KELLY DD

Random meetings with people you will probably never see again happen everyday.  They also increase tenfold when you travel.  From random neighbors at campgrounds, to gas stations, to restaurants, park rangers, campground managers, the list goes on.  At least 95% of these everyday occurrences are forgettable.  It might be a  simple transaction at a convenience store when filling up with gas or a quick 1 or 2 minute conversation with a campground manager that wasn't much different from a similar conversation 2 days ago.  Most of the others will give you a laugh or something worth talking about for the next 5 minutes.  The other select few become one of those random people you never forget.  


The most memorable, random person on the trip and the first what the #$%& just happened experience came in Sturgis, South Dakota- home to one of the biggest bike rallies in the country every summer.  We arrived at a local restaurant for dinner a little later in the night, maybe 9 or 10 o'clock.  It was warm so we decided to sit outside.  On a side note, after ordering food, our waitress said, "You guys aren't from around here, are you?"  We told her that we were from out of town.  She said, "I can tell.  You guys are too nice."  I don't know what that says about the people who live there but I know our moms love to hear it, and dad, thanks for supporting one hell of a road trip.  

So we make a joke with the waitress and from the other side of the outside deck, we hear some guy laughing at the joke.  Some people just show their wild side from the second you meet them.  This man was one of those people and he was very eager to talk to anyone willing to listen.  After yelling across the deck back and forth a few times I asked if he wanted to sit with us for dinner.  Allen, Bub and I were at a 4 person table, and it only made sense for him to sit with us, seeing he was by himself.  Now, Sturgis isn't that big of a place, and there aren't many people at a restaurant on a weekday evening about 9 o'clock.  What transpired over the next hour led to the legend of Kelly DD.    


To the best of my memory, I had a burger, but I can't be sure of it after having my mind blown.  Kelly claimed that the DD stood for designated driver, but the rest of the stories he told did not match his designated driver status.  He was drinking tea by himself, on the patio of a restaurant, with almost no one else around.  Kelly told us some stories, and true or not, they were outrageous.  There is a 50-50 chance that ole Kelly comes out there every night and tells different stories to anyone that will listen.  There is also a very good chance that none of the stuff he said was actually true but regardless of the truthfulness of the stories, this guy was a character.  He had us rolling the entire meal talking about his neighbors and his perspective on life in general.  If what he said was true, a good percentage of the ruling elite in the U.S. live within a half mile radius of his house.    

Allen managed to snap this picture of Kelly.  Afterwards Allen said, "Did you see my flash go off on my phone on my first try?"  Kelly was too into his stories to notice such nonsense.  

Kelly had this piece of equipment on his head that looked like goggles morphed with glasses; like some sort of hybrid eyewear that I had never seen before that blew my mind from the start.  This meal wasn't much about us telling Kelly DD about anything.  This was a full-fledged rant that could have been a stand-up comedy special.  Either this guy is a really smart dude, got bored with his life some time ago, and decided to go to restaurants to talk bs with random people to entertain himself.  OR this guy just slings it around way too much, has seen some shit, and feels the need to relay the stories to people like us who are just out to have a good time.  Here is just a list of the things he told us.  These all came directly from Kelly.  

QUOTES AND STORIES TOLD BY KELLY DD

A)  He spent time in jail for a cocaine problem.  Not only did he claim that he got caught for it, but he claimed that he had done it with the judge who sentenced him and a local cop was his dealer.

B)  Kelly said that he was in a motorcycle accident some years.  "It's okay though, it was probably a good thing.  I was on the way to kill my son-in-law for molesting my daughter."

C) "Well hell I don't know.  It must just be in the inbred in me."

D) "One of my neighbors was in the situation room, 7 floors under Langley in Virginia, when Obama was killed.  Oh, I meant Osama."

E) He considered himself a patriot not a biker.  "Why the hell would I want to be part of your bleeping club when I can be by my lonesome and do whatever I want."

