We left the RV Park and went straight to a super walmart. The 100 quart cooler is leaking water all over the carpet. We need one that doesn't leak. We stopped at Cracker Barrel to eat lunch. That'll be our big meal of the day. We are still on 70 heading east. Crossed the Mississippi River at 3:11 PM. Almost stopped at another casino, but Daddy couldn't. Find the exit!
We were in a slow traffic line outside of Carbondale, Illinois for quite some time and it is really hot outside-99 degrees with a heat index of 110 degrees. When it gets real hot like that and we don' t run the generator, we feel like smoked sardines in a tin can!!! This slow spell will put us back some on our time.
At 3:39 we saw the arches of St. Louis and the Mississippi River and the Illinois state line. At 4:21 PM the coach turned over to 20,000 miles! It's been a long drive! At 7:21 PM we crossed the Ohio River! We are doing so great! Now we are in Kentucky! At 10:03 PM we crossed into Tennessee, stopped to get gas in Clarksville. We were there for quite some time. the windshield was full of dead bugs and we had to fill up on diesel. Because we let the diesel run below one fourth of a tank, we can't run the generator for the AC. Good thing it is night time and starting to cool off some!!! At 10:43 we are passing Nashville, Tennessee. We are still driving on, not sure how far. Maybe we'll go on to Chattanooga. One of the windshield wipers just broke-time is 11:07PM. The rain is just a drizzle so it won't stop us. Actually, it isn't too bad driving at naught. There are basically only trucks on the highway.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8,2010, Omaha, Neb. To Kansas City, Missouri
We left Harrah's casino this morning headed to Tennessee. At 12:47 AM we crossed the Missouri River again. I believe the Missouri River is longer and covers more territory than the Mississippi River. For months I have been hearing all about the MissourI River from St. Louis. All the way up through Montana.
We are driving down Rt 29 through South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri to meet I 70. Now we are in the town of Boonville, Missouri and stopped at a RV Park that has a bus that takes you to another casino.
Daddy is going by himself tonight. Tomorrow we are off to St. Louis, Missouri.
We are driving down Rt 29 through South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri to meet I 70. Now we are in the town of Boonville, Missouri and stopped at a RV Park that has a bus that takes you to another casino.
Daddy is going by himself tonight. Tomorrow we are off to St. Louis, Missouri.
Saturday, August 7, 2010, Mitchell, SD to Omaha, Nebraska
Today, we will drive through Sioux Falls, SD, then onto Yankton, SD which was the territorial capital at the time of Wild Bill Hickok. Then on to Vermillion, SD and into Iowa. The state of South Dakota was an extremely wide state. Jenny gave me Daphne's phone number from my house, so I was able to talk to her. They actually live too far away for us to visit, but we had a good long talk!
We stopped at a Harrah's. Casino outside of Omaha, Nebraska just over the line from Iowa. It was a really nice casino and they were crowded. Every slot machine had a person sitting down at it; even the high limit slots! We ate dinner at the buffet and it was delicious! This casino has it's own RV Park and we were surprised how many RVs were parked there. It was really nice and thank heaven our AC is working. They are in the middle of a heat wave here! Maybe, it's God getting us prepared for Florida weather!
We stopped at a Harrah's. Casino outside of Omaha, Nebraska just over the line from Iowa. It was a really nice casino and they were crowded. Every slot machine had a person sitting down at it; even the high limit slots! We ate dinner at the buffet and it was delicious! This casino has it's own RV Park and we were surprised how many RVs were parked there. It was really nice and thank heaven our AC is working. They are in the middle of a heat wave here! Maybe, it's God getting us prepared for Florida weather!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Thursday, August 6, 2010, Mount Rushmore to Mitchell, SD
We are on the road again and it's 9:25 AM. It's going to be long drive today. The weather has been getting warmer the further south we go. We were really used to the high of 74 degrees. We have stopped at many Walmarts on the way to pick up a few groceries. Many of the RV Parks are really nice. The state of South Dakota is a really wide state and we were in the far southwestern end and have to drive to the south eastern end where it touches Iowa for a short while. We are still seeing millions of motorcycles going west.
The RV Park here in Mitchell, SD, is actually a suburb of Sioux Falls, SD and is a wooded park like setting on the James River. The owners are really nice. They have some stuffed animals in their office: a wild turkey, several pheasants, and a cross between a chicken and a pheasant . He is black and white in the same pattern as a pheasant is, only in brown and white. So he is beautifully marked. He has a neck that is all black and looks like velvet . When he was in too much danger that the foxes would kill and eat him, they had their vet put him to sleep and had him stuffed. He is absolutely gorgeous.
The mosquitoes are still bad and so are the flies! We are on our way home and will drive to Omaha, Nebraska tomorrow.
The RV Park here in Mitchell, SD, is actually a suburb of Sioux Falls, SD and is a wooded park like setting on the James River. The owners are really nice. They have some stuffed animals in their office: a wild turkey, several pheasants, and a cross between a chicken and a pheasant . He is black and white in the same pattern as a pheasant is, only in brown and white. So he is beautifully marked. He has a neck that is all black and looks like velvet . When he was in too much danger that the foxes would kill and eat him, they had their vet put him to sleep and had him stuffed. He is absolutely gorgeous.
The mosquitoes are still bad and so are the flies! We are on our way home and will drive to Omaha, Nebraska tomorrow.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010, Deadwood, South Dakota
Today we are going into Deadwood early to be able to visit the Adams Museum before we leave this town. Yesterday when it hailed so bad, the museum closed for the rest of the day. Everybody is outside today cleaning the debris off their stoops! The mud, rocks and branches went everywhere. Downtown wound up getting all of it because they are at the lowest point in the area.
The Adams Museum was very interesting with all of the details and collections of items saved from the gold rush days. They had one of the steam engines that was used to bring the people to Deadwood during the gold rush. They had maps and showed the progression of the town in the beginning when it was just Indian territory and then how it grew and changed once the gold was found. There were pictures of the town in 1876 and some of those included pictures of the residents. One picture showed Calamity Jane standing on the porch of the general store. There were many pictures of the town just after the fire that just about destroyed the whole town. The people were really tough and just turned around and rebuilt it; this time in stone, rock and brick.
There were many items that were found when they excavated the area that was called Chinatown. Many items were the everyday things the Chinese used, such as broken bowls and plates, razors, ribbons, pots, toys and hundred of opium pipes. The Chinese had dug many tunnels under the ground in their section of town to be able to stash their opium. They probably hid down there to use the opium too. This section of town was called the "Badlands" because of the opium and the prostitutes. The bus guide 2 days ago said the tunnels are still there and when he was still in high school him and his friends came to check out these tunnels one night. He said he accidentally bumped into a 12 foot Buddha that scared the heebie-jeebies out of him. Of course, they were in the dark with just flash lights. But teenage boys love adventure!
Last night we went to the re-created Trial of Crooked Nose Jack McCall at the Masonic Lodge. It was put on by some local actors and the Dover Boys Band. They played cowboy and western music and were very good. This is just a sideline for them, they have regular jobs during the day. Some of the extra actors were from the audience. In fact, back in 1876 the jury was taken from a group of miners. So for this mock trial they also used a group of MINORS- children!!!! The sheriff was a 10 year old boy from the audience. He was pretty good with the fake gun he had aimed at Crooked Nose Jack McCall! In the real trial in 1876, McCall said he killed Wild Bill because Wild Bill had killed his adolescent brother in the back when he was stealing food because they had none! So he was just getting him back. He was found "Not Guilty" and told to get out of Deadwood. He left and his sister sent the judge a thank you letter stating he was her only brother and that it was nice that they didn't convict him. So now they had proof that McCall had lied. When they followed him out west, he eventually bragged about killing Wild Bill in a shoot out; face to face. This meant that he could draw his gun faster than Wild Bill. They had caught him. He was put on trial again, found guilty and sent to the Territorial capital of Yankton. So now Wild Bill's murder has been avenged. This was a very entertaining play!!!
Now we are on the road again at 10:23 AM to Rapid City, South Dakota and then on to Mount Rushmore. We are staying at Crooked Creek in Hill City, South Dakota which is only 9 miles from Mount Rushmore. It's amazing but we are still seeing oodles of motorcycles. When Daddy had to stop suddenly because the truck in front of stopped quickly and had no brake lights, the 100 quart cooler slid forward abreast of us.
