The last days at Keyhole State Park.

So what did we do the  last two weeks we were at Keyhole State Park?  We've grown closer to the people here. I think one of the best things about the life we live is we get to emerse ourselves in the culture and see how the people in the area live. The folks in this area a good, down to earth people who enjoy the simpler things in life. They value friendship and are warm and caring. I've enjoyed getting to know them. The remoteness and the cold I did not enjoy, but I am glad we had the time here.

Wednesday, June 25

Glo & Kelly

I went into Gillette and met my friend Kelly for lunch and a little girl time. Though Kelly lives here at Keyhole she is new to Gillette. So, who better to show her around than me, the gal who is always checking out the area. I was amazed at how much I knew about where things were and what to see in Gillette. We went to historic downtown Gillette and walked around. T and I were there the week before, but all of the street was torn up. The week I met Kelly only half was in disarray.

Kelly and I found the best coffee shop, Brother's Coffee Co. We sat on a cozy sofa and chatted with Twila and Sara, a couple of the baristas and learned a bit about the shop and the owner. Twila & Sara made the visit so pleasant. Of course I had to meet the owner, Judy, and get a picture.  Judy named the restaurant for her brother. She has his picture on the wall. The walls are covered with pictures of people and places. Makes it feel quite comfortable.

Judy the owner in center, Sara & Twila on each side.

Glo with owner of Cheese House

After leaving Brother's Coffee Co., Kelly and I went to the Gillette Cheese House. Wow what a selection of cheese and meat. Their cheeses come from Wisconsin and South Dakota. I didn't know they made cheese in a South Dakota. I bought some to try and was pleasantly surprised at the quality.

We went to Mufa for lunch. Wonderful meal and the company made it even better. Then to shop at Walmart, of course, since it is truly the only place in town to shop.

Later that day the volunteers and staff got together for a barbecue. They bid us farewell and gave us a couple of neat gifts to remember the park. As always we had a great time. 

Thursday, June 26
I went Kayaking with my friend, Kelly.  Having been here for two months, this was my first time on the water. What a wonderful morning and how magnificent the view of the rocks from the water. My photos were taken with my phone from the kayak so they aren't the best, but you can get a sense of the view. 

Kelly Lee

Glo

Ted Davis

June 28
I was up early to meet a group in Sundance to go bird watching. The day started off rather gloomy and cold, but it got sunny after a bit. After birding I went into Sundance to spend a little time at the Wild West Espresso in the hopes of meeting some of the locals. I was rewarded by meeting Ted Davis.  He is a local politician who is running for Representative House District 1. Even though he knew from the get go that I was not local and could not vote for him, he stayed and talked. We had a great discussion about politics and our differing points of view. Ted seemed to be genuine in his passion and open to other viewpoints. I learned a great deal from him about the system of Wyoming politics and the local community.

After my discussion with Ted, I went down the street to a car show and I got to see quite a few old cars. T would have enjoyed it had he been with me. One of the most interesting was an amphibian car.  Earlier I stated I didn't have a photo of the amphibian car.  I found my photo.  

Amphibian Car

June 29
Our last night at Keyhole we went out to dinner with Kelly & Terry Lee and Kelly's daughter Miranda.  We ate at the Buffalo Jump Saloon in Beulah, population 33.  Yes!  The Buffalo Jump is the only good restaurant for miles and a great way to end our stay in Wyoming.

Miranda, Kelly, Glo,T ,Terry

Life at Keyhole and Surrounding Area continued

June 18-Eagle Butte Coal Mine 

Tire from a coal truck.  

This gives you an idea as to the size of the trucks.

One of the attractions in Gillette is touring one of the open pit coal mines.  Not having had any experience in or around a coal mine I had no idea as to what we would see.  To say the least, T loved the tour and all the BIG trucks.

The mine operates 24/7 and this area of Wyoming supplies 40% of the coal in the US.  

240 Ton Coal Truck,
holds enough coal to fill two train cars.

Open Pit Coal Mine

 June 19- Bird Banding @ Keyhole State Park

What an exciting day I had working with the Audubon Society helping with bird banding.  We started at 5:30 am and worked until about 12:30 pm.   I got to hold birds in my hand and learned how they are caught and how the information is logged. Oh so many birds. And on top of all that I made some new friends.   If you’ve never been bird banding, you should try it.  It is quite a thrill!

