DAY 12

 We didn't plan for it but we ended up doing 219 miles today. We got an early start and rode from Custer to Deadwood. It was too early to check in at our hotel so we figured that we'd ride out to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. I'd done the ride before but forgot just how far it is. It really didn't matter much because we left Deadwood around 11 so we had basically had all day to do whatever we wanted. And it is definitely worth the ride. If you've seen Devil's Tower in the movie "Close Encounters", you might have thought that it was kind of interesting. But when you stand at the base and look at this mountain of rock, it is truly an awe inspiring sight.

We have more pics that we will post later where you will see people who come to Wyoming to climb the tower. We sat for a while and watched a couple of them and then we read about how many people try to scale the tower every year. They come by the thousands and there are signs all around telling you that if you want to go above the fallen rock area, you need to sign in.

 There is a trail around the tower for visitors to walk for some great photo ops.We started out on the trail but only got about a quarter of the way. But the views of the tower changed from each angle and it was worth the walk.

As I said, we weren't expecting to be out as long as we were but when we got back and checked into our hotel in Deadwood, we were pleasantly surprised to find a very quaint room that almost made you feel like you are back in the old west. Rather than stay outside of town, we decided on the Hickok Hotel which is right Main Street in Deadwood. So we got back around 5 and spent a wonderful evening walking down Main and checking out the shops and doing a little slot play.

Had a nice dinner in a bar with a really good singer and then hit a few more gaming establishments before we called it a night..