We had breakfast at the diner next to the Lazy U motel and then headed back to Keystone to finish sight seeing and to tour "Beautiful Rushmore Cave". Rushmore Cave is a privately owned cavern that has been kept pretty much as it was found (apart from the lights and the stairs and the handrails). After the tour we spent some time at a cool rock shop in the old part of Keystone and an antique store while waiting out the rain. We had lunch at the Trail Drive Cafe (mmmm, BBQ Buffalo ribs!) and then headed on to Deadwood.
Deadwood doesn't like dogs. We weren't able to find a hotel that allowed pets unattended in the room, or in the room at all in most cases, so we headed out of town and landed at the best place we've stayed so far – Wild Bill's Campground (Saloon & Grill too!). No running water, no cell phone reception, but plenty of WiFi to go around. We got in late and were really tired from the hiking through the caves and Keystone (on a very steep incline) so we splurged and got the cutest cabin ever. It had everything that we needed and the dogs were able to hang out there while we headed back into town to check out the nightlife. The entire town of Deadwood has been declared a National Historic Monument but once you get beyond the restored facades it is pretty much one big gambling casino. Not being gamblers, the novelty wore off quickly, but not before we had a great meal of melt in your mouth 10 oz. filet mignon at the historic Mineral Palace Gem Steakhouse. Even Cheri had some to go with her salad and soup. The Mineral Palace stands on the site of the notorious Gem Theatre which was the naughtiest "entertainment" venue in 1800's Deadwood. It evidently consisted of numerous one room theatres for entertaining and in 1876 made $5,000 on a normal night and often pulled in $10,000 a night when things were hopping. We also went to the #10 saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was "assassinated by the murderer John McCall". We got back to the cabin and sat quietly on the porch for a while watching a doe graze near the creek behind our cabin (Strawberry Creek, which meets up with Bear Butte Creek at the other end of the campground). The doe froze because she spotted us and eventually won the staring contest when we went back due to the chilly weather.
Pictures from Day 10
After the best night's sleep so far (despite the dogs bathroom break before dawn), we discovered that the campgrounds are fully wireless and the signal was great! It's good to have internet since we haven't been able to get a phone signal for more than a few minutes since Rapid City. We took our time catching up, posting the blog, and cooking breakfast before checking out. Our first stop was in Deadwood at Woody's Wild West to get an old timey western picture made. We picked the bar scene with Kevin as a rough neck cowboy and Cheri as a saloon girl. It was pretty fun and the pictures turned out pretty funny. Our next stop was Roo Ranch right outside of town. What fun! Lots of kangaroos, wallabees, wallaroos, zeeboo's (zebra and burrow), sugarflyers, and several other interesting animals. We got to pet a cute wallabee named Gizmo who actually saved the life of one of the kangaroos there named Matilda. Kangaroos are rather serious about the whole survival-of-fittest thing, so if someone isn't ready to be out of the pouch when mama says its time they have pretty much had it. Matilda's mom put her out a little early but Gizmo the wallaby came to the rescue and kept her warm until she was ready.
After our animal adventure, we headed back to Deadwood to visit Mt. Moriah Cemetery Deadwood's "boot hill" which is located at the top of a ridge overlooking the city. Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried here. It was pretty interesting and it also provided a fantastic view of the city. Next we headed to Lead, SD which is just a few miles away and stopped at the Twin Cities Mall. It was really more of a general dollar and grocery store, but we found what we needed for our camp dinner of skillet cornbread, greens, and beans. Yum! Lead seems to be where the "nice folks" live. Whereas Deadwood has 24 hour gambling, Lead was having a community picnic.
Pictures from Day 11
Tomorrow we're breaking camp early and heading to Wyoming to see Devils Tower Monument (you know, from Close Encounters).
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