Deadwood, SD and the Mickelson Bike Trail

Odometer - 2434 I think...

Today is the last day for awhile of short driving distances. The next 4-5 days will be heavy driving days as we travel through South Dakota and Montana on our way to Canada. It's very hard for me to think that in less than two weeks, we'll be in Alaska.

This morning we drove to Deadwood, SD, a national historic town. I thought it might be a tourist trap, but actually it was very well done. We drove through the town which included many restored historic buildings. Our hotel, Deadwood Gulch, (the whole town is located in a gulch - right on the canyon floor...) was out of town a bit but right beside the George Mickelson bicycle path, exactly what we were looking for. It is a 109 mile path from Deadwood to Edgewood. Coincidentally, the NYT had an article about it right before we left Cape Cod.

Gates and Robert took the bikes off the top of the trailer (about an hour job...) and then we set off down the trail. It winds through forests and along a stream with beautiful scenery all around. The sun was beating down on us - we figured out that the sun is more intense here because of the elevation - so despite the cool breeze, it was still quite warm. At one point we took a break to plunge out toes into the icy water - boy, did that feel good! We also took a well-needed break for ice cream at a place called the Chunky Chipmunk. It was a chocolate shop but fortunately, it had ice cream. And some of the best I've ever tasted. We struck up a conversation with a couple also eating ice cream and discovered the man works for Blue Bunny, the makers of the ice cream.

Across the street there is a go-cart race track, so Gates and Robert are over there while I write the blog. It's early to bed tonight so that we can get up early for Hardin, MT tomorrow. Before we arrive there we'll try to see Little Big Horn National Monument.