Common Yellow Throat 

Eastern King

Yellow Warbler

Life at Keyhole

June 7 - Free fish in day in Wyoming.

I haven’t been fishing since I got to Wyoming.  Mostly because the cost of a license for out of state residents is $92 and I thought that was a bit high.  

Today was ‘free fishing” for everyone, so I went fishing.  T & I joined a few of the other out-of-state volunteers who were taking advantage of the “free fishing.”  I caught a little one and tossed it back, but had to have a picture.

Caught a nice bass a little later and that was all I caught all afternoon.  

After fishing we had a cookout and a few drinks to end the day.

June 11- Volunteer & Staff  Potluck

T & i hosted a potluck and we had quite a turnout.  Even though the weather didn't cooperate.  It was windy and cold. 

Left to Right 1st Row: Kelly, Terry, Shawna,Glo, Estella 2nd row, Joann, Kenny, Jim, Nancy, Sandy, Mike 3rd row: Dennis, Jim, Gerri, Wayne, T

June 12 -Hiking @ Keyhole

There is an old, somewhat, abandoned volksmarch trail at the park.  Sadly it hasn’t been maintained for several years.  One of the staff members here said she would go with me to find the trail and I was excited to have someone to join me on my adventure.  However, at the last minute she backed out.  t was around 3:30 pm and I had so been looking forward to this hike.

I had a few choices, I could not go or I could go alone.  Guess which one I chose.  I know it isn’t wise to hike alone, but I figured I was on the park property, I had my cell phone and I had water and a snack.  I am so glad I went.  

It was great being out in the woods, seeing the wildlife, the flowers and the trees. I saw a fox and a deer and I came upon a couple of fawn prancing through the grass.  I think they were as enthralled as I was.  They let me get quite close.  Then I think one of them remembered, “Mom said run and hide in the grass.”  So the wiser of the two ran and hid, then the other one realized that’s what he was supposed to do.  So he went and hid.  However, he thought like most children, “If I can’t see you, you can’t see me.”

Hiding fawn

While on this hike, I had it in my mind that I wanted to walk to one of the other camp grounds. I was advised that there was a “rather large culvert” between our campground and the one I wanted to hike to.  When I asked was it possible to hike it, Andrea said, “It is possible, but..”  So as I hiked I kept thinking I can do this until I came to THE CULVERT.  Then I knew what she meant.  Definitely not something I would try to cross alone.

THE CULVERT

The folks here find things to entertain them.  As you can see by the poster.  There was a “Chicken Roping” contest.  Sadly I didn’t make it to the event.

Chicken Roping contest

June 16 - Pine Haven Cemetery

It took awhile, but I found a cemetery in the area to explore.  The Pine Haven Cemetery appears to be less than twenty years old.  It has thirteen graves.  I saw the most unique grave there.

Dad was a fisherman

After visiting the grave I went for a hike along Colter Bay.  Keyhole is a beautiful park when the sun is shining.

Keyhole State Park from another angle

Spearfish Canyon

June 5,

What a difference a sunny day makes!  Today we drove over to Spearfish, SD and it was like we were in a totally different place than when we went last month.  The sun was shining and the surrounding area was beautiful!  We found a great little coffee shop called Common Grounds, where we had lunch and coffee and sat outside basking in the sun.

We drove the scenic road through Spearfish Canyon and hiked back to the falls.

We hiked the 1 1/2 mile trail to Roughlock Falls and enjoyed the beauty of the area.  Being outdoors with the sun shining, hiking though the woods, seeing the wildlife and enjoying the fresh air, what more could a person ask for!!!!

. 

Bridal Vail Falls

Roughlock Falls

Buffalo Wyoming

With the weather warming a bit(hah!), we have been on a few trips to see the surrounding area.  On June 3rd, thinking the weather would be decent, we drove over to Buffalo, a 2 hour trip one way.

Buffalo, Wyoming is nestled in the foothills of the beautiful Big Horn Mountains and is conveniently located at the intersections of Interstates 25 and 90. Wyoming State Highway 16, on it’s way from Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone National Park, runs through Buffalo. Buffalo has a population of about 4600. 

As has been the case for most of our outings while here in Wyoming, the weather turned gloomy and it rained a little.  We did stroll down main street and visited the Occidental Hotel with it's 134 years of history.  They say Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid stayed there.  When rooms aren't rented the hotel leaves the doors open so visitors can take a peak and the lobby is quite charming.