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore is the largest monument in the world and it was created when the US was at a time of great national challenge with the Great Depression of the 1930s. With unemployment, the dust bowl and poverty so high, the US was at its lowest point, and this is when Borglum was starting the monument. Gutzon Borglum was a well known sculptor, having created many statues of famous Americans and in granite. He had to campaign to raise funds and then petition to Congress for this sculpture when most felt his idea was an unrealistic fantasy. The South Dakota State Historian Doane Robinson originated the concept in 1923, but when Gutzon Borglum had announced publicly that he was ready to begin, the locals didn't support him. Borglum faced monumental challenges building this monument. There were inadequate funds and extremely harsh winters creating roadblocks most of the time.
At first Borglum had considered carving the well known Needles area for the monument because of its granite spires, but when he inspected the rock, he decided against it. Plus, the citizens felt that a huge statue among the Needles or on Harney Peak would be as ridiculous as keeping a live cow in the Capitol Rotunda! When he found Mount Rushmore with its eastern orientation and its smooth grained granite, he realized he found the perfect place. This granite is 1.7 billion years old and the Grizzly Creek that flows through the area originates in the Black Elk Wilderness. These mountains lead to the Rockies and when the glaciers were here during the Ice Age, they deposited boreal plants that do not usually grow this far south. There are 480 species of boreal plants here. All of this area needs to protected. Originally, Doane Robinson had conceived multiple monuments of US legends like Lewis and Clark, Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull and Red Cloud; but Borglum, being so very patriotic, felt the mountain warranted the best of our history. So he decided on Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. They were the most important Presidents in our history up to that time. All four believed that man has the right to be free and never lost sight of that. These four presidents represent the first 150 years of the great experiment in democracy that America is.
President Washington was chosen because he was the "Father of Our Country", assisted in the writing of the Constitution, gave of himself unselfishly to obtain our independence and struggled for our freedom even though it seemed bleak when we were up against the largest and strongest power in the world at that time. In fact, when some colonists felt he should be our King because of his strength and character, he refused. He would not turn his back on freedom and democracy for all men. President Jefferson was chosen because he wrote the Constitution, his idea of government by the people, his "Manifest Destiny"' and his foresight in the purchasing of the Louisiana Purchase. President Lincoln was chosen because of his unfailing belief in equality of all men and in his belief that the US must remain a unified country with permanent borders.He led our country in persevering through this most difficult war. President Theodore Roosevelt was chosen because of his belief in conservation and his accomplishment of securing the role of the US in the 20th century world affairs. Roosevelt had secured over 234 million acres for preservation for our future generations.
On August 10, 1927, Mount Rushmore was dedicated by President Coolidge. Ninety percent of the carving of the monument was done with dynamite. At first, Borglum did not want to use dynamite, but the granite was too hard not to. One half million tons of rock was removed in order to carve the faces. The rock has been left at the base of the mountain to add support and steady the mountain. Originally, Borglum wanted the Presidents to be carved from the waist up. But the funds were not there and Borglum died before he was able to finish the sculpture. His son, Lincoln, had to supervise the completion. Borglum made a huge model before he started carving the rock. This model was one-twelfth the size of the completed sculpture. He devised a system by which the workers could exactly reproduce what he had carved, just 12 times larger. As he went along he changed some things. Originally, Jefferson was to be to Washington's right; but when he started the granite wouldn't support it, so he placed him on Washington's left. Jefferson is portrayed as a 33 year old because that was closer to the time of the Louisiana Purchase. He gave Lincoln a beard because he had one when he was our President. Borglum had trouble with Lincoln's face because there was a flaw in the rock right down his nose. He had to tilt the face so the flaw was under his eye and by his mouth instead of on his nose. It would be more erosion resistant this way. He had the most trouble with Theodore Roosevelt. There was no way to be able to carve eye glasses; so he had to make it look like the glass frames were on the bridge of his nose. So he carved in the bridge of the glasses. It worked. Roosevelt's mustache appears to be blowing in the wind no matter what the weather.
For a little over 5 years Borglum and 400 men carved those colossal faces. The workers were mostly drill dusty miners who hung from boson chairs off the mountain in order to place dynamite into the mountain and carve. They would allow the dynamite to blow twice a day: once just as they went to lunch and the second time as they were leaving work for the day. This way the dust would settle down before they needed to climb up and place more dynamite. Washington's face was revealed and dedicated on July 4, 1930. Jefferson's face was dedicated in 1936; Lincoln's face was dedicated in 1937; and Teddy Roosevelt's face was dedicated in 1939. The final dedication did not come until 50 years after Borglum started because of World War II and Borglum's death slowed the carving process somewhat.
The monument is carefully cared for in order to preserve it for many future generations. In the past they used linseed oil, granite dust and white lead to fill in the many cracks that appear each year because of ground settling. Granite is very hardy and almost erosion resistant. It would take 1000 years to remove a hair width of granite. But Dow Chemical has made #790 silicon sealant which works even better and is less obvious.
Seeing the monument is an awesome experience. It takes your breath away when you see how enormous it really is. If they had complete bodies, they would stand 465 feet tall. George Washington's nose is 60 feet long!!!! All of that skepticism from the naysayers has now changed to awe and amazement. What is even more amazing is that at a time when hunger and unemployment was at its height, these workmen were carving an obscure mountain in South Dakota with an attitude of "can do, won't quit". When you visit you feel that spirit and are proud to part of this great country. Your patriotism becomes revitalized and the surroundings are just so serene and beautiful!
After you enter the gift shop which has a large collection of related items for sale, you walk down the Avenue of Flags. Every state and territory has a flag flying and the marble and granite columns are engraved with the state's name, year it entered the Union and in what numerical order it was admitted. We were surprised that Georgia was the second state admitted. We would have thought it to be Pennsylvania or Virginia. When you walk down the steps to the Visitor Center and Museum, you have many exhibits to view and 2 films on the history of the monument and biographies of the 4 presidents, why Borglum chose those four and stories about the very ordinary men who created this extraordinary sculpture. There are wooded trails of concrete and plank walkways that wind down to walk among the blasted rocks at the base of the mountain, which has just recently opened. This is the closest you can get to the monument. In the Sculptor's Studio is displayed the original models from which Borglum copied the final masterpiece. The original is scaled on a 1 : 12 ratio.
At 9 PM you go sit down in the amphitheatre and watch as the skies darken and shadows are cast across the great faces. They showed a 20 minute movie on Borglum and his mountain. The National Park Ranger asked the audience questions to see how much they knew before they came here. It was funny to hear so many wrong answers. Then everybody sings the "Star Spangled Banner" as the huge spotlights start revealing the four faces. Then they invite all veterans to come down to the stage. There was quite a large crowd of veterans there. Daddy walked down and I got a picture of him, but since we were sitting almost at the top of the amphitheatre, he's kind of hard to see; but I know it's him. They lowered the flag and several of the veterans assisted in the folding. Then they passed the flag to all of the veterans standing in about 5 rows on stage. Every single veteran was given the honor of passing the flag on. A man up to my left in the upper amphitheatre started singing "God Bless America" and lots of us joined in. It was a very moving scene. I was surprised how many people around me didn't know the words and just hummed along or did nothing. When the Park Ranger spoke again she said she was so moved by our singing of that song because she's been working there for 4 years now doing the same job every summer. She had never had an audience voluntarily sing such a patriotic song!!!!! It was really a tear jerker.
Then the monument starts to slowly light up in the dark sky. If you don't keep watching it, you'll miss when it starts. Each minute it gets brighter until it is shining brightly in the very dark South Dakota sky. They are stark white against a black sky.
They say the monument has so many moods depending on the shadows from the sun, times of the day, rain, snow or sleet. Each morning these 4 great faces greet the sun with pride and glory. Because the monument has an easterly orientation, the shadows on the faces are constantly changing all day. This brings mobility and fluidity to the monument. Their eyes are made so they sparkle with the quartz rocks in the granite. You almost feel they can actually see you. The monument can be viewed every day all year except for Christmas. In the summer it opens at 5 AM because the best photos are then. In the winter they delay opening until 6 AM. On the fourth of July at night they have an awesome fireworks display.