F) Had been married 3 times

G) Kelly told us that he couldn't read very well- he didn't have a high school education.  "Ahhh shit, I don't really know what that says, I can't read all that good."

H) Mount Rushmore was sculpted by a kkk leader who was exiled to South Dakota instead of being hanged.  

I) "Well, it looks like I can't go inside the place.  Not with this Bowie knife on me."

J) In Michigan, I bought a pair of $1.50 sunglasses.  I have learned over time that I am too reckless to buy nice sunglasses.  Before these glasses were lost about 4 weeks later, they had gained legendary status.  The brand name and how I referred to them- The Racer X's.  Losing them was no big deal, but I'll be damned if the only person I had ever met that owned a also owned the same brand- Kelly DD

K) Kelly was drinking tea by himself like he was drinking beers.  And he was definitely a regular there.  "Yea you might as well bring me another one baby, I'm definitely gonna finish this one."

L) He said he made $15 grand a week right out of jail.  How he made this money remains a mystery.  

M) Kelly was wearing 7 or 8 rings.  We didn't get into the meaning behind any of the rings, but however many were there, it seemed a little excessive.

N) Kelly led us to the strangest casino that actually had live blackjack- Deadwood, South Dakota.  We walked in around 10 pm- and no one was at the 5 tables they had.  Most casinos have a minimum of about 75 or 100 different live tables.  Deadwood had 5.  Minimum bet of $2- never seen that either.  

O) He desperately wanted us to go to nearby Spearfish.  Kelly claimed that there were all kind of college girls there.  How he knew this was beside me.  It was either a strange coincidence or really creepy.    

P) Kelly's neighbors ranged from "Spook in the CIA plugged into his light pole" to "Situation Room with Osama/Obama" to "Someone who worked directly for the directer of Homeland Security" 

Some of he what he told us was a little much for the first time meeting someone.  Every single fact could have been true.  He could have made it all up.  Or it could have been a combination of the two.  Whatever it was, this man will go down in history.  Well, maybe Kelly DD will only take the honor for the biggest gunslinger on one hell of a road trip.        

Week 4- South Dakota

Road Trip Week 4 (August 30^th – September 6^th 2011)

Milwaukee, WI to Devils Tower, WY

Looks like I, Bub Hunter, will be pinch hitting this week for Jimmy.

Disclaimer: Being an engineering student, my grammar and writing might not be up to par but please bear with me. 

Highlights of week four:

·      The World’s only Corn Palace

·      Wall Drug Store

·      Badlands National Park

·      First wild Buffalo encounter

·      Mt. Rushmore

·      Crazyhorse, more of a disappointment than a highlight

·      Windcave National Park

·      Sturgis

·      Kelly DD

·      Deadwood

·       

So after we left Jimmy’s Aunt and Uncle’s lake house in Milwaukee we decided to suck it up and drive straight through to eastern South Dakota.  The drive was not a fun one, 9 hours and two entire states (Wisconsin and Minnesota).   The initial idea was that we would drive the entire distance to the border of Minnesota and South Dakota so we could just have a few hours drive to get to Badlands National Park the next day.   It also helped that there was a casino in Rapid City, where we were planning on staying the night. Unfortunately when we got to the casino, around three in the morning, all of their table games were closed for the night, a disappointing end to the long drive.  So we just bought a RV spot in their adjacent park and hit the sack.  We would be hitting the road early the next day and would have a few unexpected stops along the way.

Tourist traps come with the territory of driving cross-country.  A tourist trap is basically a roadside attraction with enticing advertisements for miles that promise an amazing sight, show, photo opportunity, or experience.  The advertisement’s job is to suck you into stopping and then you will spend money on entrance fees, food, and merchandise.  Typically goods and services are more expensive than normal and the entertainment to dollars spent ratio is not even close to being even.

We had already had our first tourist trap encounter back in Connecticut, damn you Dinosaur State Park and your concrete lies!  Connecticut had been a few weeks earlier so we were due another pointless distraction from driving.  South Dakota would prove to be a state full of tourist traps.