Occidental Hotel Lobby

Town Mural

While there I took in the Jim Gatchell Museum.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It is one of the best small town museums I've seen.  So much history and thousands of artifacts with diaramas depicting the trails and battles of the past.  Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed, so I have no photos, but if you are ever driving by Buffalo on Interstate 90, it is well worth the stop.

Jim Gatchell opened a drug store in Buffalo in the early 1900's.  His customers included cowboys, lawmen, settlers, cattle bronx, and famous army scouts.  he was also a trusted friend of the region's Native Americans, who fought in the last Indian Wars.  They considered the pharmacist a "Great Medicine Man."  For more than fifty years, Gatchell cherished these friendships.  In turn, he was present with priceless artifacts of a vanishing era.

So what have we been doing since Jewel Cave?

We have coffee by the fire most mornings and a couple times a week we have a  fire in the evenings.  I even roasted marshmallows one day.  Marshmallows are one thing I can’t resist, so when I roast them I have at least 5 or 6.  Thus the reason I don’t roast them very often.  We often see deer roaming in the park, along with wild turkeys and an abundance of birds.  I’m doing a lot of bird watching.

I do love marshmallows!

The park came alive over the Memorial Day weekend.  Our campground was almost full.  We met lots of people and that made me very happy.  People to talk to!  Almost all of them were from Gillette.  This is a park that locals frequent.  We haven’t had anyone visiting who came from further away  than Rapid City (2 hours).  No matter. It was fun visiting with them all.

On Tuesday, May 28, T & I and the park supervisor, Terry Lee, went over to Pinehaven to “R” Place for dinner.  It is one of the two bar & grills located there.  Everything was fried.  T had a hamburger, which he enjoyed even though it was over cooked.  I ate a catfish sandwich, rather I tried to eat a catfish sandwich.  It was one of the worst catfish anything I have ever had.  I couldn’t  finish it.  Alas, I don’t there there is a “good” place to eat around here, unless it is at home.

"R" Place Bar & Grill

Terry Lee, Park Supervisor, at "R" Place 

Yesterday, May 28, we hosted a “Post Memorial Day” potluck and all the volunteers that have arrived came as well as a few of the park staff.   I had such a great time entertaining and T loved the talking.   

There are two more volunteer couples coming in this week. We will host another potluck in a couple weeks so all the volunteers can get together.   Things have picked up a bit since the weather warmed up.

May 20, - Jewel Cave National Monument

My pretty little Red (Miata) is such a mess. Yesterday, May 19, she got a bath, the first since we arrived in April.  She was so shiny and bright.  Then today we took off and headed to Jewel Cave National Monument and after traveling 7 miles on a the gravel dirt road the poor thing is filthy. So horrible.

Poor little Red, so dirty!

The trip to the Caverns took 2 1/2 hours. There was lots of road construction and of course we're in Wyoming and South Dakota so there was rain. The actual distance to Jewel Cave was about ninety miles.

Jewel Cave is the third longest cave in the world at approximately 170 miles.  Though that number grows about 4 miles every year.  They have not explored the entire thing.    On the “Scenic tour”, which we took, one only sees about a half mile of the cave.  In June each year they open the “wild cave tours” and on that you get to crawl around in the cave and explore about 4 miles and it takes about 4 hours.   

Anyway on our tour we were down about 380 ft below surface and walked up and down 726 
steps.  We saw large geos, nail head spar, box work, and a few, very few stalactites.  Unfortunately, the lighting was such that I didn’t get a good shot of the nail head spar.  We enjoyed the tour of the cave.  It was quite interesting and quite different from Kartchner caverns.

I don't have any photos of the grounds, because much of it was under construction and the weather was rainy.

After touring the cave, naturally T was hungry. So we had to find someplace to eat. We drove over to Custer City and looked around. It is a quaint touristy little town. Most people who travel through the area use it as a stop off to see the national monuments in the area, of which there are at least four within a hundred miles.   T had his favorite sandwich at Subway.  Yes my husband likes his Subway sandwiches.  

I found this quaint little place called the Purple Pie and we went there and had blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream for desert.  I of course had to have a my picture with the owner, Bob Yehle. He and his wife come to Custer in the summer.  They run the Purple Pie until the season is over.   Then close up and go back to California for the winter.  The pie was great and it was fun visiting with the owner.  

Purple Pie

Bob Yehle, owner