Day 11 - Close Encounters

Breakfast at Arnold's Diner was the way we started off the day, which was sunny and forecasted to be a warm one. We didn't see The Fonz at the diner, oh well, maybe another time. Our first stop was going to be Deadwood, SD. Leaving Rapid City we took Highway 44 to US 385 and this turned out to be a very scenic drive. When we arrived in Deadwood we stopped at the visitor center and got directions to Nelson's Garage (at the Celebrity Casino) and to Boot Hill. Nelson's Garage is really a museum of movie cars and memorabilia. James Bond's new Aston Martin was on display as well as, Herbie the Love Bug, Mash's Jeep, the General Lee, and a number of other cars and costumes from various movies. We even tried our luck at the slots, but all we did was add to the profits. Back at the Model A's we talked to a few bikers (from Nashua, NH) who were also on a cross country tour. We drove up to Boot Hill (actually Mt Mariah Cemetery) where we wanted to visit the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane. As a young kid I used to watch all the TV westerns and of course one of my favorites was the Wild Bill Hickock show, so we had to check out his grave. Also, Calamity Jane was there too as she always claimed that she and Wild Bill were lovers, so her last wish was to be buried by him.



We left Deadwood and headed off to one of the most spectacular sites in the area, Devils Tower. If you are a fan of the movie " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " this site just seems to stick in your mind. Trying to stay off the interstate we approached the site from the north where we got a tremendous view of the tower from about 30 miles away. However when we got to the entrance of the National Park it was even more impressive. We drove to the visitor center and walked up to the base. OMG, this was one of the most unusual and spectacular places I've seen. The massiveness of the tower and the formation of the rock was really a site to see. But, it was hot (high 90's) so we headed back to take some more pictures of the red rock base. We also got a great chance to check out a Prairie Dog village. I never saw Nan run so fast when the little rodent seemed to chase her. LOL.












We were now interested in turning west and making some tracks. The bad thing about this area is there are few roads as alternatives to the interstate. The good thing is there was so little traffic on the highway that we could do our own speed (45-50) without causing any problems to the other drivers. The only thing we didn't count on was the lack of gas stations. We finally pulled into Buffalo, WY on fumes. Dick took 10.5 gallons and I took 10.3. I know, the 28/29 tank is 10 gals, but he did put in 10.5, albeit right to the top of the neck as the pump didn't shut off automatically. The other good thing is that the young clerk knew the best Ice Cream stand around...how appropriate was that. It was so hot that the ice cream really did the trick and before long we were cruising down I 90 to Sheridan,WY for our stop for the night.



Mileage for the day was 300, more than we expected since we did a lot of sightseeing. Tomorrow will head toward Missoula.