Close Encounters

This morning we headed out about 8:00 a.m. with the destination of Spokane Creek Campground in Keystone, SD. But just as we pulled out of the RV park in Sheridan we had our first encounter; 2 elk! Here is a little video of them (yes that is Cheye barking at them):



As we were heading down the highway we decided to take a scenic route and we had our encounter of the second kind; deer. I’m afraid I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo however. Then we had a close encounter of the third kind…


Yep, that is the Devil’s Tower so prominently used in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I really wanted to see it on this trip so I’m glad we took the scenic highway, it is a pretty impressive rock! Unfortunately we didn’t encounter the space ships but I’m told “you can’t have everything“. Since we added about 50 miles to our trip by taking that route we decided to skip going into the national park and keep moving. Our arrival at out campground was rather late for us, about 2:30 and we hadn’t had lunch yet so we set up camp, broke out the bbq and grilled some burgers. After that was nap time and then a stroll around the park that included a stop at the store/grill and buying milkshakes…yum.

Tomorrow we will need to run into Keystone to get our mail and then to Mt. Rushmore. We are only booked at this campground 2 nights but may stay the weekend. Just depends on what we feel like!

Here's a pic of me with Devil's Tower in the background:

Sheridan Wyoming

We have enjoyed our short visit to Sheridan today. After driving through some pretty scenery we arrived at the RV park little after noon, set up camp and relaxed for a bit. Around 2:00 we decided to do a little sightseeing and went to the Kendrick Family Mansion. It was built in 1913 by a John Kendrick who was raised as an orphan, came to Wyoming on a cattle drive and became a very successful rancher, Governor and finally Senator of Wyoming. The mansion was quite the place, even an elevator in it! There is a place beside the mansion that is supposed to have wild elk roaming around but evidently the elk had other plans for the afternoon. It was rather hot for walking so we drove down through historic downtown.

We decided to go out to dinner at the Rib & Chop House. They have a trolley car that will pick you up at the RV park and take you downtown for $1.00, so we hopped on the trolley at 6:00 and they dropped us off right in front of the restaurant. I had Cedar plank Salmon in a Jamaican brown sugar glaze and a loaded baked potato, Dave had a full rack of Baby Back Ribs and fries. Everything was absolutely fabulous! We decided to wear off some dinner and walked back to the trailer. Along the way we saw the Sheridan Inn where Buffalo Bill lived. It was closed but I got a picture of the outside.

A really great day. Beautiful scenery on the way and some fun sightseeing too!

Below is a video of the living room in the Kendrick Mansion and pics of dinner!



Ribs and Cedar plank salmon...yum!