The first such encounter was a drive-thru sculpture park on the side of Interstate 90.  We had been driving for a few hours and decided that it wouldn’t hurt to pull off and at least check it out.  How much would you think a low-maintenance drive-thru garden would cost? Maybe 5 or 10 dollars a car? Nope it was 7 dollars a head, so naturally we said screw-it and just observed the sculptures from the side-road and were on our way.  On the way out we had a small run-in with a herd of cattle. I may have communicated with a few of them but we can’t be sure.

Interesting...

Sure enough after a few more hours of driving we started to notice large enticing billboards.  This time it was for “The World’s Only Corn Palace.”  If you can pass by an opportunity where you can see the only known corn palace in the world then you have much greater discipline than the three of us.  We pulled off the interstate heading into Mitchell, South Dakota without any idea of what was headed our way. 

We arrived in Mitchell, found a parking spot for the rig, and received our first views of the mythic Corn Palace of South Dakota.  The corn palace is exactly what the name describes.  It is just a very large building, resembling a castle or palace, and is covered in ears of corn.  There are many different colors of corncobs and they are put together to form pictures and words.  Luckily for us and the rest of America, there is no entrance fee to this wonder, only donations.  As we walked into the palace two elderly women immediately greeted us.  They were both extremely inviting and nice.  A little chit chat about our travels and then they went to work on giving us the full run-down on the history of the corn palace and showed us many displays showing past generations and the process of assembling all of the corn.   These ladies were extremely proud of the corn palace and loved sharing their stories and history of the place.  

·

A Disneyland of Corn

"I thought this was America..."

Damn right!

A brief history about The Corn Place of Mitchell, South Dakota provided by the always reliable Wikipedia:

The Corn Palace

One of the past generations of the Palace

It only took us about 10 minutes to browse around the little museum and then we walked through two large doors.  Boy were we surprised on what was behind those doors.  The corn palace was just a cover for a small basketball arena complete with stadium seating and a mini-Jumbo-Tron (If that oxymoron even makes sense).  There was a volleyball net set up in the middle of the basketball court, so being the competitive beings that we are we decided to play a few matches. Allen couldn’t handle 2 on 1 against Jimmy and I. Not many people can say that they have played Volleyball inside of the “World’s Only Corn Palace” so I feel blessed to have had the opportunity. 

If they play their cards right the Corn Palace will be hosting the 2013 Final Four

After our athletic workout of the day we walked back into the Museum and bought a sticker and a few snacks from the gift shop.  Next stop Badlands National Park and Wall, South Dakota. 

Around dusk we finished our driving duties and arrived at Wall, a small town a few miles outside of Badlands National Park.  We had dinner and called it an early night so we would be rested and prepared for the next day in our second National Park of the trip.

Before we drove into the actual park we wanted to go check out Wall and Wall Drug.  Wall Drug is another example of a tourist trap.  There were signs from the very first exit in the state of South Dakota and it seemed like there was at least one billboard for Wall Drug on about every exit in South Dakota.  How Wall Drug and even the town of Wall became such a large tourist spot is actually a really cool story.

The Infamous Wall Drug Store

Back in the 1930s a local business man in the small town of Wall had the bright idea to start advertising for free ice water for travelers heading towards nearby Mt. Rushmore.  As people came to quench their thirst they would naturally buy other goods.  Through the years Wall Drug has grown into a large business and a must see stop for travelers in Western South Dakota. 

An advertisement in Antarctica

This place had almost anything you can imagine, especially if you were a cowboy.  There was a small general store selling everyday goods and groceries, a souvenir shop, a few small delis and restaurants, and then a clothing store devoted almost entirely to cowboy supplies.  The cowboy store had hundreds of pairs of cowboy boots, cowboy hats, belts, spurs, and overcoats.  If I had the money I could have easily spent a thousand dollars in a few minutes.  When I was a boy my mom gave me three things I could never own while under her care: a tattoo, a motorcycle, and a pair of cowboy boots.  Well Mom I came pretty dang close to breaking one of those rules, maybe next time I can finally get my pair of American flag cowboy boots!

