Reby's Weight Loss and Breast Cancer Journey: South Dakota was AWESOME!

It's been a long time since I wrote a blog, mostly because we were just insanely busy in SD, and the internet in the hotels was very slow.

Now I have a whole day in Maryland to relax and get caught up on things. Tonight we are going to a retirement party for my former co-worker from Pikesville Middle, and we will take the dogs for a walk at some point. This is our first morning in Lowell and Emily's house, babysitting their dogs, Trillian and Ozma. So far it's going pretty well. But we only just moved in here last night. LOL! They are two cuties, for sure.

On the trip, we learned there are only two Denny's in all of South Dakota. One was in Rapid City, so that's where we had dinner on our last night. The rest of the time we ate in much nicer, much more expensive restaurants. I succumbed to appetizers, alcohol, and dessert most nights. It was DELICIOUS! Walleye is local and on most menus, as well as local trout. We had some delicious fish dinners. I also suspended my personal kashrut observance on three occasions and gave in to eating buffalo. I had a cup of buffalo chili as an appetizer in Deadwood, buffalo prime rib au jus in Wall, and a buffalo burger in the Rapid City airport for lunch before boarding. They were all delicious. In fact, you can buy kosher buffalo since it is an animal that is by its nature a kosher animal, but it's very expensive. Mark does plan to buy some so he can experience it. It is lower in fat and calories than a chicken breast! Healthy red meat!

Despite all the eating, I did NOT gain any weight on the trip. I was very surprised by that when I weighed myself yesterday morning at Cindy's house. I did not take the scale on the trip, and with all that eating, I was sure I was gaining a pound a day. I know I can do that, and I have done it on several cruises. This time I stayed the same. I left at 257 and I returned at 257. I can only attribute that to a lot of walking and activity. The amount of driving on this vacation was minimal, so that left lots of walking at every stop.

Since I didn't write a blog or upload most of the photo albums while we were gone due to slow internet and so much activity, I hardly know where to start today to tell about the trip. I guess I'll start at the beginning.

We left Baltimore an hour late due to thunderstorms in the area, so we missed our connecting flight in Minneapolis. That airport does a nice job of giving out sleeping mats, pillows, and blankets. I guess in the winter, missed connections happen a lot. A custodian gave us a good tip about where to find a quiet, secluded spot to sleep, so we were not too uncomfortable. We arrived in Rapid City about 9:30 the next morning, got a rental car, and made it to Deadwood long before lunch time! Our first two days were in the historic Bullock Hotel, named for its original owner, Seth Bullock, town hardware store owner, sheriff, and then hotelier. We had finished the HBO series, Deadwood, so it was a lot of fun to be on those original sites of the No. 10 Saloon (where Wild Bill Hickock was shot), the Gem Saloon, and the Bullock Hotel. We went to the Mt. Moriah Cemetery and paid our respects to Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, buried next to each other. Mark also hiked way to the top of the hill to see Seth Bullock's grave. We toured the sister city of Lead, where the successful Homestake Mine, owned by George Heart, is located. At the mine's visitor center, I bought myself a gorgeous ring with the Black Hills gold motif of grape leaves on it. The Black Hills produced over 400 MILLION dollars worth of gold. Most mining operations are over now.

So that was the first two days. Here are some pictures from those days. Tomorrow I'll talk about the next two days.

On first arriving in town

This was the site of the original hardware store owned by Bullock and Starr. After that burned down, they built the hotel.

Lunch that first day at Mustang Sally's, across from the Bullock Hotel.

This is not the original site of the saloon, but we did see the original site, which is just a block or two down the street.

Hickock and Calamity Jane were buried next to each other, at her request.

There were several previous markers on Wild Bill's grave, but they were made of sandstone and easily vandalized.

We also visited the Adams Museum the first day and the Adams House on the second day.

The largest gold nugget ever brought out of the Black Hills is now in the Adams Museum.

What's an old west town with a gunfight? They do re-enactments four or five times a day on various corners along Main Street.

At the bar in the No 10 Saloon, waiting for the reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill.

On this trip, we both decided a shot of whiskey tasted much better than usual when ordered in an old west saloon.

Mark posed with the reenacters after the show.

This actual site is now a gift shop of rare and valuable antiques. It did not allow photos inside and felt more like a museum than a store.

The next morning we had breakfast at Bully's in the back of the hotel.

Beautiful decor in Bully's as well as cheap, delicious food.

Then we drove up to Mt. Moriah cemetery so Mark could hike up to the Bullock's graves, Mr. and Mrs.

He passed these signs along the way. Yesterday, we were on a bus tour up to the cemetery, so it drove to these two graves, but no private cars are allowed in and even the bus can't go to the top.

Mark had a long hike up to the summit to pay his respects to Seth Bullock.

Beautiful view from the top

Hidden Mickey on the entrance gate?

The Adams House was our next stop, but no pictures were allowed inside. Beautiful!

Now on to Lead, just a few miles up the road.

Lead prided itself on being a more civilized place than its neighbor Deadwood.

The Homestake Mining Company, owned by George Hearst, operated for well over a hundred years and was an excellent employer. It is now closed, but part of the underground area is now turned over for scientific research.

My new ring!

The open cut mining area

Driving back to Deadwood, we had to laugh because this is the SAME SIGN that said Welcome to Lead on the other side. They are literally right next to each other.

Dave and Evey Herschler advised us to go to this exhibit, and we are glad we listened.

A Lakota gentleman named Billy was our guide.

Kevin Costner bought this land and established this museum.

This huge life size sculpture garden of Lakota braves bringing down buffalo was commissioned and established by Costner.

Back to Deadwood. The founding father's wanted to name a street after the Cheyenne River, but no one knew how to spell it. This is what they got!

The Franklin Hotel, built by Mr. Franklin, who changed his name from Finkelstein. He was the original builder and resident of the Adams House.

This infamous restaurant is still open..

It is the place where Hickock ate his last meal before going next door to the No. 10, where he was shot in the back playing cards.

Hickock was killed in the original No. 10, but we went back up the block to the new No. 10 for a before dinner shot of whiskey because we had a two for one coupon!