The Adams Museum was very interesting with all of the details and collections of items saved from the gold rush days. They had one of the steam engines that was used to bring the people to Deadwood during the gold rush. They had maps and showed the progression of the town in the beginning when it was just Indian territory and then how it grew and changed once the gold was found. There were pictures of the town in 1876 and some of those included pictures of the residents. One picture showed Calamity Jane standing on the porch of the general store. There were many pictures of the town just after the fire that just about destroyed the whole town. The people were really tough and just turned around and rebuilt it; this time in stone, rock and brick.
There were many items that were found when they excavated the area that was called Chinatown. Many items were the everyday things the Chinese used, such as broken bowls and plates, razors, ribbons, pots, toys and hundred of opium pipes. The Chinese had dug many tunnels under the ground in their section of town to be able to stash their opium. They probably hid down there to use the opium too. This section of town was called the "Badlands" because of the opium and the prostitutes. The bus guide 2 days ago said the tunnels are still there and when he was still in high school him and his friends came to check out these tunnels one night. He said he accidentally bumped into a 12 foot Buddha that scared the heebie-jeebies out of him. Of course, they were in the dark with just flash lights. But teenage boys love adventure!
Last night we went to the re-created Trial of Crooked Nose Jack McCall at the Masonic Lodge. It was put on by some local actors and the Dover Boys Band. They played cowboy and western music and were very good. This is just a sideline for them, they have regular jobs during the day. Some of the extra actors were from the audience. In fact, back in 1876 the jury was taken from a group of miners. So for this mock trial they also used a group of MINORS- children!!!! The sheriff was a 10 year old boy from the audience. He was pretty good with the fake gun he had aimed at Crooked Nose Jack McCall! In the real trial in 1876, McCall said he killed Wild Bill because Wild Bill had killed his adolescent brother in the back when he was stealing food because they had none! So he was just getting him back. He was found "Not Guilty" and told to get out of Deadwood. He left and his sister sent the judge a thank you letter stating he was her only brother and that it was nice that they didn't convict him. So now they had proof that McCall had lied. When they followed him out west, he eventually bragged about killing Wild Bill in a shoot out; face to face. This meant that he could draw his gun faster than Wild Bill. They had caught him. He was put on trial again, found guilty and sent to the Territorial capital of Yankton. So now Wild Bill's murder has been avenged. This was a very entertaining play!!!
Now we are on the road again at 10:23 AM to Rapid City, South Dakota and then on to Mount Rushmore. We are staying at Crooked Creek in Hill City, South Dakota which is only 9 miles from Mount Rushmore. It's amazing but we are still seeing oodles of motorcycles. When Daddy had to stop suddenly because the truck in front of stopped quickly and had no brake lights, the 100 quart cooler slid forward abreast of us.
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore is the largest monument in the world and it was created when the US was at a time of great national challenge with the Great Depression of the 1930s. With unemployment, the dust bowl and poverty so high, the US was at its lowest point, and this is when Borglum was starting the monument. Gutzon Borglum was a well known sculptor, having created many statues of famous Americans and in granite. He had to campaign to raise funds and then petition to Congress for this sculpture when most felt his idea was an unrealistic fantasy. The South Dakota State Historian Doane Robinson originated the concept in 1923, but when Gutzon Borglum had announced publicly that he was ready to begin, the locals didn't support him. Borglum faced monumental challenges building this monument. There were inadequate funds and extremely harsh winters creating roadblocks most of the time.
At first Borglum had considered carving the well known Needles area for the monument because of its granite spires, but when he inspected the rock, he decided against it. Plus, the citizens felt that a huge statue among the Needles or on Harney Peak would be as ridiculous as keeping a live cow in the Capitol Rotunda! When he found Mount Rushmore with its eastern orientation and its smooth grained granite, he realized he found the perfect place. This granite is 1.7 billion years old and the Grizzly Creek that flows through the area originates in the Black Elk Wilderness. These mountains lead to the Rockies and when the glaciers were here during the Ice Age, they deposited boreal plants that do not usually grow this far south. There are 480 species of boreal plants here. All of this area needs to protected. Originally, Doane Robinson had conceived multiple monuments of US legends like Lewis and Clark, Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull and Red Cloud; but Borglum, being so very patriotic, felt the mountain warranted the best of our history. So he decided on Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. They were the most important Presidents in our history up to that time. All four believed that man has the right to be free and never lost sight of that. These four presidents represent the first 150 years of the great experiment in democracy that America is.
President Washington was chosen because he was the "Father of Our Country", assisted in the writing of the Constitution, gave of himself unselfishly to obtain our independence and struggled for our freedom even though it seemed bleak when we were up against the largest and strongest power in the world at that time. In fact, when some colonists felt he should be our King because of his strength and character, he refused. He would not turn his back on freedom and democracy for all men. President Jefferson was chosen because he wrote the Constitution, his idea of government by the people, his "Manifest Destiny"' and his foresight in the purchasing of the Louisiana Purchase. President Lincoln was chosen because of his unfailing belief in equality of all men and in his belief that the US must remain a unified country with permanent borders.He led our country in persevering through this most difficult war. President Theodore Roosevelt was chosen because of his belief in conservation and his accomplishment of securing the role of the US in the 20th century world affairs. Roosevelt had secured over 234 million acres for preservation for our future generations.
On August 10, 1927, Mount Rushmore was dedicated by President Coolidge. Ninety percent of the carving of the monument was done with dynamite. At first, Borglum did not want to use dynamite, but the granite was too hard not to. One half million tons of rock was removed in order to carve the faces. The rock has been left at the base of the mountain to add support and steady the mountain. Originally, Borglum wanted the Presidents to be carved from the waist up. But the funds were not there and Borglum died before he was able to finish the sculpture. His son, Lincoln, had to supervise the completion. Borglum made a huge model before he started carving the rock. This model was one-twelfth the size of the completed sculpture. He devised a system by which the workers could exactly reproduce what he had carved, just 12 times larger. As he went along he changed some things. Originally, Jefferson was to be to Washington's right; but when he started the granite wouldn't support it, so he placed him on Washington's left. Jefferson is portrayed as a 33 year old because that was closer to the time of the Louisiana Purchase. He gave Lincoln a beard because he had one when he was our President. Borglum had trouble with Lincoln's face because there was a flaw in the rock right down his nose. He had to tilt the face so the flaw was under his eye and by his mouth instead of on his nose. It would be more erosion resistant this way. He had the most trouble with Theodore Roosevelt. There was no way to be able to carve eye glasses; so he had to make it look like the glass frames were on the bridge of his nose. So he carved in the bridge of the glasses. It worked. Roosevelt's mustache appears to be blowing in the wind no matter what the weather.
For a little over 5 years Borglum and 400 men carved those colossal faces. The workers were mostly drill dusty miners who hung from boson chairs off the mountain in order to place dynamite into the mountain and carve. They would allow the dynamite to blow twice a day: once just as they went to lunch and the second time as they were leaving work for the day. This way the dust would settle down before they needed to climb up and place more dynamite. Washington's face was revealed and dedicated on July 4, 1930. Jefferson's face was dedicated in 1936; Lincoln's face was dedicated in 1937; and Teddy Roosevelt's face was dedicated in 1939. The final dedication did not come until 50 years after Borglum started because of World War II and Borglum's death slowed the carving process somewhat.
The monument is carefully cared for in order to preserve it for many future generations. In the past they used linseed oil, granite dust and white lead to fill in the many cracks that appear each year because of ground settling. Granite is very hardy and almost erosion resistant. It would take 1000 years to remove a hair width of granite. But Dow Chemical has made #790 silicon sealant which works even better and is less obvious.
Seeing the monument is an awesome experience. It takes your breath away when you see how enormous it really is. If they had complete bodies, they would stand 465 feet tall. George Washington's nose is 60 feet long!!!! All of that skepticism from the naysayers has now changed to awe and amazement. What is even more amazing is that at a time when hunger and unemployment was at its height, these workmen were carving an obscure mountain in South Dakota with an attitude of "can do, won't quit". When you visit you feel that spirit and are proud to part of this great country. Your patriotism becomes revitalized and the surroundings are just so serene and beautiful!
