Yellowstone Adventure 2016 - The Getting There Day 3

  Well I left Rapid City pretty early this morning and was still debating on how I would get to my next stop. I really wanted to go up I90 to Ranchester and take my favorite scenic route to Cody Wyoming, but I could not get a feel on how the weather over the Bighorn mountains would be because in order to leave Cody I would have to go north and head toward Red Lodge.  I did not want to get stuck somewhere where the road was closed and I would have to then back track.  The other alternative was to keep on I90 and continue over the top of Yellowstone using a route that was not so high in altitude. So in order to think more on it I decided to head to Deadwood South Dakota on my way out of South Dakota.
  Dad and I explored Deadwood in the 90's and I was curious on how it may have changed over the years as it was really the only place you could legally gamble at the time (other than Vegas).  Now a days you can pretty much gamble all the way from Indiana to Montana and then further west.  From Indian reservations to state supported gambling it is pretty much a part of American society now and in my opinion not helping as much as it was advertised. Getting into Deadwood I first noticed that there was a lot of highway construction and building going on.  It seems that the gambling money is at least improving the roads in Deadwood.  The place has sure changed in appearance for sure.  The town looked like it got a complete makeover in restoration.  They seem to be trying to get the history back into the town and trying to give the tourists something to do besides gambling.  I noticed a lot of money spent on museums and upkeep of historical places in town.  It looks like they set up a historical walk where you can explore the town and learn about its rich history of mining and gambling and general western folklore.  I drove through the town twice to get a feel of what was happening and decided to ask google for directions to the Mount Moriah cemetery (google is great for directions) as I wished to say hello to the towns leading characters who are buried there, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Arriving at the cemetery early I did not have to pay to get in as the admission stand was closed, but I did put the price of admission ($2) into their donation box and headed up the walk to where I remember the graves to be.  Sure enough they have not moved them to somewhere else, which they did a long time ago when the old cemetery pretty much flooded away down the hill toward town.  They did spruce up the area a lot and tried to protect the graves as much as they could, but people still put playing cards and coins and such on their graves.  After taking a few pictures I looked around and saw many graves from the same time period as Wild Bill and remembered a story or two about the names I was reading.  Deadwood had a pretty colorful past and there were many people who were fine upstanding people that tried to do their best to create a town where a family could grow up.  Most of their graves are there and the cemetery does its best to get their stories out as much as Wild Bill and Calamity Jane's story. If you every do visit the cemetery you will have an outstanding view of Deadwood as the cemetery is located up a hill overlooking the town.
  Leaving Deadwood I made my way back to I90 and was still contemplating which route to take next.  The weather was starting to turn colder and it looked like rain coming in from the west.  I traveled up I90 for awhile and saw a sign indicating that the exit to Devil's Tower was coming up soon.  I decided to go see the tower again as Dad and I saw it back in the 90's and I have not seen it since then.  As I drove the route that broke off I90 to Devil's Tower my mind was looking for areas that I would remember.  I did not really find one until I almost reached the tower.  The road for the last few miles was steadily up hill but as I approached Devil's Tower the grade started to go downhill for quite some distance. It was almost at the end of the downhill that my memory was triggered.  I approached a sharp bend in the road and I remembered distinctly being behind Dad's motorcycle and having to bank pretty sharply to get around the curve without going into the other lane.  I think it was the most I ever leaned over on a moving motorcycle in my life.  Devil's Tower is pretty unusual and hard to describe but for those movie buffs who remember Close Encounters of the Third Kind you will know what it looks like.  I would recommend you see it one day as the Indians in the area had some pretty wild things to imagine about the tower.
  Once back on I90 I pretty much had my decision made on the route issue.  Looking to my left at the Bighorn range I could see a lot of clouds and a lot of rain coming down.  The temperature dropped to 40 degrees so I did not want to chance that route today and just stuck to I90 and headed for Billings Montana.  Driving on I90 from Wyoming to Montana you will pass over many small and large rivers with the names of Belle Fourche, Little Bighorn, Bighorn and my favorite Crazy Woman Creek.  Each of these rivers and creeks have some great history about them and around them.  I am sure you remember the Little Bighorn as the place where Custer and his men were wiped out.  The rivers played a very important role in exploring the west and in the economy.  I used to read about these places in my Louis L'Amour books and it is exciting to see these places.
  Well I stopped at Billings for the night and will head to West Yellowstone tomorrow.  This should be a short drive and will spend the night there and report to my work the next day.  Until tomorrow.