Day 14

Day 14 - Sunday July 5th, 2009

Rapid City, SD to Keyhole State Park, WY

Our final morning in SD started off nice and early. We packed up the car and were traveling through downtown before 9 am, marvelling at the blinking yellow traffic lights. We got onto the Heartland Expressway which runs north/south along the eastern border of the Black Hills to Hot Springs, before turning back north to enter Wind Cave National Park. Almost immediately we encountered a herd of bison.

We reached the Visitor center minutes before the start of the next cave tour and descended 10 stories via elevator into the Garden Of Eden.

This hour tour led by a park ranger was vastly more informative than our other cave tour led by a senior in high school. We circled through the displays at the visitor center after the tour, returned to the car and set off to Deadwood, SD.

A little more than an hour later we arrived hungry, parked behind Saloon 10 and followed the attendants advice about eating at Double D's restaurant in Miss Kitty's Casino. After noshing on buffalo chili, an Indian taco and a taco salad, Tara chose a one-armed bandit to play. I pulled two quarters out of pocket and loaded the machine. Tara pressed the button, and out popped 40 quarters.

We immediately cashed out. We donated our two 5's to the Adam's Museum in the center of Deadwood and headed back to the car. As we were driving into Wyoming we saw the storm clouds build and build. Lightning was seen in the distance, but we opted to camp nonetheless. We pulled into Keyhole State Park, paid the camping fee and hit up the marina for some wood before seeking out a campsite. As this was on Sunday, the park looked full, but was rapidly thinning, with the holiday crowd disappearing from a popular reservoir that allows water-skiing and fishing. We found a great campsite, with a view from a cliff and after waiting out dark clouds that barely rained (through we did glimpse a triple rainbow), we set up the tent in record time. For dinner, I soaked the ears of corn that we got from Wal-Mart (17 cents an ear), and placed them on the fire grate with the husks on to let them steam. With a little butter and seasoned salt they were delicious. We played Yahtzee until the largest flying beetles (about the size of a thumb) either of us have ever encoutered descended upon us. Tara quickly created a bug hut to shield us from their fury,

(taken the next morning)

but they mostly dissapeared once the friendly bats arrived. Wyoming really is a beautiful state.

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