No post yesterday because our hotel, the historic Franklin Hotel, didn't have high speed internet access (or low speed, for that matter). Now there's a beer barrier between me and yesterday's events, but I'll do my best.
We slept in and lazed around pretty late yesterday because our bed at the Red Rock River Resort was sooooo comfy (featherbed, down comforter). We did another small drive through Custer State Park and saw some bison really super close -- close enough for Matt to be nervous. :)
First on our agenda was the Mammoth Site, a working paleantological dig that you can tour. They stumbled across these fossils when they were getting ready to build a housing complex in the mid-70s and they've been excavating it ever since. They do Elderhostel tours, where retirees can sign up to spend 8 weeks excavating. I think Matt was a little iffy on how interesting it would be, but we both ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
After that we went to Jewel Cave, which they think will be the longest cave in the world once it's completely explored. So far they've discovered 140 miles, which makes it the second longest. In front of the visitor center they had a cement tube that was 8.5 high by 24 inches wide. If you can prove you can fit in there, they'll let you go on the spelunking tour. Otherwise you're with the rest of us old folks on the Scenic Tour.
After 90 minutes of cave viewing and stair climbing, we took our buns of steel up the 85 scenic highway, which goes a teensy way into Wyoming. Our final destination was Deadwood. We toured Mt. Moriah Cemetery and saw the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock, and a bunch of other people that played a role in Deadwood's early history. It's a really pretty cemetery and full of deer at dusk.
After that I'm happy to say it was mostly drinking and gambling.
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