It was a cooler day, unlike the temps back home. We started with a stop at a Black Hills gold jewelry factory. Since it was Sunday there was no tour of the factory floor, just a video and a stroll around the factory outlet store. We saw some nice things, but nothing caught Leila’s fancy.

Then it was on to really interesting Lutheran chapel. A local banker had it built as an exact replica of one in Norway, right down to the hand carved figures and roof tiles. We enjoyed the history, the architecture, and the prayer walk they had designed in the woods behind the chapel.

We then took a drive through Sturgis. We were told that between 500,000 and 550,000 riders show up here for the biker event in August; considering this is a small town and that the total population of SD is around 900,000 that is remarkable!

From there we went to Deadwood…lots of history, outlaws, and motorcycles. We had a nice lunch in an old saloon that, while it’s moved across the street, is one of the oldest in town and in its old location is where Wild Bill Hickcox was killed. No gun play during lunch, thankfully.

Finally, we had a cowboy chuckwagon dinner, complete with a show after dinner. The brisket was excellent, and the band was great…they were funny, and they were excellent musically. The dinner grounds also had some displays of old western life, including the property owner making rope (out of toilet paper, bringing new life to the thought that two or three cords are stronger together)

Tomorrow will be a shorter day; we’ll head into Keystone and take a steam train ride to Hill City. More then…