Blogs from Deadwood, South Dakota, United States, North America - page 3

Moab to Mount Rushmore was a 700 mile + drive so we decided to hit the road early and get as far as we could in one day, but would try and see some countryside and not just highway. We therefore turned off to take a leisurely route through the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado which was really a good decision. We actually saw some greenery after the desert phases of the previous areas. High mountains with snow, thunder storms and once again spectacular views from the overlooks that are numerous on the route. One worry was that we almost ran out of petrol as the on board computer went from stating we had 150 miles of gas left to very low warning in the space of 2 miles. It would have been a long ... read more

Well, the Dunns have been busy travelers since our last blog. We drove fourteen hours yesterday which was approximately 842 miles. Our entire travel distance thus far has totaled 1,291.8 miles. Our average driving speed has been 61.2 miles per hour. (Tony is giving me these stats off of Garmin while he drives. You all know - he’s the numbers guy.) The girls were incredible travelers all day yesterday despite the grueling travel conditions. Overall, it was a great day to drive cross country, but the weather posed some challenges. The wind was pretty mighty at times. I told the girls that it felt as if our little orange lunch box, that’s what I’ve nicknamed the Westy, was going to get blown right off of the highway. Yesterday, most of the drive was green fields and ... read more

When I was about 6 the movie “Calamity Jane” starring Doris Day and Howard Keale was released. This was the first summer that my mom worked full time and her dad, my granddad took care of me. The cinema was just around the corner from his house and my friends and I went to see the “Calamity Jane” Tuesday matinee. Matinee showings were held just three times a week and I begged for the sixpence to go back on Thursday. Then I begged my parents to take me back again on Friday night—because they were really going to enjoy this movie (we didn’t have a TV yet!) I still remember parts of it. When I was driving toward Rapid City I really didn’t realize that Deadwood was in that vicinity. So I was quite delighted and ... read more

I must start this entry off with one of the weirdest nights out I have ever had, and I apologise in advance for upsetting any Americans who might read this, but honestly you couldn't make up some of the sights we saw in a bar in Deadwood last night. My name is Earl and his brother were there, and their dancing alone could probably fill another paragraph, every other person had really bad facial hair in every number of different styles, all wearing vest tops and baseball caps. Honestly a fantastic night of people watching. We had already had a problem with the hotel booked as they only had a Queen Room available despite the fact that a twin room had been booked, and although I like Mark, not really interested in spooning with him. Fortunately ... read more

We headed out of Custer, north on SD18 and quickly arrived at the Crazy Memorial. It is going to be a fantastic mountain sculpture when it’s finished but it will be some years yet. As the official website states “Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear officially started Crazy Horse Memorial June 3, 1948. The Memorial's mission is to honor the culture, tradition and living heritage of North American Indians. Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation demonstrates its ongoing commitment to this promise by following these objectives: • Continuing the progress on the world’s largest mountain sculpture; carving a memorial to the spirit of legendary Lakota leader Crazy Horse and his culture; • Providing educational and cultural programming to encourage harmony and reconciliation among all people and nations; • Acting as a repository for Native American ... read more