Deadwood

On Sunday, we left for Deadwood and stayed at Elk Ridge Campground for two days. We visited the local Walmart and bought food for Carman to cook: some really great chicken. On Monday, we toured Deadwood. Kevin Costner seems to own most of it. We took a school bus tour that was very entertaining. The guide told us all about how the gold rush really made the town, which looks nothing like the series. Wild Bill Hickock is the most important character to have ever lived there, and he is buried in the cemetery with Calamity Jane right next to him . We ran into some camper friends, Pat and Loyd from Bishop, California, who were parked next to us in Rapid City. I didn’t get a picture of them or trade email: how dumb! We drank a few with them Saturday evening. The pictures show the downtown and the Red Light District and the cemetery which was perched on top of a very steep hill overlooking the town.

We had lunch in a nice quiet restaurant downstairs from one of the many casinos. I won $3 in the penny slots. The Celebrity Hotel and Casino is owned by Kevin Coster and has all of the costumes and posters from his movies plus a lot more. I got a picture of the Love Bug, the jeep from Mash, a Clint Eastwood poster and a wall of signed celebrity guitars.

 

I noticed when we were walking the dogs that one of the pushers was from Texas had a Rotary flag along with its Texas flag. I went over and visited with the people. It turned out that the lady Rhonda Kennedy is a past District Governor in District 5890, and they live in Sweeny, TX south of Houston. They were on their way home from the International Convention in Montreal.

The next morning, after a short Walmart and re-fueling stop, we headed for Devil’s Tower.