Wyo Wyo Wyoming

I woke up today in Deadwood, South Dakota.  Once an iconic lawless wild west mining town, today it is marked by casinos and motels.  Taken from the Lakota tribes when gold was discovered in the Black Hills the takeover was enforced by our boy George Armstrong Custer.  Wild Bill Hickcok and Calamity Jane are both buried in the town's cemetery.  It was distinctly a new day...yesterday was 76˚ today began 41˚.

I had to push the driving today. I was trying to get to Billings, MT for lunch with my friend Jess.  I would have probably stopped at Devils Tower, had I had more time.

It's interesting how each state has its own topography.  The Black Hills of South Dakota come right up to the border of Wyoming and then the plains of Wyoming begin.  The sky was threatening much of the day with an occasional shower.

It remained in the 40s all day.  In several spots the highway crews were improving the roads which only served to slow my progress toward Billings.  I zipped through Crow country and by The Little Big Horn River, too.

 It was good to see Jess.  The Crow are the most disliked tribe of the plains.  Apparently, they were more than willing to sellout their fellow Indian tribes to the white invaders in return for keeping their traditions and language.

The Crows led the US Cavalry into the villages for the requisite massacre.  There were trains lined up to take on their loads of coal from the strip mining.

After lunch it was a short drive to Yellowstone National Park, one of my main goals of the trip.  Short became long when the Beartooth Highway was closed due to snow...SNOW? it's only September!

After backtracking to take an alternative route that took me passed a defunct mine and across a vast area that reminded me of the moors in England, I ended up in Cody, WY for the night.  I hauled out my bike and road through the town checking out most of the shops and Irma...the local hotel that Buffalo Bill Cody (the founder of the town) ran years ago.  Jackson Pollack was born in Cody.  The mountains overlooking the town have a dusting of snow.

Tomorrow is the Park...snow or no snow.