Monday, July 14, 2008

Saturday--July 12

Donna: Saturday the 12th of July. Our first order of business was to stop at the 1800 Town. Not just a description. It really is the name of the town. We ate breakfast in an old train car. Original carpet, paint and tile. Pancakes, biscuits and gravy. Yum! I met some fellow travelers. Would you believe they were from Oklahoma? One was from OKC. A couple from Oilton. Then…one couple lives less than a mile from me! They even know some of my neighbors! We continued on and entered the Badlands National Park. A great geological sight. Various colors, sizes and shapes. At one point we actually got to climb around on some of the rocks. Did you ever notice it’s much easier to climb up than it is to come back down? The rocks we were climbing on seemed more like compacted dirt. I couldn’t imagine any serious rock climbing as I wouldn’t trust it to hold my weight. At many points (and we did stop at many) you could see off into the vast horizon. It was a sight to see in the middle of the afternoon. I think it would be absolutely gorgeous to see at sunrise or sunset. This was not on the path of Bud and Temple. I am sure they would have been amazed. I can’t imagine travel through the Badlands being easy for horseback riders.
We then decided to head to Deadwood. A stopping point for the night before heading for Mt. Rushmore the next morning. For a small town, it had lots of people. Lots of families and lots of motorcyclists. We were able to witness a gunfight in the middle of the street. Then, a little later, the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok took place in the #10 Saloon Museum. I got to personally meet Jack McCall, the man who shot Wild Bill! Melody was able to get Jack and Wild Bill’s autograph. Guess what! We met another Oklahoman from Bartlesville!
Melody here. I think my favorite part of Saturday was seeing another one of God’s beautiful creations. The Badlands almost looked like sand sculptures of giant proportions that have been weathered and eroded and neglected over time. If you look at them long enough you start to see many different shapes and images in the rocks. Another way to describe the Badlands is sand art on an enormous scale with all of the different colors. I think my favorite part of the badlands was the area where the stone and paleosols (are you impressed Mike? ) were yellow and pink along with the other colors, but the yellow and pink were very vivid, making a vibrant picture against the gray and brown rocky surroundings—like a giant paintbrush had been dripped across the rocks…. The brochure at the badlands says you can make the loop in 50 minutes. Yeah, right!
I enjoyed talking to Wild Bill Hickok and Jack McCall in Deadwood. It’s a pretty interesting little town with a lot of “wild” history. Tomorrow it is on to Mt. Rushmore!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok, Donna wins the "Mike Hannah" award..which is she asked the infamous question---"where ya from?"..."are you kin to?"...or "do you live by?"! The award is a named for a very dear family friend who doesn't know a stranger! Prizes for this award have included duct tape & water hose nossels in the past!

Tracy

Anonymous said...

oh, I meant nozzles...