Places Visited:
Wyoming: Thermopolis, Wind River Canyon, Gilette & Casper.

South Dakota: Spearfish, Sturgis, Deadwood, 9-11, Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse, Custer SP, South Dakota.

Colorado: Loveland, Colorado.

Sunday, September 9, 2001
Wall-Mart, Gillette Wyoming. Elevation: 4,700'

We did a lot of driving and sightseeing today. Central Wyoming is dry
prairie broken up with scattered canyons and mountain ranges. We saw
more antelope today than we have previously seen. Mule deer were also
plentiful along the way. South of Gillette a gigantic ranch is
raising buffalo. We passed by several large herds of buffalo and
antelope on this ranch. Between Thermopolis and Casper, on Wyoming
20, we transversed the 15-mile long Wind River canyon. This is one of
the more picturesque drives we have seen. There is a state park along
much of the canyon with camping available for RV's. Anyone planning a
trip between Casper and Yellowstone National Park should consider
camping at one of the state park campgrounds along the river. The
campgrounds did not look like they had hookups so be prepared to
boondock. Views from these campgrounds were awesome. RV'ers beware
the Wal-Mart Super Center in Casper does not allow overnight camping
(they have a sign to that effect on the entrance road).

We have seen many oil and natural gas wells dotting the landscape.
During much of the day we could see snow on the mountaintops of the
Big Horn Mountain Range. The temperature was nice today for a change.

We had intended to stay in a local RV-Park, recommended by Woodall's,
but when we arrived at the campground one look and we both decided
Wal-Mart would be preferable. We had just passed the Wal-Mart, a few
miles back, and it was already filling with motorhomes. We joined the
dozen or so motorhomes settling in for the night.

Monday, September 10, 2001
City Park. Spearfish, South Dakota. Elevation: 3,500'

Gillette, Wyoming is COAL country. All around Gillette numerous open
pit coal mines are in operation around the clock. After visiting the
local museum in Gillette we drove 5-miles up the road to a pullout
where we could view operations in a large open pit coal mine. While
we were watching a 138-car coal train was being loaded. Engines pull
the train under huge silos full of coal at about 1mph. The first silo
fills about 90 percent of the coal in each car. The second silo tops
off each car.

Coal in this seam is about 70 feet thick and is close to the surface.
By close I mean within 150 feet of the surface. Huge dump trucks are
moving coal from the seam to the loading area for the railroad. Other
huge trucks are filling the hole left after the coal is removed. The
fill is coming from the soil on top of the seam of coal about to be
mined. Joyce is patient while I soak up this operation. I owe her a
shopping trip.

After watching the mining operation we drove back to the motorhome and
connected the Saturn then head to Spearfish, South Dakota. The drive
to Spearfish was along Interstate 90 through rolling prairie. Herds
of pronghorn antelope were visible all along the way. We have heard
that Spearfish has a city operated RV-Park that is nice so we headed
there. At the Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center we are able to
download e-mail and get information on local attractions. Spearfish
Canyon was the top recommendation so we took off. The drive through
this 11-mile canyon is scenic and worth doing but nothing to compare
with the Wind River Canyon we went through yesterday. The town of
Spearfish is just 12-miles from the Wyoming border. The Black Hills
of South Dakota stretch to the south and Mount Rushmore is around
50-miles south. Upon crossing the border into South Dakota the
prairie gives way to the Black Hills and ponderosa pine forest.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001
City Park. Spearfish, South Dakota. Elevation: 3,500'

Normally we do not watch TV. The first three months of this trip we
were much too busy to even turn the TV on. However, the park we are
in has cable and we are connected. This morning we turned on the TV
to find the nation under siege. This is a day we will all remember.
Both of us watched spellbound as events unfolded.

Around noon we decided to turn off the TV and go about our business.
The first thing on our agenda was a tour of a fish hatchery adjacent
to our RV-Park. Although it is advertised as a fish hatchery the
facility was no longer actually hatching trout. A lake did contain
numerous large trout, ducks and geese.

Our next stop was the High Plains Museum here in Spearfish. This was
another good museum. Several hours later we emerged with a much
better understanding and appreciation for the miners, farmers and
ranchers that settled the Black Hills.

Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Custer Crazy Horse RV-Park. Cody, South Dakota. Elevation: 5,300'

The nation is still in shock. We watch national news for a few hours
then connect the Saturn to the motorhome and drive to Deadwood where
we park the motorhome and take the Saturn to the old mining town of
Lead (pronounced Leed). Back in the 1870s placer gold was found in
the canyon between Lead and Deadwood. Miners immediately set out to
find the source of the placer deposits. The source was numerous veins
in and around Lead. Hard rock mining in the area has produced more
gold than any other mine in the world. Mining gold has just recently
stopped in the Lead mines. They were mining deeper than 8,000'. It
is just too costly to mine at depths of 8,000' and greater.

The city of Lead operates a wonderful gold mine museum in the downtown
area. This is a very good museum. Also in Lead you can view an open
pit where a mountain once stood. This pit looked to be every bit as
large as the open pit copper mine we visited in Butte, Montana.

Back in Deadwood we drove around the old mining town. Deadwood is a
picturesque old town with vintage hotels, saloons and restaurants and
looks to be a good place to visit in the summer. In mid-September
the town is rapidly shutting down.

