Trip to Deadwood-January 19, 2019

We were very fortunate to make another trip to Deadwood, South Dakota this past week. Since it is near our home we can always take care of business while we are there. The weather was good. It was cold as it should be but no fresh snow.

We chose not to go through the mountains into Lead and Deadwood because we were uneasy about road conditions. Instead we went from Four Corners, Wyoming to I-90 at Sundance. The beauty of that area under fresh untouched snow was just fabulous. We want to go back on that route in the summer to see if it gets lush and green.

Still in Wyoming this is the very beginning of the Black Hills,

so named because they do appear black. Those are really evergreen

trees that are so dark they look black.

 

Midway between Four Corners and Sundance I saw this. Nobody

else sees this the way I do. I think it is relaxing and inviting, a quiet

place to stay for a while. The snow was pristine, full of ice crystals

that sparkled like glitter. The trees were a nice dark green.

I just love this scene. Thank you for indulging me.

 

We took part of a day to explore Spearfish. It is really growing and we enjoyed our time there very much. We stuck with our way to chose a place to eat. Watch the people coming out and if they are local, go in and eat. Local people carry food out in Styrofoam boxes. Tourists generally, though not every time, do not do that. Plus the way they dress says a lot. Boots are for warmth and not for style. This game plan has never failed us.

 

We had an excellent lunch at REDwater Kitchen. It is locally owned and

everything cooked and served is from local sources. In fact they had the

names of their suppliers listed on a huge chalk board. What a great

idea. The service was top notch. The food was fabulous. Another good pick.

 

 

When we left on Wednesday morning we got off to a later start than usual. It was a blessing in disguise. We did go through the mountains this time.



 

This is the highest point we hit on our return trip. To the residents of

this area this is a high peak. We live at 5000+ now so this is not high to us.

But still it can cause icy roads. The roads were passable this time.

 

We did get to an area on Highway 85 in Wyoming where there was so much water on the road it looked like it had rained but it was too cold for rain. It was just massive amounts of water. Then we saw the big flashing sign "Black Ice. Slow Down". Strikes fear in the heart of every driver. And then there was a big commercial van off the road totally wrecked with no windows left in tact and it was fresh wreckage. Nobody ever wants to see that kind of black ice. It is so dangerous. But apparently the black ice had been sprayed with Mag Chloride so it looked like it had rained. We are so thankful for this blessing. If we had not gotten off to a slow start that morning by choice things would have been different.

 

I'll spare you more snow pictures. But I will say that Wyoming has some really unusual sights. They are a step back in time.

 

Near Newcastle, Wyoming they were burning tons of pine trees

killed by pine beetles. Snow cover provides good safety while burning.

Colorado says they do not have the money or the personnel because of the

government shut down to burn the beetle killed trees. But Wyoming has the

money. I find that interesting. Tens of thousands of trees have been killed by

pine beetles. They cut them and put them in huge piles to burn when the snow

flies. I salute Wyoming for doing such a good job.

 

In the middle of nowhere in Wyoming is this sign. This is so

clever and also very funny. The horse was "lopen" when we went by.

 

This trip provided some incredible animal sightings. We had to stop twice, once for turkeys to cross the highway and once for pronghorns to cross. We saw buffalo including some adorable babies. And we saw deer which are very common. But the most beautiful sights of all were bald eagles. We saw FOUR of them at various places. One eagle we have seen sitting in the same spot on previous trips so we are going to try to slow down next time a get a good picture. This particular bald eagle appears to be a female and she sits on the same fence post every time. There are no trees for miles so that makes the eagle sit on a post very close to the ground. It is a truly beautiful creature, very proud and very majestic.

 

We had a fabulous trip. We are excited to make another trip very soon. We have chosen a wonderful place to call home.