Thursday June 28, 2012

It was quite chilly this morning, about 52.  Dave and I woke up early and went to the showers.  We sat outside for a bit, but it was too cold so we went back into the tent and read until we heard the boys stirring about 8:00!  We had breakfast and then headed out for the day to Deadwood.  On the way, we passed Crazy Horse monument, but didn’t stop as we could see him (the Indian) from the road.  When we got to Deadwood, we hopped on a tourist bus and got a very educational and amusing tour of the town.  We also drove up to Mt. Moriah, the local cemetery (the kids were thrilled not to have to walk up the steep hill) and visited the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane.  The bus driver told lots of stories of the fabled pair.  We went to Diamond Lil’s for lunch and Alex, Dan, and Dave had buffalo burgers.  Theo took a bite and thought it was good.  Kevin Costner owns the restaurant and the walls are covered in movie posters and framed outfits that he wore in the films. We walked down to the #10 saloon and watched a reenactment of Wild Bill being shot while playing poker.  After stopping for an ice cream cone, we wandered down to the Tin Lizzy to watch a shoot-out in the street.  The town is a lot more touristy than when we were here in 1985 and many of the stores are now casinos which became legal in 1989.  We did a bit of window-shopping, but no one found anything worth stopping for so we got back in the truck and headed back to camp.  Dave was ready for some quiet time so I offered to take the boys swimming in the nearby lake.  Alex opted to stay and read, but Dan and Theo had a good time swimming and playing in the sand – Dan did more sand play than swimming as he found the lake very cold!  We came back to camp and made dinner.  Alex made the fried potatoes and I cooked the steak and used up the salad that Dan had made last night.  After dinner, the NY neighbor children came over and asked the boys if they would like to play Monopoly.  They had a grand time while the adults chatted.  They came over to our campfire for s’mores and then we all went to the Ranger talk on the animals in the park.  It was very good.  We had a few sprinkles during the evening, but it didn’t amount to much.