Happy 4th Of July!

Good Evening America, Good Evening World,

It’s hard to describe what I felt earlier today once I realized we were in for a great treat this morning.

We had breakfast at a local bakery on Main Street in Custer, and I had a chocolate eclaire with Bavarian crème, absolutely to die for.

I rushed through breakfast because I was anxious to get to the Memorial and see if we could get into the parking lot. Well, I think we made the right choice, as we got there and there was a huge line at the gates, but nonetheless, we managed to make it through!

Once we found a parking spot I started getting like a kid in a candy store, I couldn’t wait to get out of the car, and run to the Grand View Terrace. It is one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen, so beautiful that I had to make three international calls to Italy to tell everybody where I was!

I also managed to take a lot more pictures than those I took yesterday from quite a distance, this ones are better, and yes we’re also in the pictures, which proves at this point, that we’ve indeed been there this morning, for those among you who are non-believers.

And another one...

We left the Memorial after wandering around for quite some time, and headed towards Lead, and Deadwood through Hill City and the Black Hills. Spectacular scenery that can hardly be comprehended through my shots, you have to see it for yourself, it’s mother nature’s work at its best.

Deadwood has a very nice Main Street, a typical one, like the one that Disney has taken inspiration for, for creating their theme parks.

We then headed north to Belle Fourche, and from there, went back on I-90W headed towards Wyoming.

Yes, we did cross another state this afternoon, and this time we also had the chance to stop and take some shots, considering that the traffic on that road wasn’t really that heavy (I saw probably 10 cars!).

Our next stop of the day was Devil’s Tower Monument, which is also one of the state’s symbols (they put it on the “Welcome to Wyoming” road sign).

Our first welcome to Wyoming was given to us by tiny Aladdin, a small city with a population of 15 souls and an elevation of 3,740 feet. I had to take a picture of that sign, because, when in my life will I get the chance to go through a village who only has 15 people leaving in it again?!?!

It was another 40 miles to Devil’s Tower National Park, a place that is sacred for some Indian tribes that used to live there before the “white man” came and deprived them of what they owned. The park is beautiful, and I finally saw for the first time in my life a multitude of Prairie Dogs in the wild! Shockingly enough, they act as they did at the Zoo, they just stay there standing on their feet, motionless, as frozen in time. It drives me crazy, how can they do that?!?! Oh well, in my next life, I want to be a Prairie Dog and stand still all my life; what a waste!

We left Devil’s Tower after a nice walk on their designated paths, only because today I found one of those other signs I’ve seen yesterday in the Badlands, warning the visitor about the presence of rattlesnakes!

Rattlesnakes?!?! What? I come from a country where the only poisonous animal we have is Mr. Silvio Berlusconi, our Prime Minister!

Anyway, we got back into the car, and here we are, in Sheridan, WY.

On our way to Sheridan I saw snow in July for the first time in the Wyoming Mountains, amazingly beautiful:

We had dinner in the original Sheridan Inn who used to be owned by William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, that I simply call: “The Legend”.

For those of you who think that we went to a Tourist trap, you’re absolutely wrong. The restaurant was excellent, great presentation, and tasteful food; what could we possibly ask for, more than that?

I had a Western Caprice Salad, a Bison Chili (awesome), and Hap had grilled trout, which he said was perfectly presented and with a lot of flavor.

Around the restaurant and the main lobby of the Inn (which is now closed as part of the restoration process), there where pictures of the Inn in 1893 when it first opened, and on a wall, a picture that particularly struck my attention was the one of Buffalo Bill, his daughter, the Inn keeper and other people standing on those same steps outside the Inn that I stepped on to get to the Restaurant.

For those of you who keep track, the Sheridan Inn was also considered the finest hotel between Chicago and San Francisco when it opened in 1983.

Tomorrow we’re up for some other treats, as we continue to drive west through the Bighorn Mountains National Park, and hopefully get as close as we can to Old Faithful and Yellowstone National Park, which is going to be our next objective on this trip.

Happy 4th of July everybody, keep smiling, Life is good,
Nico