After you enter the gift shop which has a large collection of related items for sale, you walk down the Avenue of Flags. Every state and territory has a flag flying and the marble and granite columns are engraved with the state's name, year it entered the Union and in what numerical order it was admitted. We were surprised that Georgia was the second state admitted. We would have thought it to be Pennsylvania or Virginia. When you walk down the steps to the Visitor Center and Museum, you have many exhibits to view and 2 films on the history of the monument and biographies of the 4 presidents, why Borglum chose those four and stories about the very ordinary men who created this extraordinary sculpture. There are wooded trails of concrete and plank walkways that wind down to walk among the blasted rocks at the base of the mountain, which has just recently opened. This is the closest you can get to the monument. In the Sculptor's Studio is displayed the original models from which Borglum copied the final masterpiece. The original is scaled on a 1 : 12 ratio.
At 9 PM you go sit down in the amphitheatre and watch as the skies darken and shadows are cast across the great faces. They showed a 20 minute movie on Borglum and his mountain. The National Park Ranger asked the audience questions to see how much they knew before they came here. It was funny to hear so many wrong answers. Then everybody sings the "Star Spangled Banner" as the huge spotlights start revealing the four faces. Then they invite all veterans to come down to the stage. There was quite a large crowd of veterans there. Daddy walked down and I got a picture of him, but since we were sitting almost at the top of the amphitheatre, he's kind of hard to see; but I know it's him. They lowered the flag and several of the veterans assisted in the folding. Then they passed the flag to all of the veterans standing in about 5 rows on stage. Every single veteran was given the honor of passing the flag on. A man up to my left in the upper amphitheatre started singing "God Bless America" and lots of us joined in. It was a very moving scene. I was surprised how many people around me didn't know the words and just hummed along or did nothing. When the Park Ranger spoke again she said she was so moved by our singing of that song because she's been working there for 4 years now doing the same job every summer. She had never had an audience voluntarily sing such a patriotic song!!!!! It was really a tear jerker.
Then the monument starts to slowly light up in the dark sky. If you don't keep watching it, you'll miss when it starts. Each minute it gets brighter until it is shining brightly in the very dark South Dakota sky. They are stark white against a black sky.
They say the monument has so many moods depending on the shadows from the sun, times of the day, rain, snow or sleet. Each morning these 4 great faces greet the sun with pride and glory. Because the monument has an easterly orientation, the shadows on the faces are constantly changing all day. This brings mobility and fluidity to the monument. Their eyes are made so they sparkle with the quartz rocks in the granite. You almost feel they can actually see you. The monument can be viewed every day all year except for Christmas. In the summer it opens at 5 AM because the best photos are then. In the winter they delay opening until 6 AM. On the fourth of July at night they have an awesome fireworks display.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010, Deadwood, South Dakota
We slept in today because we were up late last night, Anyway, what are vacations for? We were getting ready to take the trolley into town again today to get more sightseeing done. At noon it started raining a little. When I looked to the west I saw extremely dark clouds and told Daddy that what we had was just the prelude to the storm. The wind picked up so much that the coach was shaking and the slides were moving all around. Then we went through a 55 minute hail storm like we have never seen before. The hail was at least the size of quarters and covered the whole RV Park like snow. The hail hitting the RV's roof was so loud we had to yell to hear each other, And it's August 3rd!!!! When I walked to the back of the coach the hail had broken our skylight and the rain and hail were coming into the coach!!! Daddy had to unscrew the whole thing and patch it back together like a puzzle with duct tape! Pat would be proud of the use of his favorite thing! The road beside the RV is a stream of dirty water, branches and rocks flowing very quickly downhill! It is 1 hour later and the grass is still covered with the hail, looking like it snowed.
When we went into town to eat at Miss Kitty's Chinese Restaurant, the streets were covered with all kinds of debris! Several establishments have subterranean caves and one was unlucky enough to have all of the rainwater and hail to pour down their steps and break the plate glass window. The cafe flooded up to the top of the bar and the coke machine was floating! In another stairwell the hail had piled up into a hill 4 foot deep. Check out the pictures. We saw a TV crew filming some of the damage and it was on the local news later that night. The next day we saw where this town had made front page news in the Rapid City newspaper.
Since we missed the trolley we decided to drive into town. We had trouble finding a parking place. When we did, I noticed the lot had a sign that said "from August 5 on only motorcycles are allowed in this lot" There are so many motorcycles here you can't hear each other outside unless you yell! Daddy said there are as many motorcycles as there are piss ants! The fifth wheel beside us at the RV Park must cost a half million dollars by itself! It is huge and has chrome belly boxes that shine so much we can see our rig reflected in it. They have a huge white tractor pulling it with a ferrying behind the cab to allow the air flow to flow smoothly. In the back of the fifth wheel he brought out his toys. He had 2 large motorcycles and 2 more with 3 wheels for the ladies to drive! We have seen more motorcycles than we have seen cars, trucks and RVs combined. There must be a rally somewhere close by. I have seen so many different ways for ladies on motorcycles to wear their hair and so many different kinds of hats for them to wear that I could write a book about it!
When we went into town to eat at Miss Kitty's Chinese Restaurant, the streets were covered with all kinds of debris! Several establishments have subterranean caves and one was unlucky enough to have all of the rainwater and hail to pour down their steps and break the plate glass window. The cafe flooded up to the top of the bar and the coke machine was floating! In another stairwell the hail had piled up into a hill 4 foot deep. Check out the pictures. We saw a TV crew filming some of the damage and it was on the local news later that night. The next day we saw where this town had made front page news in the Rapid City newspaper.
Since we missed the trolley we decided to drive into town. We had trouble finding a parking place. When we did, I noticed the lot had a sign that said "from August 5 on only motorcycles are allowed in this lot" There are so many motorcycles here you can't hear each other outside unless you yell! Daddy said there are as many motorcycles as there are piss ants! The fifth wheel beside us at the RV Park must cost a half million dollars by itself! It is huge and has chrome belly boxes that shine so much we can see our rig reflected in it. They have a huge white tractor pulling it with a ferrying behind the cab to allow the air flow to flow smoothly. In the back of the fifth wheel he brought out his toys. He had 2 large motorcycles and 2 more with 3 wheels for the ladies to drive! We have seen more motorcycles than we have seen cars, trucks and RVs combined. There must be a rally somewhere close by. I have seen so many different ways for ladies on motorcycles to wear their hair and so many different kinds of hats for them to wear that I could write a book about it!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010,TRNP, ND to Deadwood, SD
9:57 AM we left Red Trail Campground in Medora, North Dakota to drive to Deadwood, South Dakota. Today I am 60 years old; maybe I need to stop counting the years. Sometimes I wonder where all the years have gone! 11:39 AM we crossed into South Dakota and the sign was so small we almost missed it. Lots of wheat fields and cattle. We actually saw 1 corn field. Haven't seen them in months!
Deadwood, South Dakota was incorporated in 1876 and named for the dead trees found in the narrow canyon, called Deadwood Gulch. The town was built around Deadwood Gulch and Whitewood Creek in the Black Hills area. Main and Sherman streets are the historic streets of the bustling gold mining town. Main Street was built on 1 side of the creek and Sherman Street on the other.Eventually, Sherman Street was built on top of the creek. Now they are still a gold mining town, but also are known for lumbering and tourism.
Deadwood is located in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. For 10,000 years the Ponca, Kiowa-Apache, Arapahoe, Kiowa and Cheyenne lived here using the hills as the Sacred Vision Quest and for hunting and trade. The Lakota Indian name is "Paha Sopa" which means "hills that are black". The early settlers called it the Laramie Range. From 1771 to 1781 smallpox killed off the Arikara Indians who had kept the Sioux Indians east of the Missouri River. After the 1780s the Sioux became a large presence.
President Cleveland in 1893 created the Black Hills Forest Preservation because of the wildfires that year. In 1905, it was transferred to the National Forest Service and then in 1907 it was given to the US Department of Agriculture. It is covered with ponderosa pine, aspen, burr oak, birch and grassland prairie. There are some spruce but only at the higher elevations. One-seventh of this forest acreage is in Wyoming. Hanley Peak is the tallest peak in South Dakota and the highest peak east of the Rockies. Elk, mule deer, white tailed deer, pronghorns, big horn sheep, mountain goats, coyotes, mountain lions, bald eagles, hawks, osprey and peregrine falcons live here. The population of mountain lions are growing because the populations of deer and elk are large.
