Just north of Deadwood is Belle Fourche, the geographical center of America. In my quest for these geographic places I was surprised since I thought the geographic center was in Kansas. The sign explains that the geographical center of the 48 states is in Kansas and after Hawaii and Alaska were admitted, a recalculation by NOAA designated the geographic center
As we left Deadwood we made a list of our reflections – one word, phrases, or general impressions. Liked it better as time went on – first impression was “tacky” Loved the old buildings Public library needs a new microfilm reader Friendly Steeped in history Pedestrian friendly Safe Biker friendly (no helmet law in SD)
Mom and I took the one-hour bus tour of Deadwood and the Mount Moriah Cemetery. We learned about the history of Deadwood from the tour guide/bus driver, beginning with the broken treaty between the US government and the Native Americans and chronicaling the wild and lawlessness of Deadwood. When gold was discovered the town exploded with prospectors, saloons, outlaws and
Custer is a tiny little town with about 2,000 people. In the days of the gold rush, Custer had as many as 10,000 people. The downtown is just three or four blocks long with two Trading Posts, a few tourist shops, grocery store, a Frontier photo place, and a fabulous pie place called The Purple Pie Place. I had a
About 17 miles from Mount Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial. It claims to be the World’s Largest Mountain Carving. When (if) finished Crazy Horse will stand 641 feet long and 563 high. Currently, the face is finished and what will be his arm is roughed out. The native American Education and Cultural Center is large and includes a 20
We made our way through the gorgeous windy Ponderosa lined roads to Mount Rushmore. The faces are visable as soon as you come around a bend and my first thought was “Huh. They are whiter than the surrounding rock”. Then, “they seem smaller than I thought they would be”. As we got closer and closer the magnitude of this project,
Driving the windy road from Spearfish Canyon to Deadwood we had an opportunity to site see from the car. We passed a restaurant called “Pizza Lab” and Mom said “That doesn’t sound good at all! Is their pizza an experiment”? We drove through Lead which is home of the Lead-Deadwood High School who are The Diggers! How perfect!
We took a couple of very short hikes in Spearfish Canyon today to a couple of waterfalls. The canyon reminds me of the Rocky Mountains, only quite a bit smaller. It’s quite lovely. The drive is windy, scenic and gorgeous. The water in the creek cooled us on a hot day and was visually appealing. The trails were accessible and
We ventured into Wyoming today, a state I had previously not been in, to see Devils Tower. Almost immediately after the entrance is a Prairie Dog Town, where the black-tailed prairie dogs live and play. These communal animals have always been one of my favorites, although, like groundhogs, cause damage in fields and aren’t favorites of farmers. Once at the
I left all my yoga props at home so for my practice this morning I used a stack of books (two novels, one guide book and a book of sudoku puzzles) instead of a block for virasana (hero pose). Supta padangustasana (supine hand to big toe pose) was against the door jam, followed by dead bug (no props necessary). To