Black Hawk, Sturgis and Deadwood, S. Dakota

We woke to rain, couldn't believe it. We know you are sweltering at home with 34+ degree weather but this is our first rain since 2 days in June and months before that. Little effect as it quit in 15 minutes as we drove 45 minutes down Hwy 90 East to Black Hawk just above Rapid City. We're in a Coast to Coast Park, 3 Flags RV for 3 nights.
After lunch we went to a Petrified Forest. There was a 15 minute movie explaining the formation of earth's layers and then a 5 block hike around this pine forest mountain top ( just like the Cariboo). It had been a cypress forest like the trees in New Orleans which died in the sea as the earth pushed up the rocky formations. Totally amazing. It was very well explained and so interesting to see these fallen trees, petrified lying on the ground. The upright one was as tall as me and in the background was a 3' portion about 5' long which weighed 4 ton. The 'winter wood pile' shown has 931 pieces of petrified wood collected from the forest floor.
Next stop was Sturgis. One of the town's earliest residents was Poker Alice, a cigar smoking card shark who owned the rowdiest honky tonk in the state. Her hard working, good-time reputation, made her a legend. Back then, the town was just outside Fort Meade, an early Calvary site where Alice helped the soldiers spend their money. Today, Sturgis, a sleepy little town of 6442 is know for the yearly Motorcycle Rally and Races. In it's 69th year, this event draws nearly half a million people from all around the world. It doesn't start until Monday so we easily joined the crowds cruising down Main Street and saw the Motorcycle Museum and Hall of fame. We both bought a shirt and had a good time. The bike watching was great and the people watching was even better. Lots of fun. It's really fun to see the different dress and headgear worn by men and women. Today, women are 23% or 5.7 million of the 25 million Americans who rode a motorcycle last year. We ended the day with a 12 mile drive to Deadwood, the site of a gold rush in the late 1800's. It was a haven for gunfighters and gamblers. Here, Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed during a poker game in the #10 Saloon Aug. 2, 1876, still here. It only has a Main street, the rest of the town is perched on the hillsides. Up in the Boothill Cemetery, Wild Bill is buried alongside Calamity Jane. The town has restored many of the original buildings and it's quite quaint.
The rock formations along the way showed exactly what the movie was about at the Petrified Forest.