The town of Deadwood has many famous names in it's history: Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Colorado Charley Utter, Wyatt Earp, Potato Head Charley and Crooked Nose Jack McCall. Because it had the richest placer claim in North America it became a booming metro with nuggets bigger than " horse turds". In the town of Deadwood there are 85 casinos, one of which is called Midnight Star, owned by Kevin Costner, with a sports bar called Diamond Lil's, movie and costume memorabilia displays of Costner's and a white tablecloth restaurant on the third floor. Originally this building was the 1879 Phoenix Block Building that burned down in 1879 and was the first building rebuilt in brick. For 105 years the first floor
housed the New York Clothing Store and the third floor was removed in the late 1950s. When Costner saw old photos with 3 floors, he wanted it restored with all 3 floors. On the upper floor is the restaurant, Jake's, with a 96 foot skylight featuring premier fine dining. Diamond Lil's is based upon a purely fictitious character who is a bawdy, flirtatious, shapely lady; a combination of Calamity Jane, Poker Alice and Madame Fannie Hill and every known and unknown character rolled into one. We ate lunch at Diamond Lil's and dinner at Jake's. I ordered buffalo at both.
We boarded a bus for a Deadwood City Tour with a guide who knew everything about the town. Six weeks ago they had 8" of snow here. Today it is at least 82 degrees outside; but the bus has AC. The bus driver has a picture of his wife hugging Kevin Costner because he became one of their friends when he filmed "Dances With Wolves". Deadwood is the town the HBO series Deadwood was based on and Unsolved Mysteries did a show on the Bullock Hotel, which they say is haunted. The Sheriff Bullock , who owned the hotel, was 6 foot 6 inches tall in a day when the average man was only 5 foot 4 inches. The Mount Moriah Cemetery is up a very steep winding road above the town with an altitude of almost a mile. The Masons laid out the cemetery so the headstones would face east because all of their bad weather comes from the west; therefore, the engravings on the headstones will last longer because of this. It is also laid out in sections by religions: Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Jewish, and even a Civil War section. There are no Catholics buried here because they were buried at their church cemetery. When smallpox hit this area 350 children died and are buried here. One little girl was from an affluent family who erected a statue of a little girl in bronze in memory of her.
All of the streets have Biblical names and the cemetery is named after a mount in the Bible. There is even a Potters Field where the poor were buried. This area is not maintained because the bodies were only buried about 3 inches down instead of 6 feet. Then rocks were piled on top. The town had to place cement walls around the coffins because when their gully washer rains come, literally the bodies start coming out because of the erosion on the steep hillsides. The first sheriff of Deadwood, John Gray, was buried at the very top of the hill because "He wanted to rise up the very next morning and be able to salute his best friend, Teddy Roosevelt" who is at Mount Rushmore. Since WWI the flag has been flying 24-7 because this town had the largest gold discovery in North America.
When the Chinese immigrated here to be laborers, merchants, laundresses, and cooks, the U.S. Government had to sign a contact with the Chinese Government to ship any Chinese back to their homeland within 10 years of their death. There are only 2 Chinese buried in this cemetery by their own will. Last week a Chinese infant from the last century was found buried underneath a building in the old Chinatown section when they were excavating. The town buried her in this cemetery when the Wong family had a reunion here. It was also when the town had it's "Days of '76 Festival".
Located 1 mile from the cemetery is the Homestake Gold Mine in the town of Lead ( pronounced Leed) because when you search for gold you follow a lead. It is the second largest gold mine in the world; largest in North America. It's tunnels are the deepest in the world with some 8000 feet deep. Potato Creek Johnny was a 4 foot 8 inch tall immigrant who found the largest nugget in Potato Creek. It was in the shape of a lady's leg! From then on he was called Potato Head. It was not uncommon for the bartenders to be sure their hair was greasy because once they handled gold or gold dust they would run their hands through their hair depositing some of the gold. Then later that night they would wash the gold dust out of their hair and keep it! It had to recently close down because when the European economy devalued their money, their gold currency flooded the market making it too costly to mine anymore gold from this mine.
Deadwood's historic buildings were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There are many old Victorian houses complete with the multi colored gingerbread trims. The Midnight Star casino is in the restored 1879 Phoenix Block Building. The citizens have a very good committee for the upkeep of these historic buildings and in charge of where the tax money goes. Even though the 3 vices of historic Deadwood: gambling, gold and gunpowder; are gone, the town committee has allowed limited stakes gambling in their 86 gaming halls. Slots are 1 cent to 1 dollar; they have live black jack and live poker. This has brought enough revenue into the town for it to be successful and alive with tourists. The town looks exactly as it did in the gold rush days with restoration to certain historic guidelines.
We went inside the #10 Saloon to view the re-enactment of Wild Bill Hickok's murder on August 2, 1876, sitting at a poker game. The saloon's floor is covered in sawdust; a wooden beamed ceiling of rough planked dark wood, wooden walls with deer and elk heads and waitresses dressed as if it were the 1870s. The bar is made of old carved mahogany with mirrors behind it. Hanging from the ceiling are kerosene lights with fake crystals hanging from their shades. On the walls are pictures of rodeos and parades. The table is made from a wooden barrel topped with a wooden circle and covered with a tablecloth. Around the table are 3 people (taken from the audience) and the man playing Wild Bill. Being a cautious man Wild Bill always sat with his back to the wall so he could see everyone that walked into the saloon. When the one man already playing would not relinquish his seat to Wild Bill, he wanted to play poker so bad he decided to take a chance and sat down anyway with his back to the front door. Crooked Nose Jack McCall came in and circled the poker table two times pretending to check out every body's hands. On the second time around he shot Wild Bill in the back of his head, killing him instantly. Then McCall ran away to hide in the stables .The bartender came over and poked Wild Bill with a stick to see if he was still alive. When he looked at Wild Bill's cards he saw all black aces and eights. This is now called a "Deadman's Hand". Daddy took my picture with Wild Bill Hickok!
Wild Bill Hickok had many jobs that helped build his reputation well before he arrived in Deadwood. He started as a driver for a freight wagon, but when he was attacked by a bear, he need a new job. During the Civil War he became a scout for the army of the southwest); became a spy, and a Provo Marshall with the ability to infiltrates the south. So he was well known as an excellent gunfighter. He wore his ivory handled guns backwards in the holsters in order to draw faster. He was never a Marshall of Deadwood as the old legends say. In fact, he had only been here for 6 weeks when he was murdered.
In 1876 Deadwood had 200 men to 1 woman; so prostitution was quickly started and readily accepted .Two madams and their girls arrived and promptly set up business. Surprisingly, this profession continued until the 1980s. The Jewish population tried to civilize the town and eventually, years later, they succeeded. Into this arena stepped Calamity Jane and Poker Alice. Calamity Jane was abandoned as a child and did anything to be able to survive, including prostitution. She collected many husbands and children, but she was always on the move. She was 5 foot 10 inches tall( which is tall for even the men of this era) and very homely looking. Only when she was in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show did she wear leather chaps; in real life she wore dresses. Calamity Jane was an illiterate, bawdy, tough and crude woman who eventually died of alcohol poisoning and liver failure when she was 43 years old. She worked with Wild Bill when they both worked in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show; but was never his girlfriend and she wanted to be buried next to him. When she died at 10 minutes to Midnight on August 1, 1903, she was hoping to hold on until the anniversary of Wild Bill's. When she died she was a drunken sot and a prostitute. Poker Alice was almost as homely as Calamity Jane and she lived a very similar life. She had been married 3 or 4 times, was a faro dealer in several towns, a prostitute and a madam.
We had eaten lunch at Costner's Diamond Lil's. Daddy had a taco chicken salad. I had a buffalo burger with French fries! Our diets are shot to hell! Tonight, for my birthday we went to dinner at Costner's fancy restaurant, Jake's. Daddy ordered a rib eye and I ordered a bison steak almost rare! Both meals were yummy!!!!!!! Since it was my birthday I told Daddy the least he could do was fan me. And he actually did it!!!! Check out the picture the waitress took! I was given a free dessert for my birthday- it was rum raisin cheesecake. yummy!!!!!
When we rode the trolley back to the RV Park, there was a group of senior adults in the back of the trolley that must have been 3 sheets to the wind!!! They were singing songs and not in tune! But they were really funny! it's funny. I was so apprehensive about this town because I never enjoyed watching the HBO show, Deadwood, because of the bad language permeating it. But this town is one that we will come back to. In the winter they have 2 ski resorts that are close by.