Theres not much to say...

Wall Drug also had some small attractions for the younger crowd.  There was a small playground in a courtyard with large statues that you could climb and take a picture with.  They also somehow trapped and caged a wild Tyrannosaurus Rex and kept it inside Wall Drug.  He was kept happy due to the scheduled feedings every 12 minutes.  Wall Drug was a weird and interesting stop but worth the hour spent there.

Roar!

After our quick stop at Wall Drug we decided to head a few miles down the road to Badlands National Park.  Now when I think of South Dakota I think of flat farmland and then Mt. Rushmore.  Badlands completely threw me for a loop.  Basically it is a large canyon/basin with buttes and columns of limestone and other soft minerals that eroded overtime creating spectacular views.  It is really hard to describe but hopefully the pictures will do some justice.  

As soon as we got into the park we decided to go to one of the best overlooks in the park, Pinnacles Overlook, and the views did not disappoint.  The rock formations are multi-colored from the different types of minerals deposited over the years giving you a rough timeline of the rock’s life. 

A panoramic of Pinnacles Overlook

Soon after our first stop we decided that we should take a few mile hike down into the canyons.  Badlands has limited maintained trails so any hiking is basically backcountry and you make your own path.  We drove a few miles away from any major source of tourists and found a good spot to climb down.  Now when I say climb down we literally had to climb down.  We descended a few hundred feet with a very steep slope but finally made it to the ravine at the bottom.  Everything looks the same down in the canyon so we had to make sure to set up markers every quarter mile or so.  I’m pretty sure we used a bandana, a piece of rope, and a sock as our markers.  After a few miles we found a small stream that still had some water flowing, water is very scarce here so that was a great find.  We sat down and cooked a few hotdogs and killed a bottle of wine.  It was very peaceful and we were the only ones around for miles.  There was some clay in the creek bed too so I made a little snowman looking clay sculpture.  We named him Avon Barksdale after the drug lord in the amazing HBO series “The Wire,” which we finished the first season on the trip.  

Allen leading the expedition.

The rig from the bottom looking up.

Break yourself fool!!

After our spirits were invigorated by the hotdogs and wine we decided we should hike back up to the camper before it got dark and cold.  Hiking down from the road was a challenge in of itself but we were definitely not prepared for the climb back up.   It definitely got sketchy on a few spots and we actually had to bring out some rope for added safety (Sorry Mom if you are reading this, I know your stomach will be hurting just thinking about it.)  After a few close calls and a few scrapped elbows we made it back up to the car and to safety.  A hike like that calls for a rest and a nice cold beer.  Lucky for us we pull our house behind us everywhere we go and thanks to Tom from MillerCoors we had a nice supply of cold PBRs waiting on our return.  The sun was getting ready to set so we just decided to pull out some fold-up chairs to enjoy the scenery and the brews.  They told us at the Ranger station that the Badlands were most impressive during dusk and dawn, and they were not exaggerating.  The rocks and formations look like a painting and you can become totally lost gazing at them.  As the sun sets colors begin to pop out that were not noticeable during the day and there are some really cool shadow effects.  Our first sunset of the trip was a great one!

Badlands at sunset

Scruff McGruff

Earlier in the day we had passed by the only grocery store around for miles and they advertised fresh Bison burgers.  We had to buy them because after a grueling hike you can always use a nice huge hamburger to satisfy your hunger.  Exhausted and hungry from the hike earlier we made it back to the campground and immediately threw the burgers on our outside grill and got a few games of Madden 07 in before dinner.  The bison burgers did not disappoint and we went to bed with full stomachs.  

