Day 11

Tuesday, 17th June

Storms, winnings and bears through the rain

Woke at 8, after a good night's sleep, to sunshine! I went out and took in the scenery around me - it certainly was idyllic and gave you that 'good to be alive' feeling. I walked down to the creek and took some photos.

We never did use the hot-tub!

We mooched around for a good part of the morning, showering etc and then we were off on the road at around 11:00am. We were off to Deadwood, but first, we stopped at Sheridan Lake - very pretty.

From the lake, we went straight on to Deadwood, along a very lovely road. Firstly, we drove up to Mt Moriah Cemetary, way high over the town and climbed up to see the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane.

Paul bought himself a T-shirt in the shop .... and then we drove down to Main Street, Deadwood and parked in the multi-storey there. We strolled up and down Main Street, until it was time for some gambling! We chose the Hickok Hotel. Terry changed some money and gave me a (measly) few quarters to play with. He also gave Paul a few (or did?) and there was somebody over right away to question Paul's age! He showed his passport an 'ok' received a stamp to his hand! (How come nobody ever questions hub or my age??) Anyway, *tinkle* *tinkle* - I won 100 quarters. Closely followed by 50 quarters! The boys were very jealous! I went up and cashed in my winnings ($37.50) and we went back to the car!

Next stop was nearby Lead for lunch (Subway), outside the Homestake Gold (Silver and Iron) Mine Visitor Center.

The plan then was to go to Bear Country USA, followed by Fort Hays for a Chuckwagon meal and singsong. However, our plans went wrong as, driving south from Lead, we left the beautiful sunny weather and descended into dark, dark storm clouds, which stretched across the sky indefinitely. After some deliberation, we decided to abandon Ft Hays, but to give Bear Country a go, even in the rain! We were very glad we did, as it was an excellent place! There were elk and various sheep and wolves and mountain lions and BEARS everywhere, all roaming free!! The raindrops on the windows rather spoilt our photos (Paul was going to open his window at one point, "DON'T!!") - but the bears were actually touching the car!

Once through the open bear country, we had to park so that you could walk to the baby animal enclosures. Unfortunately, the heavens really opened then and the thunder storm got a lot worse - so we had to shelter in the shop. For an hour!! We bought some souvenirs and both Aurora and Dave (a prairie dog - hoorah!) were born there. Finally, the storm passed and the skies cleared and we walked around the enclosures, passed the grizzly bear and the baby animals, including bobcats and black bears.

I bet it's lovely when the Sun shines!

We then made our way back to Hill City and bought some provisions in Krulls to make our supper. Terry broke a filling. Then we rested, ready to move on in the morning.

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