We left Aberdeen this morning under a cover of clouds. Just enough in between them to have the sun streaming through like all those religious calendars my Grandma Lindberg used to have. The crops look good, especially the sunflowers, which are brilliant yellow, like a sea of sunshine. Barb says they are such a happy flower. We also passed corn (a LOT of corn), cattle and three herds of buffalo, went through another Indian Reservation, and crossed the Missouri River.
We stopped in Gettysburg, SD, that sports a sign on its western edge, “Where the battle wasn’t”. The road sign on the east bound road out of town includes: Faulkton 41, Watertown 149, Gettysburg, PA 1450. While we were taking photos, Robb and Maudie (making their way to Spearfish) drove by, honking and waving.
As we made our way west the land got more and more hilly. While I was the driver I noticed two things. Traffic is nearly non-existant. I passed one car and never saw another ahead or behind me going west bound. The cars were coming about one per minute in the east bound direction. At one point, the trees completely disappeared. I asked Dad about that and he said this land was in the “rain shadow”. That the rain clouds drop all their rain in the Black Hills and there’s none left to sustain tree growth. Lack of trees really makes a land look barren.
We arrived in Deadwood in the early afternoon. Once we crossed the Missouri, we gained an hour, now on mountain time. After settling in, we tromped around downtown. It’s full of gambling establishments and enough kitch for all of South Dakota … maybe both Dakotas. It’s clean, small, and stuck right on the side of a hill.