Deadwood, South Dakota was incorporated in 1876 and named for the dead trees found in the narrow canyon, called Deadwood Gulch. The town was built around Deadwood Gulch and Whitewood Creek in the Black Hills area. Main and Sherman streets are the historic streets of the bustling gold mining town. Main Street was built on 1 side of the creek and Sherman Street on the other.Eventually, Sherman Street was built on top of the creek. Now they are still a gold mining town, but also are known for lumbering and tourism.
Deadwood is located in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. For 10,000 years the Ponca, Kiowa-Apache, Arapahoe, Kiowa and Cheyenne lived here using the hills as the Sacred Vision Quest and for hunting and trade. The Lakota Indian name is "Paha Sopa" which means "hills that are black". The early settlers called it the Laramie Range. From 1771 to 1781 smallpox killed off the Arikara Indians who had kept the Sioux Indians east of the Missouri River. After the 1780s the Sioux became a large presence.
President Cleveland in 1893 created the Black Hills Forest Preservation because of the wildfires that year. In 1905, it was transferred to the National Forest Service and then in 1907 it was given to the US Department of Agriculture. It is covered with ponderosa pine, aspen, burr oak, birch and grassland prairie. There are some spruce but only at the higher elevations. One-seventh of this forest acreage is in Wyoming. Hanley Peak is the tallest peak in South Dakota and the highest peak east of the Rockies. Elk, mule deer, white tailed deer, pronghorns, big horn sheep, mountain goats, coyotes, mountain lions, bald eagles, hawks, osprey and peregrine falcons live here. The population of mountain lions are growing because the populations of deer and elk are large.
The town of Deadwood has many famous names in it's history: Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Colorado Charley Utter, Wyatt Earp, Potato Head Charley and Crooked Nose Jack McCall. Because it had the richest placer claim in North America it became a booming metro with nuggets bigger than " horse turds". In the town of Deadwood there are 85 casinos, one of which is called Midnight Star, owned by Kevin Costner, with a sports bar called Diamond Lil's, movie and costume memorabilia displays of Costner's and a white tablecloth restaurant on the third floor. Originally this building was the 1879 Phoenix Block Building that burned down in 1879 and was the first building rebuilt in brick. For 105 years the first floor
housed the New York Clothing Store and the third floor was removed in the late 1950s. When Costner saw old photos with 3 floors, he wanted it restored with all 3 floors. On the upper floor is the restaurant, Jake's, with a 96 foot skylight featuring premier fine dining. Diamond Lil's is based upon a purely fictitious character who is a bawdy, flirtatious, shapely lady; a combination of Calamity Jane, Poker Alice and Madame Fannie Hill and every known and unknown character rolled into one. We ate lunch at Diamond Lil's and dinner at Jake's. I ordered buffalo at both.
We boarded a bus for a Deadwood City Tour with a guide who knew everything about the town. Six weeks ago they had 8" of snow here. Today it is at least 82 degrees outside; but the bus has AC. The bus driver has a picture of his wife hugging Kevin Costner because he became one of their friends when he filmed "Dances With Wolves". Deadwood is the town the HBO series Deadwood was based on and Unsolved Mysteries did a show on the Bullock Hotel, which they say is haunted. The Sheriff Bullock , who owned the hotel, was 6 foot 6 inches tall in a day when the average man was only 5 foot 4 inches. The Mount Moriah Cemetery is up a very steep winding road above the town with an altitude of almost a mile. The Masons laid out the cemetery so the headstones would face east because all of their bad weather comes from the west; therefore, the engravings on the headstones will last longer because of this. It is also laid out in sections by religions: Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Jewish, and even a Civil War section. There are no Catholics buried here because they were buried at their church cemetery. When smallpox hit this area 350 children died and are buried here. One little girl was from an affluent family who erected a statue of a little girl in bronze in memory of her.
All of the streets have Biblical names and the cemetery is named after a mount in the Bible. There is even a Potters Field where the poor were buried. This area is not maintained because the bodies were only buried about 3 inches down instead of 6 feet. Then rocks were piled on top. The town had to place cement walls around the coffins because when their gully washer rains come, literally the bodies start coming out because of the erosion on the steep hillsides. The first sheriff of Deadwood, John Gray, was buried at the very top of the hill because "He wanted to rise up the very next morning and be able to salute his best friend, Teddy Roosevelt" who is at Mount Rushmore. Since WWI the flag has been flying 24-7 because this town had the largest gold discovery in North America.
When the Chinese immigrated here to be laborers, merchants, laundresses, and cooks, the U.S. Government had to sign a contact with the Chinese Government to ship any Chinese back to their homeland within 10 years of their death. There are only 2 Chinese buried in this cemetery by their own will. Last week a Chinese infant from the last century was found buried underneath a building in the old Chinatown section when they were excavating. The town buried her in this cemetery when the Wong family had a reunion here. It was also when the town had it's "Days of '76 Festival".
Located 1 mile from the cemetery is the Homestake Gold Mine in the town of Lead ( pronounced Leed) because when you search for gold you follow a lead. It is the second largest gold mine in the world; largest in North America. It's tunnels are the deepest in the world with some 8000 feet deep. Potato Creek Johnny was a 4 foot 8 inch tall immigrant who found the largest nugget in Potato Creek. It was in the shape of a lady's leg! From then on he was called Potato Head. It was not uncommon for the bartenders to be sure their hair was greasy because once they handled gold or gold dust they would run their hands through their hair depositing some of the gold. Then later that night they would wash the gold dust out of their hair and keep it! It had to recently close down because when the European economy devalued their money, their gold currency flooded the market making it too costly to mine anymore gold from this mine.
Deadwood's historic buildings were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There are many old Victorian houses complete with the multi colored gingerbread trims. The Midnight Star casino is in the restored 1879 Phoenix Block Building. The citizens have a very good committee for the upkeep of these historic buildings and in charge of where the tax money goes. Even though the 3 vices of historic Deadwood: gambling, gold and gunpowder; are gone, the town committee has allowed limited stakes gambling in their 86 gaming halls. Slots are 1 cent to 1 dollar; they have live black jack and live poker. This has brought enough revenue into the town for it to be successful and alive with tourists. The town looks exactly as it did in the gold rush days with restoration to certain historic guidelines.
We went inside the #10 Saloon to view the re-enactment of Wild Bill Hickok's murder on August 2, 1876, sitting at a poker game. The saloon's floor is covered in sawdust; a wooden beamed ceiling of rough planked dark wood, wooden walls with deer and elk heads and waitresses dressed as if it were the 1870s. The bar is made of old carved mahogany with mirrors behind it. Hanging from the ceiling are kerosene lights with fake crystals hanging from their shades. On the walls are pictures of rodeos and parades. The table is made from a wooden barrel topped with a wooden circle and covered with a tablecloth. Around the table are 3 people (taken from the audience) and the man playing Wild Bill. Being a cautious man Wild Bill always sat with his back to the wall so he could see everyone that walked into the saloon. When the one man already playing would not relinquish his seat to Wild Bill, he wanted to play poker so bad he decided to take a chance and sat down anyway with his back to the front door. Crooked Nose Jack McCall came in and circled the poker table two times pretending to check out every body's hands. On the second time around he shot Wild Bill in the back of his head, killing him instantly. Then McCall ran away to hide in the stables .The bartender came over and poked Wild Bill with a stick to see if he was still alive. When he looked at Wild Bill's cards he saw all black aces and eights. This is now called a "Deadman's Hand". Daddy took my picture with Wild Bill Hickok!
Wild Bill Hickok had many jobs that helped build his reputation well before he arrived in Deadwood. He started as a driver for a freight wagon, but when he was attacked by a bear, he need a new job. During the Civil War he became a scout for the army of the southwest); became a spy, and a Provo Marshall with the ability to infiltrates the south. So he was well known as an excellent gunfighter. He wore his ivory handled guns backwards in the holsters in order to draw faster. He was never a Marshall of Deadwood as the old legends say. In fact, he had only been here for 6 weeks when he was murdered.
