The Last Daycation - Day 1

I am trying to learn death's lessons and surely one of the things I've learned is that life is a gift.  Our last weekend together - our last daycation together - was such a gift in so many, many ways.

Joe and I left for South Dakota on May 25th.  We were going to spend the weekend in the Black Hills of South Dakota exploring and then head even further east to Badlands National Park and Wall Drug.  These two places had been on our list to visit since our move to Wyoming, 

He went to dialysis that morning and I went to work and when his session was complete, we headed north of what would be our last "daycation" together.  (Only a few days before we left did we learn that Roger and Connie would also be in that same area and we might have the opportunity of meeting up with them.  They were supposed to come stay at our home the following Monday, but this might give us the chance to spend more time with them.  Roger was Joe's best friend for the last million years and Connie is Roger's girlfriend for the last many years).

Anyway Joe and I drove to Hot Springs, South Dakota that afternoon.  It was about 2 1/2 hours from our home and a lovely old, little town.  We stayed in a cute little, "mom and pop" motel and ate at one of the local restaurants having prime rib and all the fixings for $10.95 each.  What a deal and what a meal for us.  Our purpose for staying here was to go visit the Wooly Mammoth Site the next morning.  In 1974, a construction worker, George Hanson, unearthed unusual bones while the area was being prepared for a new subdivision. 

The weather looked quite ominous at times, but we always seemed to be either in front of it or it had already passed over us.

Made it South Dakota.  This is Joe's response to "smile".  The silver object around his neck was a device connected with his hearing aids.  It could cut out background noise and also worked as a volume control.

We talked about how Derek would love this train and the others we saw at Siding 7.

One of the old buildings in Hot Springs...

After dinner we drove around this picturesque town and decided that there was just too much to see and that we'd come back another weekend to explore the area.  Called Minnekahta (warm waters) by the original white settlers in 1879, the town's name was changed to Hot Springs in 1886. Earlier, the Lakota and the Cheyenne Indian tribes fought for control of the natural warm waters. Legends tell of a hostile encounter waged in the hills high above the gurgling springs on a peak called Battle Mountain. 

A Messenger arrived from the Great West with news of a wonderful water which, he said, had been touched by the finger of the Great Spirit and would cure all manner of diseases. Indians came to these springs by the thousands.

After a lapse of more than 200 years, the Cheyenne took possession of the springs and built an immense tipi city covering hundreds of acres.

In the following years, the Sioux migrated west and disputed the ownership of the springs. This culminated in a fierce conflict in about 1869, the memory of which is preserved in the name of the eminence to the east, Battle Mountain, where the besieged Cheyenne established fortifications. The Sioux won the battle and possession of the springs which they called wi-wi-la-kah-to (Springs - hot). They called the area Minnekahta (Water - hot) and termed the Black Hills a great "Medicine Home".

Battle Mountain History After the Battle Mountain fight, tradition says the Sioux and Cheyenne agreed to allow the springs to be a health sanctuary to give their sick and lame the benefit of the healing waters. Around 1880, pioneers began to settle the area.

World Famous Sturgis

Outside Sturgis, South Dakota

A buffalo "calling card".

The famous Buffalo Chip campground where thousands of bikers party while at Bike Week.  I can guarantee I will never, ever be there during that time.

Well, we can say we've been to Sturgis (after Bike Week).

Hello North Dakota

I'd never been to North Dakota.  In fact, it was one of the last three states that I'd never stepped foot in.  So, one weekend Joe and I decided to drive into North Dakota and spend the night just so we can say we've eaten and spent the night in that great state.

To prove that I'd made it to North Dakota, I wanted my picture taken.  Since there was no one else around except Joe, I had no choice except him when it came to taking my picture.  (People ask me all the time why aren't there more pictures of me?  These pictures might explain why.  All I wanted was a simple picture of me with the North Dakota sign in the background).

I never got my picture.

I'm about to lose my patience here after several attempts by Joe.  I was about to start praying for some car to come along and maybe take my picture.  No one came.

This is where we had reservations to spend the night.  Population - 1,600+.  Claim to fame - nothing.

Ahh, our home away from home...

