-sensitive.  We turned on the vent under the microwave, which did the trick.

Cody is named for its founder - William F. Cody - or as the world knew him - Buffalo Bill. He was given that nickname after he killed over 4,000 buffalo to feed the Army.  He started his Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1883, which he took on the road around the United States and abroad and became the most famous man in the world. He built the town to attract tourists in 1896.  At that time, Yellowstone had been a National Park for 24 years and only had a north and south entrance.  Buffalo Bill got the government to add an east entrance and he used some of his personal wealth to help build a road from Cody to Yellowstone.  I learned all this on a trolley tour, which was the first thing we did Friday morning.  Now Cody is not that big.  We certainly could have driven around or even walked around it on our own.  But the trolley tour hooked me with: "Give us an hour and we'll give you a hundred years!"  It's all those little stories that I find so fascinating.   Here's one that I'm sure you will find interesting:  In 1887, Buffalo Bill gave a command performance of the Wild West show in  London for Queen Victoria's Jubilee.  The show always started with Cody on horseback and another cowboy riding with the American Flag, and this performance was no exception.  When the flag passed by her, Queen Victoria stood and bowed.  It was the first time a British monarch had recognized our sovereignty since the Revolutionary War.

The tour was very good.  We even heard Buffalo Bill's actual voice on a recording made by Thomas Edison.

After the tour we went to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.  Several local people said it was a world-class museum and we would agree.  It is a showcase of The West, with five museums under one roof, and only one of them is about the life of William Cody.  The other areas are the Plains Indian Museum, the Draper Museum of Natural History, a Firearms Museum, and the Whitney Gallery of Western Art.  The Indian museum was my favorite part.  The presentations of Indian life were interesting and heartbreaking.  Listen to this eye-witness account:  "I looked around at the chief's lodge and saw him standing with an American Flag tied to a pole.  I heard him call to the people not to be afraid, that the soldiers would not hurt them.  Then the troops opened fire."  I could not read that and not be moved.

The Buffalo Bill Museum in the Historical Center was filled with many personal items of Cody and his family.   A section went into detail about the Wild West Show so we got to learn about Annie Oakley, too.   And Sitting Bull toured one season with the traveling show!

Another thing recommended to us was the Dan Miller Western Musical Revue, across the street from the Irma Hotel, so that was our Friday night date.  Dan is accompanied by 3 other musicians and all were extremely talented.  This was not country western, but cowboy western music.  Songs like "They Call the Wind Maria", and "Rawhide", and "Happy Trails To You".  It was quite entertaining as Dan was pretty funny, along with being a good singer.  The group played a non-western song that got me singing along - 

"Me and you.  And you and me.  No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be.  The only one for me is you, and you for me.  So Happy Together.  I can't see me loving nobody but you, for all my life. . . "

(I put the words in so you can be singing along with me, which a friend who reads the blog says when I mention a song, she sings it to her husband!)

I thought the song was a great statement.  Mike and I have been together 24/7 for almost 3 months now and we are still "Happy together"!  

Although I must say, Mike walked out singing one of the other songs we heard Dan sing: "It Takes A Whole Lotta Liquor To Like Her."  (it did have a catchy tune!)

I tried something new and it worked!  Instead of having all the pictures at the beginning of the post, and then me saying at the end of the post what today's pictures are, I found a way to put the pics at the end and identify them individually.  Hope it saves going back and forth from the pictures at the top to the descriptions at the bottom.

 I'm standing on the street in Gardiner.  This is how close the Roosevelt Arch at the entrance to Yellowstone is to the town.

                                                               A close up of the Arch

I took this picture in Yellowstone because there is one just like it in Michigan, on I-75 between Gaylord and Grayling.

                    Crossing into Wyoming.  The sign wasn't very big, but at least it says something.

                   The view out the front window of our RV at our campground outside Cody, WY

The narrator on our trolley tour.  She was really good and often held up pictures of how the town used to look.

 The oldest house in Cody.  It has continually been inhabited, even to this day.  As Chuck the driver said, "That screen door has slammed shut a lot of times over the last hundred years."

                                                  Jane and Chuck, our trolley tour guides.

The Irma Hotel, built by Buffalo Bill Cody and named for his youngest daughter.  I cut off the sign - it says, "The Irma Hotel.  Buffalo Bill's Oldest Hotel in the Rockies."

                     This guy was just walking down the street.  I guess you can do that in Wyoming!

                                                              Me and Buffalo Bill.

                                                                      Sacagawea

                           Mike at the beginning of the Plains Indian part of the Historical Center

                                                          Display inside the museum

                                                         Another life-sized display

                                           Stagecoach used in the Wild West Show

             A wagon used on ranches by cowboys who live out on the range.  Mike said it is the first RV!

                                           Sculpture of William Cody called "The Scout"

               The original Buffalo Bill Museum, which is now a Visitor Center in Cody