In 1876 Deadwood had 200 men to 1 woman; so prostitution was quickly started and readily accepted .Two madams and their girls arrived and promptly set up business. Surprisingly, this profession continued until the 1980s. The Jewish population tried to civilize the town and eventually, years later, they succeeded. Into this arena stepped Calamity Jane and Poker Alice. Calamity Jane was abandoned as a child and did anything to be able to survive, including prostitution. She collected many husbands and children, but she was always on the move. She was 5 foot 10 inches tall( which is tall for even the men of this era) and very homely looking. Only when she was in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show did she wear leather chaps; in real life she wore dresses. Calamity Jane was an illiterate, bawdy, tough and crude woman who eventually died of alcohol poisoning and liver failure when she was 43 years old. She worked with Wild Bill when they both worked in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show; but was never his girlfriend and she wanted to be buried next to him. When she died at 10 minutes to Midnight on August 1, 1903, she was hoping to hold on until the anniversary of Wild Bill's. When she died she was a drunken sot and a prostitute. Poker Alice was almost as homely as Calamity Jane and she lived a very similar life. She had been married 3 or 4 times, was a faro dealer in several towns, a prostitute and a madam.
We had eaten lunch at Costner's Diamond Lil's. Daddy had a taco chicken salad. I had a buffalo burger with French fries! Our diets are shot to hell! Tonight, for my birthday we went to dinner at Costner's fancy restaurant, Jake's. Daddy ordered a rib eye and I ordered a bison steak almost rare! Both meals were yummy!!!!!!! Since it was my birthday I told Daddy the least he could do was fan me. And he actually did it!!!! Check out the picture the waitress took! I was given a free dessert for my birthday- it was rum raisin cheesecake. yummy!!!!!
When we rode the trolley back to the RV Park, there was a group of senior adults in the back of the trolley that must have been 3 sheets to the wind!!! They were singing songs and not in tune! But they were really funny! it's funny. I was so apprehensive about this town because I never enjoyed watching the HBO show, Deadwood, because of the bad language permeating it. But this town is one that we will come back to. In the winter they have 2 ski resorts that are close by.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Saturday, August 1, 2010; Williston, ND to Medora, ND
We left the Walmart lot at 11:57 AM because we slept until 10AM from the long drive yesterday. We are on our way to Medora, ND where the northern entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park is located. This area is called the Badlands, a deeply eroded barren land with endless seas of grasses, buttes, draws, coulees and canyons. A coulee is a dry water gulch. It is a desolate land full of extremes. The Mandan and Hidasta Indians called it "mako sica" meaning lands bad- not good for anything. They lived east of the park near water. They only came here to hunt buffalo, elk and deer; the land would not support a village and with no available water they couldn't grow anything. It was also very hard to traverse this land. It is covered with multi colored peaks and spires created by erosion that rise up quickly. They receice only 14" of rain a year and that in the form of gully washers and maybe 30" of snow in winter that blows everywhere. The winds are relentless with nthing to block it. There are few sounds here; just the wind, insects buzzing and the ocassional cry of a golden eagle. Being a land of extremes the temperatures extend from -40 degrees to 120 degrees! Not a very hospitable place!
Sixty million years ago the Rockies rose, volcanoes erupted and the ash flowed into the forests and swamps. Now there is lignite there which is evidence of lush life here 60 million years ago. Then the land turned semiarid. The Little Missouri River started in the Black Hills of Wyoming. The French fur trappers were the first Europeans to try to live here. Fort Union was established as a trade station for the trappers and the Indians. The granite boulders (called erratics) here were left from the ice age glaciers. These erratics will just appear out of nowhere. The northern unit of the park is the more rugged of the two.
When Teddy Roosevelt came here in 1883 to bisn hunt he fell in love with the rugged lifestyle of the land. By this time the buffalo were almost extinct; but he saw the possibility of cattle ranching. He bought out an existing ranch, the Maltese Cross Ranch for $14,000 and hired on the original owners to help operate it, and added to it until it became the Elkhorn Ranch. He came for months on end for soul healing when he lost both his mother and his wife on the same day, February 14, 1884.During the extreme winter of 1886 -1887 he lost 1000s of his cattle to starvation and decided it wasn't profitable; but he still loved the land because being such an extreme and forbidding place, it looked like it didn't belong to the earth.
Originally Teddy wanted 2030 square miles for the national park, but the National Park Service didn't want it; the state government didn't want it; so the U.S. Fish and Wildlife finally picked it up in 1946. During the depression the CCC built roads and a camp and they were able to add some land because many people left when they couldn't make a living here. From 1918 to the 1930s Peaceful Valley Ranch was built as a Dude Ranch. In the 1930s the Northern unit was made a park. On April 25, 1947 President Truman made it Teddy Roosevelt National Memorial Park and it included the Southern unit and Elkhorn Ranch. On June 12, 1948, the Northern unit was added. It is the only one of its kind in the world. It was dedicated on June 4, 1949 as a Memorial Park. President Carter on November 10, 1978 made it a National Park and added the Oxbow area (an end of the road) with another 29,920 acres of wilderness to the park under the National Wilderness Preservation Act. It has some very unique flora: cottonwood trees, horsetail, silver sagebrush and fauna. The buffalo have been reintroduced here and are a wild herd. In 1996 they also reintroduced native big horn sheep that had previously been eliminated. Also here are mule deer and white tailed deer, prairie dogs, elk, pronghorns, longhorns, coyotes, bobcats, sharp billed grousse, wild turkeys and golden eagles. Now it totals 70,448 acres, with 110 square miles in 3 sections. In the area called Buck Hill we were able to see 100s of bison in a wild herd grazing way off in the distance where no roads go. Also we saw a wild horse herd far away and later just in front of the car as they crossed the road. Check out the pictures.
Sixty million years ago the Rockies rose, volcanoes erupted and the ash flowed into the forests and swamps. Now there is lignite there which is evidence of lush life here 60 million years ago. Then the land turned semiarid. The Little Missouri River started in the Black Hills of Wyoming. The French fur trappers were the first Europeans to try to live here. Fort Union was established as a trade station for the trappers and the Indians. The granite boulders (called erratics) here were left from the ice age glaciers. These erratics will just appear out of nowhere. The northern unit of the park is the more rugged of the two.
When Teddy Roosevelt came here in 1883 to bisn hunt he fell in love with the rugged lifestyle of the land. By this time the buffalo were almost extinct; but he saw the possibility of cattle ranching. He bought out an existing ranch, the Maltese Cross Ranch for $14,000 and hired on the original owners to help operate it, and added to it until it became the Elkhorn Ranch. He came for months on end for soul healing when he lost both his mother and his wife on the same day, February 14, 1884.During the extreme winter of 1886 -1887 he lost 1000s of his cattle to starvation and decided it wasn't profitable; but he still loved the land because being such an extreme and forbidding place, it looked like it didn't belong to the earth.
Originally Teddy wanted 2030 square miles for the national park, but the National Park Service didn't want it; the state government didn't want it; so the U.S. Fish and Wildlife finally picked it up in 1946. During the depression the CCC built roads and a camp and they were able to add some land because many people left when they couldn't make a living here. From 1918 to the 1930s Peaceful Valley Ranch was built as a Dude Ranch. In the 1930s the Northern unit was made a park. On April 25, 1947 President Truman made it Teddy Roosevelt National Memorial Park and it included the Southern unit and Elkhorn Ranch. On June 12, 1948, the Northern unit was added. It is the only one of its kind in the world. It was dedicated on June 4, 1949 as a Memorial Park. President Carter on November 10, 1978 made it a National Park and added the Oxbow area (an end of the road) with another 29,920 acres of wilderness to the park under the National Wilderness Preservation Act. It has some very unique flora: cottonwood trees, horsetail, silver sagebrush and fauna. The buffalo have been reintroduced here and are a wild herd. In 1996 they also reintroduced native big horn sheep that had previously been eliminated. Also here are mule deer and white tailed deer, prairie dogs, elk, pronghorns, longhorns, coyotes, bobcats, sharp billed grousse, wild turkeys and golden eagles. Now it totals 70,448 acres, with 110 square miles in 3 sections. In the area called Buck Hill we were able to see 100s of bison in a wild herd grazing way off in the distance where no roads go. Also we saw a wild horse herd far away and later just in front of the car as they crossed the road. Check out the pictures.
Saturday, July 31, 2010; Saskatoon to Williston, N.D.
We left Saskatoon for Regina and the BORDER. The flatlands of wheat are slowly blending into foothills. There are cattle grazing and a garden of cabbage, broccoli, and turnips growing amongst the wheat fields.
