Deadwood and Mount Roosevelt, South Dakota

Right now, I am in Rapid City enroute to Custer State Park, home of all of the main attractions of the Black Hills, including Mount Rushmore, Harney Peak, Wind Cave and Jewel Cave. It is pouring rain, but the forecast is for sunshine and 70's for the next week after today.

Yesterday, Hilina and I did a touristy stop in Deadwood. It was a bit of a bore, as it was mostly focused on casinos and nothing there for kids. Even the tourist shots were just knick-knacks for old people and not much to excite a child. You can see it was a bit dead at 9:30 in the morning.

Nonetheless, we did learn a bit about the history of the town at the local museum. Wild Bill Hickock was shot there and is buried in the local cemetary.

We also went up to nearby Mount Roosevelt to see the view from the top. It is a 1 mile roundtrip walk to the summit. It was named after Theodore Roosevelt by a friend of his who lived in Deadwood. Supposedly, you could see Theodore's ranch in North Dakota from the summit on a really clear day.

Well, a storm was rolling in, so I couldn't see quite that far. But, we did see Bear Butte, a sacred site of the Souix (the little peak in the far right distance) and much of the northern Black Hills.

Here you can see Hilina getting ready to go up to the top of the lookout at the summit