Days 4,5,and 6

Days 4-6

I wrote a blog entry yesterday, but accidentally deleted right when was done so I was frustrated, but now i will try again.

So Wednesday we decided to go for a drive to Wyoming. Where we are staying is quite close to the border so it didn't take long to get there. We had lunch there and then wed decided to drive south through Wyoming and back into south Dakota and up into the badlands.

Chris's poor little Toyota echo is sure putting on some miles this week. It's being overworked too, as it is so hilly everywhere we go. Sometimes I wonder we will make it up half the time!

Anyways, the badlands was really beautiful. The landscapes in this state change constantly. One minute its green and hilly one minute it's rocky, the next it's flat and dry. It's crazy, but very pretty everywhere.

Yesterday we headed into rapid city for some shopping. We had lunch and decided to drive back to the needles highway and the animal loop at Custer state park. We got sidetracked by a couple more wineries that give free tastings which is fun! The only thing is we ended up buying more than our limit so as I type this I am drinking a cranberry wine. They make a lot of fruit wines here. Not the usual kind I drink but it's pretty tasty!

We had another nice drive after we finally got there. My map reading skills we slightly off yesterday too so that took us longer to get there too. We saw bison again and the donkeys were pretty friendly again. We took them some more carrots and they were practically in the car with us trying to get to them!

We had a nice supper, and headed back to our hotel after taking the wrong turns AGAIN.....but finally we got back after about an hour!

Today we decided to stick around our hotel which is in a town 3 miles from deadwood. We went to a mining museum and then a historical/mining tour of lead. It was interesting.

From there we went into Deadwood and we walked around town. Its been made into a gambling casino town. Some of the casinos are in the original buildings from the late 1800's and are very nice. One saloons had a picture of what It looked like 1889 and it was exactly the same, right down to the stuffed animals on the wall. We saw a re-enactment of Wild Bill Hickok being shot. It was fun.

From the we went to the cemetery to see wild bills grave and calamity jane. Very wild west feeling in this town!

Tonight we went to the deadwood rodeo. It is an annual rodeo and has won professional awards. It was really fun, and I got excited when they said there was a Canadian saddle bronc rider, then we saw he was from Inglis?!??! Crazy. That made it more exciting!

Tomorrow we leave for home. We have decided to drive half way and stop along the way at a few places, and drive the rest of the way on Sunday. The trip has been fun, but it will be nice to get home to our own bed. I would definitely recommend the trip to anyone. There are so many things for everyone to do and see!