9/18/14-Day 4

We started today at the Devils Tower Inn, had breakfast and headed for the Tower itself.

We joined the herd headed for the tower. Devils Tower is a national monument so we were able to use our America The Beautiful Senior Pass to get in for free.  See...66 is a pretty good age to be. Free is a great Price! We started the hike around the base and encountered some local wildlife.  Chipmunks scampered and turkey buzzards circled overhead using the thermals to soar.  I hope they weren't watching us.  The local deer with two fawns grazed and we were careful not to trip over them. They ignored us.  The tower is impressive.  It is a vertical honeycomb of rock formed by an ingenious inversion.  It seems like Mom Nature molded magma deep in the earth that was exposed by erosion over eons.  She works slowly. 

After completing the  hike around the base the buzzards were still circling.  We headed into Sturgis. Sturgis was not as impressive today as it probably is with out 20,000 Motorcycles in the streets.  It's a small farming town that hosts a big party for a week and then goes about its usual business. In the saloon there was a group of 10 motorcycle riders at one table who were old farts like us (and proud of it).  There were also a couple of family's with small children. We had some quiet time and enjoyed a beer and a BLT before heading to Deadwood.

Deadwood is in a deep little valley.  It was a lawless gold mining town when it was founded illegally in the 1870s. We parked the T-bird and walk the streets to take in the flavor of the place.  We were warned to be prepared for car and pedestrian traffic congestion due to the staged hourly gun fights in the middle of the street.  Deadwood looks a little like a mini Reno.  There are slot machines everywhere.  Even the ice cream parlor had a couple. 

The Deadwood tour was recommended by a lady we met at Devils Tower.  She was attracted by the T-bird's graphics.  She said that her sister had died at 42 with type 1 diabetes and she was supportive of what we are doing and interested in our trip.  We decided to take her tip, found the Boot Hill Tours booth at the train station and signed up to take the tour.  Our tour was narrated by Wild Bill Hickok, in full period costume.  His talk was informative and he made a tour of a grave yard both fun and somber both.

While we were talking  to "wild Bill" a fellow tourist asked if we were raising funds for JDRF.  I explained what we were doing she gave me her card.  She is a researcher doing endocrinology research in Belgium, and some of her funding comes from JDRF!  She was very positive that there will be a cure found, and that they were finding better treatments all the time. She has wondered how funds were raised for research like hers.  I explain that the Walk for a Cure, that our family and friends are doing back home in Portland 9/28/14, is a little more typical than two old farts on driving Route 66 raising donations along the way.  She thanked us and said she is going to post our trip on the researchers website.  Wow!