The town of Regina(with a long I) was originally called "Pile of Bones" because there were millions of buffalo bones left there by the native Indians and European hunters. When Queen Victoria was going to visit they renamed the town in honor of her- Regina is Latin for Victoria. Queen Victoria was the monarch in 1883. The railroad came here and the town became the capital of the Northwest Territories. The Mounties made their headquarters here establishing peace and stability. In 10905 the province of Saskatchewan was formed and Regina became the capital. At the beginning of the 20th century immigrants came from Great Britain, Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia and claimed land described as river fed Prairie for $1.00 Canadian.
The town has a 2000 acre park around an enlarged Wanaca Creek to become the Wanaca Lake. All of the town's colleges and universities, museums, government buildings are here together. They have very large gardens with huge shrubs the size of my front yard with metalwork added to make it look like a grasshopper that is at least 15 feet long!
4:39 PM and we are at the US-Canada Border!!! The officials needed to come inside the RV to check for citrus, tomatoes and peppers. Canada has canker in their citrus and white bugs in their tomatoes and peppers. When I cut open the tomatoes, they were fine so we were allowed to keep them. Daddy said they probably came into the RV because they don't have much to do.
The land here is hillier and undeveloped; unlike this same area in Southern Canada. We are almost out of gas and the officials said we wouldn't make it to the nearest gas station. They told us of a place where they fill up their vehicles and they have a credit card machine. So now we need to make a 16 mile side trip to get diesel because the next station is 70 miles away! We had to drive out of North Dakota into Montana to find a place 16 miles away; but it was locked and we are in the middle of nowhere! The wind has just gusted really high with a little rain. The coach is shaking so hard we lost the Sirius radio station. We're going to wait out the storm first. We went over the hill because I saw a grain elevator. Sure enough, just before the town of Westby, Montana, there are pumps with a credit card machine.
We filled up and had to drive back over the line again to be able to head down to Williston, North Dakota. During the wind storm the black cows in the field are all huddled together against the wind. Some of the fields have tall trees planted in a long row to act as a wind break. Then we saw a double rainbow!
7:45 PM we drove into a Walmart and we are going to stay here for the night. It's been a long day. We found an Applebees and heard they had stock car races in town. You could hear the cars racing from the Walmart lot as we were going to sleep. Our waitress told us about a really nice place to go fishing here: Beavers Bay and Whiters Bay. You go past Applebees to #1804. On University turn right; go 6-7 blocks to #1804 Scenic Sports to get a fishing license. It's 46 miles south of Madarin, North Dakota on highway #6.
We went to bed at 1:30 AM mountain time!
The town of Regina(with a long I) was originally called "Pile of Bones" because there were millions of buffalo bones left there by the native Indians and European hunters. When Queen Victoria was going to visit they renamed the town in honor of her- Regina is Latin for Victoria. Queen Victoria was the monarch in 1883. The railroad came here and the town became the capital of the Northwest Territories. The Mounties made their headquarters here establishing peace and stability. In 10905 the province of Saskatchewan was formed and Regina became the capital. At the beginning of the 20th century immigrants came from Great Britain, Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia and claimed land described as river fed Prairie for $1.00 Canadian.
The town has a 2000 acre park around an enlarged Wanaca Creek to become the Wanaca Lake. All of the town's colleges and universities, museums, government buildings are here together. They have very large gardens with huge shrubs the size of my front yard with metalwork added to make it look like a grasshopper that is at least 15 feet long!
4:39 PM and we are at the US-Canada Border!!! The officials needed to come inside the RV to check for citrus, tomatoes and peppers. Canada has canker in their citrus and white bugs in their tomatoes and peppers. When I cut open the tomatoes, they were fine so we were allowed to keep them. Daddy said they probably came into the RV because they don't have much to do.
The land here is hillier and undeveloped; unlike this same area in Southern Canada. We are almost out of gas and the officials said we wouldn't make it to the nearest gas station. They told us of a place where they fill up their vehicles and they have a credit card machine. So now we need to make a 16 mile side trip to get diesel because the next station is 70 miles away! We had to drive out of North Dakota into Montana to find a place 16 miles away; but it was locked and we are in the middle of nowhere! The wind has just gusted really high with a little rain. The coach is shaking so hard we lost the Sirius radio station. We're going to wait out the storm first. We went over the hill because I saw a grain elevator. Sure enough, just before the town of Westby, Montana, there are pumps with a credit card machine.
We filled up and had to drive back over the line again to be able to head down to Williston, North Dakota. During the wind storm the black cows in the field are all huddled together against the wind. Some of the fields have tall trees planted in a long row to act as a wind break. Then we saw a double rainbow!
7:45 PM we drove into a Walmart and we are going to stay here for the night. It's been a long day. We found an Applebees and heard they had stock car races in town. You could hear the cars racing from the Walmart lot as we were going to sleep. Our waitress told us about a really nice place to go fishing here: Beavers Bay and Whiters Bay. You go past Applebees to #1804. On University turn right; go 6-7 blocks to #1804 Scenic Sports to get a fishing license. It's 46 miles south of Madarin, North Dakota on highway #6.
We went to bed at 1:30 AM mountain time!
Friday,July,30,2010; 343 mi; Edmonton to Saskatoon
Leaving Edmonton at 9:33 AM to arrive in Saskatoon, both in Saskatchewan Province. We still have lots of mosquitoes. I killed 30 at least this morning inside the coach. We also need ICE for the cooler. ICE is not readily available in Canada. I guess they figure it never gets hot enough! They call gas stations - "gas bars" and cash registers are "tills". There are many rolling hills of fields and the signs say-"Saskatchewan- living life large!" We finally found some ice at a small Walmart, but the cubes are not like ours and the bags are all only 5 pounds! We found diesel at a great price at a "Flying J Gas Bar". I drove for one and 3/4 hours. Outside of Lloydminster, we were pulled over by a Canadian Trooper because Daddy was slightly weaving on the curvy roads and some guy behind us called it in. We were just reading the map on the garmin.
Saskatoon is the largest city in the Saskatchewan Province with a population of 22,927 and nicknamed the City of Bridges because there are 7 bridges across the South Saskatchewan River. The river divides the city in half diagonally and reminded us of Paris and the Seine with the left and right banks. It's buildings are old and made of rock and brick and many old churches. It was founded in 1882 by a group of Ontario Methodists who were given 200,000 acres to build a temperance colony. But, they only controlled half of the land and eventually the town was "wet". In 1890 the railroad arrived and now this city is a major transportation hub. They have 3 resources that they export: potash, oil and wheat. Potash is a mineral that is mixed with something to make fertilizer. Today it is also a hightec hub of the agricultural industry with a hotbed of scientific research.
Saskatoon has a thriving theatre scene. We went to the International Fringe Festival in the 25th Street Theatre Centre on Broadway. They have a large population of "Off Broadway" performers that travel the world and are here for the summer. The festival has several shows (comedy and drama) being performed in old theatres, street dancers and jugglers with fire and on stilts, satellite restaurant booths and booths with items for sale, with some items being very ecletic. The festival lasts for 10 days. This was a very unique experience!!!
We drove 343 miles today.
Saskatoon is the largest city in the Saskatchewan Province with a population of 22,927 and nicknamed the City of Bridges because there are 7 bridges across the South Saskatchewan River. The river divides the city in half diagonally and reminded us of Paris and the Seine with the left and right banks. It's buildings are old and made of rock and brick and many old churches. It was founded in 1882 by a group of Ontario Methodists who were given 200,000 acres to build a temperance colony. But, they only controlled half of the land and eventually the town was "wet". In 1890 the railroad arrived and now this city is a major transportation hub. They have 3 resources that they export: potash, oil and wheat. Potash is a mineral that is mixed with something to make fertilizer. Today it is also a hightec hub of the agricultural industry with a hotbed of scientific research.
Saskatoon has a thriving theatre scene. We went to the International Fringe Festival in the 25th Street Theatre Centre on Broadway. They have a large population of "Off Broadway" performers that travel the world and are here for the summer. The festival has several shows (comedy and drama) being performed in old theatres, street dancers and jugglers with fire and on stilts, satellite restaurant booths and booths with items for sale, with some items being very ecletic. The festival lasts for 10 days. This was a very unique experience!!!
We drove 343 miles today.
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