This is where we had to eat our dinner.  It used to be a Tastee Freeze and was the only restaurant that was open.  We arrived there at almost 6:30 p.m. and found out they were closing at 7:00 p.m.  Otherwise it would have been gas station/convenience food for us.

On the way home, all we seemed to see was miles and miles and miles of wheat fields.

This is a grave we saw way out in the middle of a field.  Yes, I did try to drive there, but had to turn around when the car started sitting really low and I was afraid we'd get stuck.

A church out in the middle of nowhere.

It appears the church may not have been used for awhile.

Gotta have a restroom for the church.

I loved the entrance to this ranch.

Heading back into South Dakota...

Human artifacts have been found on or near Bear Butte that date back 10,000 years, indicating a long and continuous interest in the mountain.The Cheyenne and Lakota people have maintained a spiritual interest in Bear Butte from their earliest recorded history.
Notable visitors like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull made pilgrimages to the site. In 1857, a council of many Indian nations gathered at Bear Butte to discuss the growing presence of white settlers in the Black Hills.
Violating a treaty of 1868, George Armstrong Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills region in 1874, and according to custom he camped near Bear Butte. Custer verified the rumors of gold in the Black Hills, and Bear Butte then served as an easily identifiable landmark for the rush of invading prospectors and settlers into the region. Indian reaction to the illegal movements of whites into the area was intense and hostile. Ultimately the government reneged on its treaty obligations regarding the Black Hills and instead embarked on a program to confine all northern Plains tribes to reservations.

This area, extending along Bear Butte Creek, was for centuries a select camp site for the Plains Indians, who found here mountain spring water, wood, protection from the bitter north winds, together with much game and wild fruit in season. Here, or nearly adjacent, was held the Grand Council of 1857 attended by many bands of Plains Indians. This council determined to resist white advance into their lands and most particularly the mountainous area, now known as the Black Hills.

Crazy Horse, an Oglalla, then a young man, was inspired by this plan of resistance and vowed to dedicate his life to this cause. While the participants did not strictly adhere to the principles then agreed upon, the hostility and discontent of the next two decades culminated in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.

Ft. Meade, adjacent hereto, first established as Camp Ruhlen in August 1878, was often obliged to house, feed and clothe Indian encampments here. For years Oglallas under Chief Lips claimed this as their abode but with the coming of settlers and the establishment of Reservation boundaries the site was abandoned. Today, mute testimony to the use and extent of this site by the Indians is to be seen in the numerous scars, made by sharpening tools, in the great rock walls to the north and on the huge floodplain boulders lying near the Creek.

9/3/2011 - Daycation Heading To North Dakota

Midway between Newcastle and Four Corners http://www.ultimatewyoming.com/sectionpages/sec3/extras/cambriasaltmine.html

An old abandoned town seen alongside the highway...

We made it to South Dakota...

The town of Deadwood, South Dakota...

The discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 set off one of the last great gold rushes in the country. In 1876, miners moved into the northern Black Hills. That’s where they came across a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold…and Deadwood was born.


Practically overnight, the tiny gold camp boomed into a town that played by its own rules that attracted outlaws, gamblers and gunslingers along with the gold seekers. Wild Bill Hickok was one of those men who came looking for fortune. But just a few short weeks after arriving, he was gunned down while holding a poker hand of aces and eights – forever after known as the Dead Man’s Hand.

Calamity Jane also made a name for herself in these parts and is buried next to Hickok in Mount Moriah Cemetery. Other legends, like Potato Creek Johnny, Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen, created their legends and legacies in this tiny Black Hills town.

After some quick exploring, we had us a picnic lunch at one of the local downtown parks.  We have got to go back and explore Deadwood a lot more.  What a fascinating place.

Next it was on to Belle Fouche http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Fourche,_South_Dakota

Joe standing at the geographical center of the United States!  In 1959, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey officially designated a point 20 miles north of Belle Fourche as the geographic center of the United States. It is the center of the nation because the admission of Alaska and Hawaii  to the United States moved the location of the official center of the nation.

Then it was onward and upward heading to North Dakota along some of the most monotonous and boring road I've ever been on!