The next day we decided to take a scenic drive around the entire National Park.  Before we left Jimmy’s mom gave him a bunch of books and one of them was a National Geographic Scenic Drives of America.  The book came in very handy while we decided where to drive and it pointed us in the right direction for some good views and a nice day hike. 

We stopped at a small parking lot and found a trailhead to an overlook of the entire park.  Before we were leaving we saw a couple wearing all red.  I was wearing my NC State hat and I guess they recognized it and started to talk to us.  They were from Cary and were both State graduates.  It was opening day of football so we talked a little about the Russell Wilson situation, which in hindsight was one of the worst sports decisions in NC State history, and whether or not Glennon would even stand a chance of having success.  After a little more small talk we said our goodbyes and started on the trail.  The trail was about 2 miles roundtrip and you had to climb a wooden ladder to get to some parts.  The overlook was really cool and provided good panoramic views of the entire park.  After a few minutes we came up with the great plan of hunting down some buffalo since we had yet to see one on the trip and then we were off.

Along the drive back from our hike we came across a sign that said Prairie Dog Village.  Intrigued we turned around to investigate.  It turns out Badlands has a number of very large prairie dog colonies.  These little boogers were everywhere and as soon as one sensed any kind of danger they set the alarm off, which is basically one or two prairie dogs chirping and making weird noises to alert the others.  After a few minutes though they realized that we were not a threat and were pretty bold coming all the way up to us.  We later found out that there was a $10,000 dollar fine for feeding them human food.  Apparently they do not drink any water and only receive water through the foods they eat.  So if you give them some of our food it upsets their digestive systems and could potentially kill them.  They were very cute and the temptation to feed them was very great.  A few more pictures and a few attempts at petting the ground hogs and then we were back on track to find a bison or two.

Hello!

· 

The NC State grads we had met earlier told us that they had seen a few bison down a dirt road near where we had our hike from the day before.  Sounded like a good place to go so that is where we headed.  After about thirty minutes down the dirt road we started questioning our decision and even debated about giving up and heading back to the campground.  Just as we were about to turn around we saw multiple cars stopped a few miles ahead and knew immediately that there was something worthy of a stop ahead. 

We came to a bridge and about 300 yards off the road were four large bison grazing near the river in an open field.  Mission accomplished! Our first real wildlife encounter.  We parked the car and ventured closer to the large beasts.  From far away bison look like larger forms of cows but when you get right up close to one you realize just how big they are and how much damage they could potentially do.  They were pretty docile and allowed up to get within a few yards.  A wildlife encounter successfully completed we were ready to leave the Badlands and head to our next destination, Mt. Rushmore.

On our way to Mt. Rushmore we once again were sucked into a tourist trap.  This time it actually turned out to be pretty cool and worth the stop.  The place was called Bear Country USA and was basically a drive-thru zoo.  You pull off the main road and there is a large gate with multiple lanes.  You pull up to the gate and a staff member comes to your window where you make the transaction to receive your tickets.  They also lay down the ground rules: no feeding the animals, no getting out of your car, and to keep your windows up during the bear exhibit.  We would only follow one of these rules.  After you receive your tickets and a map of the park you are on your way. 

Immediately following the entrance gate you drive into the exhibits and are greeted by animals immediately.  The road is in the middle of the exhibit so animals can walk right up to your car, which was really cool. The first animals were elk, and they are massive in person.  Elk are about twice as large as normal white tail deer that we are used to and they have enormous antlers.  We then drove around a few curves and were in the wolf exhibit where they had a small pack of arctic and grey wolves.  Most of the wolves were pretty chill, hanging out on rocks and napping in the shade of the trees.  Despite many howls from Jimmy, the wolves did not stir nor come to investigate the strange bearded man yelling at them.  

