Bullock Hotel Deadwood

... the limestone cliffs of the canyon, on both sides of the road, and it's spectacularly beautiful. I scoped out the canyon Saturday evening, then went back Sunday morning to get the best shots I could. I went to the Roughlock Falls area this time, for the first time. Roughlock Falls is really a triple falls and I was impressed with how beautiful that canyon is. I'm going to go back ...

Today's drive was a lot better than yesterdays. South Dakota reminds us of home a little. Lots of mountains, trees and wildlife, beautiful. We made our way into the Black Hills Nat. Forest, and stopped in a old west town, Deadwood. Which is where Wild Bill was shot. Pretty much just another touristy town filled with shops and a few museums, which of course we ...

Yesterday was a learning experience....in preparation and patience. We started out the morning at our little bunkhouse in Thermopolis, WY. We then went to the Dinosaur Museum where Jimbo, Wyoming's biggest found dinosaur to date lives. He's a longneck. The girls squealed with excitement when they saw "baby maiasaurus" who "Diego" introduced them to in his "Great Dinosaur eadventure. I have some cool pics to be uploaded ...

... up on time for breakfast. Only had noodles this time because the inn didn't offer continental breakfast. Oh well! We then left for the national park again in the morning. It was amazing to see how huge the park was because it took TWO hours to get to the north side of the park for Big Mammoth springs! We were coming from the south side, by the way.

In Big Mammoth springs, we were able to witness the beauty and the smell of hot springs in their glory! It was sad to see ...

... to you??”) He took nearly half-an-hour with us waiting behind him. He also hogged the windshield wash brush, even after we had gone on to another pump. He might as well have washed the whole car with it (which Christen did once as a teenager and got yelled at for it by the QuickTrip man, but that is another story…). His wife was just as bad. She went inside and cut in front of Christen in the bathroom line, only to ...

... without incident and without seeing any wildlife. We made a decision on the fly to stop in Deadwood, the real life version of the HBO TV series. Upon checking into a small family run motel, we headed down town for a feed. The front dest at the motel recommended the Gem Theatre. Anyone who has seen the HBO series knows about the seedy history of that particular establishment. We (read - Craig) had to go. Sure the ...

... in Deadwood.

As I was on my own, they invited me to join them for dinner so I went along and we had a couple of bottles of wine and a nice meal, which they ended up paying for!! After dinner I went to the Silverado casino and played on the tables for a couple of hours before finally stumbling back to the hotel. The couple I met didnt come along to the Casino as by the time dinner finished the Mrs was hammered, so they went back to their hotel instead.

Day 319 Wednesday 14/09/05 Cody Stop 1 today is the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre. It is a collection of 5 different museums - a Buffalo Museum housing all sorts of BB memorabilia and stories, a Plains Indian museum, a gun museum, a Natural History Museum and a Western Art Museum. It was interesting to learn about all the different things that Billy (we can call him that as we know him now) did - from Pony Express rider, army scout, hunter & trapper (he was a famous buffalo hunter ...

... I'm goofing off or needlessly chastising the Americans. When we got further south, the bikers became more apparent. They were all soaring down the highways, not a helmet in sight, some looking menacing covered in tattoos, chest-length beards and more black leather than should be allowed to be worn in the hot sun. Others I can only describe as weekend bikers, the sort like my Dad who bought a chrome decorated bike in a mid-life moment ...

I left the last nights Moon Campground and didn't go very far. I did take a photo of an old shack and then stopped at another national forest campground-Beaver Creek, a mere 11.6 miles. I was having vehicle problems again and I spent a good part of the day doing maintenance. This consisted of various tune-up tasks again as I must not of solved the problem a few days ago ...