Circle B Chuckwagon

So to continue with our Memorial Weekend, we went to the Circle B Chuckwagon.  We had big plans of letting the boys go on a pony ride, shoot guns, wrangel some calves and have a chuckwagon meal with show.That is not what we got when we arrived.  I don't know if we got there too early in the day or too early in the season but we didn't see what we expected.  There were trail rides and after over hearing a telephone converstaion pony rides are for 6year olds and up and must be accompanied by an adult.  

There was no one shooting guns, there was a calf and rope so the boys got busy with that, 

 playing on a playground and  

smooching with the locals. I have very few pictures of Custer State Park to share with you next.  Apparently we went the wrong way.  We went up and around, near Mt. Rushmore.  The best way to go to see the locals there is to go down.  You can be sure we will be going that way next time.

1880s train ride

Finally sitting down to write this post.  After spending Friday in Deadwood we trekked down to Hill City where we caught an 1880s train ride to Keystone.Jason and I absolutely loved the trip.  The boys got bored fairly fast.  I think if we had been able to ride when they were older or even younger it would have been better.  Garrett, as always was a trooper and fell asleep on the way back to Hill City.

This picture was very, very dark so I had to do some editing.  Still not happy with it but at least you can see their faces.

I had to take a picture of the seats.  This is part of the reason why I wanted to sit in this car.  I wish I had thought to get a picture of the outside cause it was just as neat and old fashioned as this.

The engine wile taking a turn.

I couldn't  believe this.  Garrett actually grabbed Cody and pulled him really tightly to him.  I love how much he loves his brothers and his brothers love him.

If you look you can see "George" on the porch waving at us.  One of the brakemen mentioned him to the boys several minutes before we came up to him.  We were told he lives to way at the kids on the train.

Cody was very sad to discover that "George" is not real.

The train station

We ran into these guys on our way to a Chuckwagon place (I will talk about that the next time).

Thankfully Jason remembered the lesson learned in Alaska (while driving down the highway and you see someone stopped always look to see if there is something to be looking at).  This time these guys were up on the rocky mountain on the other side.  When I got out to show Wyatt the people we saw stopped said these guys were on the road right where we were parked earlier, what luck.

If you look too, you can see they are collared.  Jason also explained that the reason they look so poorly is because they are shedding their winter coats.  Once the winter coat is gone they will look clean and fluffy again.

That is about it for the train ride.  More next time.  So much to catch up on I hope I can do it in a reasonable time.

Deadwood

As I promised a week ago, the rest of Deadwood.  We have been busy since I last posted so hopefully I can get caught up on everything.Here goes the rest of Deadwood, SD...I can't wait to go back 

Mr. "Wild" Bill Hickok himself

"Calamity" Jane, all she wanted was to be buried next to her best friend.

If you have seen the HBO series, this is the sherriff.  There really isn't much about Marth and I believe the series took some huge liberties with their story.  I would like to find out more about Seth and his wife.

Seth Bullock and his wife aren't actually buried in Mt. Moriah Cemetary.  You have to hike a steep hill about 700+ feet to see their gravestone.  Poor Wyatt had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad on the way back down.

Whenever it is my time to go, I don't care where I am buried (or cremated) as long as I am left with beautiful scenery.

Jason took this picture.  It was left on Seth Bullock's gravestone.  He told me the caliber but I forget, it does supposedly suit the office that Seth Bullock held.

If I remember correctly this is the Post Office in Deadwood, I could be wrong though.

Wyatt wanted me to take his picture, as always, so I tried this out.  I LOVE it.  A picture of me and yet

 not :)

We first saw this on the way to Deadwood and no idea it existed.  A National Cemetary.  I do hope to be able to stop in and honor those who have lost their lives and served our country. That is it for Deadwood.  Next we headed to Hill City to take a train ride on an 1880s train.

Summer vacation

...is in full swing here and as promised it is crazy and I am already ready for the two older boys to go back to school.We did have fun and adventurous Memorial day weekend that I wanted to share with you.  Cody's last day of school was Thursday and Jason had a 4 day weekend so we had something planned for every day, Sunday was church so technically we did have something planned.I will go one day at a time.Friday...we headed to Deadwood, SD.  I am so glad we (Jason and I) watched the series from HBO before we went.  It had so much more meaning to us and I cannot wait to go back since we missed so much during our first trip.  We want to go to the mine, watch the trial of Jack McCall (the murderer of Wild Bill Hickok), the reenactment of the murder and a shootout in the middle of the street.But this is what we did do our first trip.I can't seem to figure out how to adjust my pictures to be right next to each other.  Instead it is going to be one long line of pictures.  There are a lot so I am going to actually break Deadwood pictures into two different days.

This was on the way to Deadwood.  It was actually a working water wheel, so cool. 

The boys were so excited to see gold.

This is the building where the reenactment of the McCall trial takes place.

I wish I could have gone to an elementary school that looks like this.

The scale at the old train station.  It is now a visitor's center.

walking the streets of Deadwood.

Posing with Wild Bill.

I love this part of the sidewalk.  It was right outside the parking garage where we parked.  I love it, small, round glass in the sidewalk.  I had to get a picture.

That is it for town pictures.  We also went to see Mt. Moriah cemetary where Wild Bill, Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock and his wife are buried.  Those tomorrow.