Monday in Wyoming

Yesterday was fieldtrip day. We headed out of Sturgis on hiway 79 and looped up to Belle Fourche. It was a cute old town with several antique stores. The drive through the Wyoming Black hills was really pretty. Green grass, pine trees and oaks, red dirt formations and pretty ranches. We were headed to Devils Tower National Monument, a very big column of rocks in NE Wyoming. I am putting all those pictures in a separate post. We had to stop in several places and take pictures of course.


We stopped in Aladdin at the only place there. It was an 105 year old store. It was not renovated which was nice. You go through historic towns, but so much has been renovated and then you go in and see sheetrock and the same old tourist stuff. But this store was looking all of its 105 years. Original floors, walls, stairs...everything. The cool thing was they had stuff in every room so you could go upstairs and see the entire building. Most all the plaster had fallen off of the lathe on the ceilings upstairs and in some places they had rigged it to stay in place, but most was gone. Under the stairs was just dirt. It was cool to see. Walking on the old wood floors that have been there for over a century!

We had a lovely picnic lunch under the trees near prairie dog town. It was forbidden to feed them, they become awful beggers. In Taos, NM there was an empty field next to Sonic Burger and they lined up like little soldiers looking pathetic and begging. They get real brave too.

These blue flowers are growing on this rock. They were at the base of Devils Tower. We had a nice walk around its base. It
was 1.3 miles around the bottom. We had pretty views of the surrounding countryside in a couple of spots.

We headed back to Sturgis on Interstate 90. The backroads are sooo much more interesting and pretty. Just have to be REAL careful and read the signs if you are towing! The prairies along the interstate were still pretty green. Growing up in California, we are used to seeing the hills brown by the start of May!
We saw a few antelope and deer along the way and a beautiful herd of mares and their babies running along and playing.

Had dinner at a chinese restaurant in Spearfish, picked up a few groceries, fueled up and headed home. Sat outside enjoying the evening as the sun set and then had to go in 'cause it started cooling down fast! Another day in Moniz paradise!