After the wolves we went to a small circle exhibit that housed mule deer, big-horned sheep, mountain goats, and more elk.  You might be wondering how they can have wolves and bears in the same park as the veggie eaters.  Each exhibit is very large yet fenced in and as you drive into a new one there is a large grate that you drive over.  This grate has slits in it that makes it impossible for the hoofed animals to walk across and is electrified to keep the carnivores from creeping into other exhibits and grabbing an afternoon snack.

After we saw all the animals in the small circle it was on to the main event, the bear exhibit.  Bear Country USA received its name for a reason.  You drive into a massive lot, multiple acres, where they house hundreds of black bears.  The bears have plenty of space to roam about and they seemed to be very content and happy.  Like I was saying before, the park is wide open so the animals can walk right up to your car.  There were multiple instances where traffic was stopped completely due to a bear casually walking in front of a car and then taking its time to cross.  It almost seemed like they were doing it on purpose, maybe as a way to entertain themselves.  The habitat was very nice and there were plenty of large pools for the bears to swim and bask in.  They also had logs and caves to climb in, on, and around.  The bears were very bold and would walk right up to your car.  We definitely broke the keeping your windows up rule and there were a few times where a bear snuck up on us and gave us a nice little scare.  We also broke the no getting out of your car rule but luckily that was in the mountain goat section.  The bear exhibit alone was worth the price of admission and was a good way to spend two hours.

Looks kinda nice.

Chillin like a villain

PAPA BEAR!

The park also has a smaller section with exhibit for smaller animals such as skunks, foxes, porcupines, and my personal favorite bear cubs.  We toured the small site checking out the other animals and wound up to the bear cubs.  They had around 10 or so cubs and they were a blast to watch.  I guess when you are a bear cub all you have to worry about is who you are going to play with for the next 20 minutes.  They boxed, chased, and tackled each other and occasionally ran the opponent up a tree.  It started to get really crowdedso we decided to head on out and get to Mt. Rushmore.

Cubs being cubs

The Owners of bear country USA and possibly my biological family.

The next day we packed up shop and got on the road heading towards western South Dakota and the Blackhills.  Mt. Rushmore is a large sculpture in the face of a mountain and includes the faces of four Presidents: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Teddy Roosevelt.  The project was started in the early 1900s and was completed in the 1940s.  Teddy Roosevelt the creator of the National Park system hired a sculpture by the name of Gutzon Borglum, from Georgia, to design and create the Presidential memorial.  A history on how this all went down will be told later on in the post paraphrasing our first gunslinger of the trip, Kelly DD.

Mt. Rushmore is very impressive when you finally get to see it in person.   You don’t realize how large and detailed it really is until you are right up underneath it.  The complex surrounding the sight is very nice and includes a very large amphitheater to view the memorial.  There is a walkway leading up to the viewpoints that has every state flag in the country flying on large columns.  A sense of patriotism and pride will sweep over you as you walk this path.  We decided to skip the twilight light show and decided to head on to another mountainside sculpture, Crazyhorse Memorial.  This would prove to be a waste of time and money.

Mt. Rushmore

·         Like Mt. Rushmore the Crazyhorse Memorial is a mountainside sculpture.  It depicts Crazy Horse, an Ogala Lakota Native American warrior, riding a horse and pointing in the distance.  Now they say it is a sculpture but it just looks like a mountain that has been haphazardly blasted.  The sculpture was started in 1939 and is very far from completion.  When it is completed, maybe in 2111 (if we make it past 2012), it will be the largest sculpture in the world.  This sounds like a pretty cool spot to check out but there is one small problem, they charge $25 dollars (twice as much as Mt. Rushmore) to enter the park.  It doesn’t stop here either, once you get into the park it is a 5 mile walk to the base of the mountain (where the best views are) and they try to charge you another $5 dollars per person to take a bus to the base.  We said screw it and decided to cut our losses and leave to fight another day.

Crazyhorse as of 2011

What it will look like when completed.

