When Jim said, “Let’s go to South Dakota!” when we were trying to figure out which direction to go first after our launch, I was all like, “Meh. South Dakota? Not much in South Dakota, except the Badlands, which are only mildly interesting.” Boy, was I wrong! We spent several days around Deadwood and the Spearfish Canyon area, and it was BEAUTIFUL!! Sorry Jim, I stand corrected!
Deadwood was established in 1876 during the Black Hills gold rush. In 1875 a miner found gold in the Northern Black Hills, thus this area is known as “First Gold” as it was the first place gold was found during the gold rush. Nowadays, the downtown area is a great place to go to gamble (yes I hit the Blackjack tables – shhhhh!), and get a fine meal. But back in the day, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane used to hang out in these parts. In fact, Hickok was shot in the back of the head by Jack McCall on August 2, 1876 while playing Poker at The No. 10 Saloon.
While the downtown area of Deadwood is a lot of fun, the Black Hills themselves are beautiful! We spent a couple of days touring the Spearfish Canyon area and all its awesome natural sights.
The first day we went to Roughlock Falls. There is an upper and lower falls here, so we had to hike all the way down to the bottom, which was just beautiful!
The next day we visited Spearfish Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Both are gorgeous, but Bridal Veil was my favorite one!
I’m very glad I agreed to come to this area, and I would love to visit it again! For now, we are on our way back to Illinois to take care of Brian’s Eagle Scout paperwork and final things, as well as the NASCAR race at Chicagoland Speedway. I’m guessing we will be in the area for a few weeks to get it all finished up. And then, we head west! Colorado, Arizona and who-knows-where, as long as its warm, for the winter!
Cheers!!
Jim Mellema
Thank you again, my darling, and I’m so glad to have shared the black hills with you, and so glad you enjoyed them as much as I have.
For years, I did business with Forum Communications, and sold film to thier daily newspapers throughout minnesota and North and South Dakota. Every spring and fall, I did a loop visiting these people who were such good customers.
Once we got a motorhome, I took it, and sometimes a dog, but the kids were always in school, and the wife always stayed home.
I of course, didn’t spend every minute working.
It was a HUGE pleasure for me to live this area with my family, and to see and experience new places here that I’d never seen before!
Jim