Mount Rushmore and the town of Custer, South Dakota is 50-miles south
of here and that is our destination so we hooked the Saturn to the
motorhome and headed there.

While downloading e-mail tonight the park owner told me that the wife
of the Captain of the aircraft that crashed in Pennsylvania was
staying in an RV, in this RV-Park when the plane crashed. She
received an e-mail telling her that it was her husband's plane that
crashed in Pennsylvania. He was telling me that I was the first
person to download e-mail from his jack since she had received her
terrible news. Wow! We are so far from where the horrific events are
unfolding yet so close to individuals actually experiencing personal
loss.

Thursday, September 13, 2001
Custer Crazy Horse RV-Park. Cody, South Dakota. Elevation: 5,300'

This is the day we had planned to visit Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse
Monuments. However, the weather prohibited it. We did drive by Mount
Rushmore but the fog was so thick we could barely see roadside signs
so we kept driving. Three mountain goats were entertaining traffic
within a mile of the entrance to Mount Rushmore. These goats were
munching vegetation along the highway to the delight of all who passed
by. Custer State Park, located south of Mount Rushmore, contains
several scenic drives that we spent the day enjoying. One of the
drives on SD-87 is called the needles highway that sports two
incredible one-way tunnels with numerous switchbacks. This is an
incredible drive that we highly recommend (not in your RV). SD-16A
out of Keystone SD is called Iron Mountain Road. Iron Mountain Road
contains several tunnels in addition to three "pig-tails".

"Pigs-tails" are extra special engineering feats that enable the road
to curl like a "pigs tail". These particular pigs tails are necessary
to negotiate the grade. Usually bad grades are negotiated with a
series of switchbacks. In these cases there was not enough
mountainside to put switchbacks so these wooden "corkscrew bridges"
accomplish the task. It is totally awesome to corkscrew down this
highway that actually winds over and under itself. In addition to
these "pigs tails" are a number of extremely narrow one-way tunnels.

Custer State Park also has a drive designated as a "Wildlife Loop"
that we decided to drive twice because of the remarkable amount of
wildlife visible along this 20-mile route. Herds of buffalo and
antelope were visible along the drive. Joyce spotted three flocks of
turkeys each of which we stopped and watched. Prairie dog towns were
visible along the route as were numerous deer. The hi-light of this
drive had to be the wild donkeys. The donkeys are "BIG TIME"
panhandlers. They get into groups of 8 to 10 that stand in the middle
of the road stopping traffic. Once traffic is stopped they move to
the windows for handouts. We saw one car that had 5 donkeys with
their HEADS in the vehicle. I have no idea why the occupants did not
hold the food out the window. It appeared to us that the cars
occupants were trying to see how far into their car they could coax
the donkeys. If that was their goal they were doing a remarkable job.
We watched as a tour bus stopped in the road and unloaded passengers.
We were stuck behind this bus while the passengers hand fed a large
group of donkeys. Hundreds and hundreds of buffalo dotted the
grasslands on both side of the highway although none were near the
road. At another spot mountain goats were grazing within feet of the
highway.

Friday, September 14, 2001
Custer Crazy Horse RV-Park. Cody, South Dakota. Elevation: 5,300'

We tried to see Mount Rushmore again today, but to no avail, it was
covered in thick clouds. After leaving Mount Rushmore we again drove
over Iron Mountain Road with the "pigs tails" and one-way tunnels.
Like yesterday we immensely enjoyed this drive. From the southern end
of this highway we drove the "wildlife loop" in Custer State Park.
Like yesterday the drive was alive with wildlife. Donkeys were
panhandling just like yesterday. Antelope were in view along the
highway. At one point, a line of several hundred buffalo crossing the
road single file, blocked the road for over 30-minutes. Like soldiers
walking single file these buffalo were following a narrow game trail
through the prairie grass. They were visible coming over a rise about
a mile to the north of the road and were heading south. A mixture of
automobiles and tour busses were held up as we patiently sat and
watched this procession cross the road just feet in front of us. I
say we were held up but I do not think any of the vehicles would have
traded that experience for anything in the world.

Not long after our experience with the buffalo fog became so thick we
could barely see the road and stayed that way the remainder of the
day.

Back at the motorhome we join the rest of the world watching news
coverage of the tragic events of the week.

Saturday, September 15, 2001
Loveland RV Village: Loveland, Colorado. Elevation: 5,000'

We wanted to see Mount Rushmore but the weather was not cooperating.
We have not seen the sun in three days. The weather report is
predicting more of the same through the weekend. We give up on the
idea of seeing Mount Rushmore and head 293-miles south to Loveland,
Colorado. We chose Loveland because of its proximity to the east
entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The drive from the Black Hills of South Dakota to Loveland, Colorado was mostly through open prairie. Corn and sunflower fields began to appear. Large ranches with cattle were in evidence all along the way. In Cheyenne, Wyoming we saw a huge sugar refinery that reminds me of the sugar beets the book CENTENIAL described so eloquently. We were looking for sugar beet fields but did not recognize any. Possibly they have been harvested. Although we did not see any deer or buffalo, antelope were plentiful.

Mike & Joyce Hendrix