Through out the trip we constantly check our tour books and the Internet for any really cool places or things to check out.  I had been browsing Nat Geo’s website for a few days and found their top 20 hikes.  One of these hikes was in a National Park called Wind Cave.  It is only about 20 minutes south of Mt. Rushmore so we figured it would be a good idea to go check it out.  The park is mostly wild grasslands and features a large cave system.  We decided to skip the cave tour since we had recently been to Laurie Caverns in Virginia and plus it was a 5 hour round trip.  Instead we decided to check out part of the trail that Nat Geo suggested.  The Nat Geo trail was over 20 miles so we chose a smaller trail that connects with the better trail for a few miles and then circles back.  We started off fine and were enjoying the warm weather and sights.  After about an hour and a half and 4 or 5 miles we started looking at our map and came to the conclusion that we had made a wrong turn somewhere and were going in the completely wrong direction.  It didn’t help that the trail was not marked very well and everything looked the same.  The worse part was that we had just walked about a half mile straight up a large hill.  We turned around and made it back to the right trail.  Detours, i.e. getting lost, always put a damper on the hike.  We made it back to the car a little more tired and agitated than expected but all in all it was a pretty cool hike.

·      Sturgis was the next stop on our way towards Wyoming and we were all pretty excited about it.  If you have never heard of Sturgis then you are missing out.  It is home to a large biker/gunslinger population and annually holds the largest biker rally in the world during the summer.  Knowing these facts we knew we had a very good chance of having an encounter with someone who has “seen some shit.”  We stopped at a local bar for dinner and met a man that might have changed our lives forever.  I don’t want to give away everything about the man named Kelly D.D. but here is a small taste (Look out for our special blog entry devoted entirely to Kelly D.D.)  When we were telling Kelly about our recent travels the topic of Mt. Rushmore came up and he decided to give us a little history lesson.  According to Kelly D.D. the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, was on death row set to be hung in his home state of Georgia (He also created Stone Mountain Memorial in Georgia) for being the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.  The day before he was to be hung President Roosevelt called him up and gave him two options.  He could either stay in Georgia to meet his maker or he could move to South Dakota and complete Mt. Rushmore.  The only stipulation was that Borglum could never leave the state and would die there a free man.  I’m guessing he chose the second option.  Wikipedia gives no proof to this claim but I will take Kelly’s word for it.  Before we left Jimmy asked Kelly where the nearest casino was located and he pointed us in the direction of Deadwood.

Easyriders Saloon in Sturgis

The man, the myth, the legend! Kelly D.D.

      After our encounter with a true slinger and now mythic legend amongst us we decided to drive to the next town over, Deadwood, to hit up a casino for the night. Deadwood is a small western city that has a history of being inhabited by outlaws such as Wild Bill Hancock and Calamity Jan.  So we weren’t really sure what to expect when we were heading that way.  We made it to Deadwood and the Casino, a brand new resort owned by the country music stars Big and Rich.  Deadwood isn’t all that much and is basically a tourist town and has a lot of casinos.  When we walked into the casino there was absolutely no one there.  They had four or five table games in the back and that is where we headed first.  The black jack table was 2-dollar limits, which is strange since most limits are 5 dollars.  They had three interchanging dealers: two really cool and one that had no personality and Allen swore he was Bruce Willis’ cousin.  We walked out even for the night, and when I say we I really mean Jimmy, and another week was in the books.

Jimmy doing work.

      I hope that my blog entry was readable and hopefully a little entertaining and informative.  I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel our amazing and diverse country with two of my best friends.  A big thanks to Jim Wheeler, he was a great man and father and is missed everyday.  I would also like to thank Jimmy for allowing Allen and I to tag along on this journey and for his generosity.   Also a shout out to my Mom and Dad for the amazing support they have always provided me, I couldn’t have done this without you two!  To everyone back in the 919 I miss you all and hope you guys are holding down the fort until we make it back.  And finally thanks to Sarah Shields for being so patient and understanding throughout all of this! Jimmy will be back in action for Week 5 with a combined effort from the two of us for the Kelly D.D. Honorary blog post.