Whew, we got up at 4:00 AM local time, so we could take some sunrise pictures out in the badlands. Mom was right, the colors are much more vivid in the early morning sunlight, especially the yellows and reds.
Here is a rare photo of Mom doing her thing at Badlands National Park.
Then we drove down a dirt road that bordered on the Indian reservation near the park, where we were lucky enough to see Bighorn sheep, Prairie Dogs and many Bison (some with new calves), right by the edge of the road and easy to photograph.
Some of the Bull Bison challenged our car as we drove slowly by them, lowering their heads and grunting a warning to leave them alone or suffer their wrath (they have been known to ram cars that pester them). When you have an angry animal that is as big as your car, you don't wait around to see if he will attack when he warns you that he might, so we left.
Then we drove to Deadwood, South Dakota to explore the town where Wild Bill Hickok met his untimely end in 1876. The main street of town has been preserved as much as possible for tourists to come and enjoy the yarns told by local actors who reenact the Rootin' Tootin' rowdy days of the Black Hills Gold rush (including daily shootouts in the street), which is what brought Hickok and several other Western historical figures to town (Calamity Jane).
One of the highlights is a trial of Jack McCall, the coward who murdered Wild Bill Hickok, shooting him in the back while he played cards in the No. 10 saloon on August 2, 1876, for which he was later hanged.
Here's Dad and I meeting Wild Bill as he sits on a chair at the edge of Main Street greeting everyone who comes to visit.
Dad made a video of one of the shootouts, that are historically accurate. As soon as he figures out how to add it he will put it in the post.
Tomorrow we go to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Custer State Park.
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