A short sight-seeing excursion to Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills yielded this wonderful little-seen profile of GW:

 

A great view from the north-west side of the monument, outside the formal viewing area.  In this view you cannot see the lapels of Washington’s coat, like you can in a full front view.

And yes, the color is accurate.  The sky really is that blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving on, we took the route north through Deadwood, where Wild Bill Hickok was shot at the poker tables.  (Aces & 8’s, you know).  It’s a charming town jam-packed with historical significance.   It’s gotten a lot more lively in recent years with legalized gaming tables.  I’m not much of a gambler myself so I cannot describe the extent of those activities, but I certainly appreciate the increased numbers of restaurants, museums, historical activities, shops and other entertainments that are now available.

The remainder of the trip is through the Black Hills National Forest.  The most similar landscape I can think of is the Sierras around Tahoe.  The altitude isn’t as high, but the Ponderosa Pine forest goes right down to the lakeshores, and the water is bluer than blue.

We finally got to Buffalo in mid-afternoon, and of course we went straight to see Val and Karen at Mountain Meadow Wool!  They have a ton of new products, and I’ll have to write about those separately, because I’m way too tired.

Tomorrow is the last leg– On to Jackson!