Day 4 Moon over Deadwood

Saturday, Sept. 25th
A mighty tailwind took us across Montana at record speeds. The flight at normal speed would have taken 3.5 hours. At 185 knots we arrived in Spearfish, SD having flown only 2.5 hours.

We departed Missoula after an early morning visit to the farmer's market where we sampled some fabulous native apples and Asian pears. We grabbed some homemade granola, skipped the homecoming parade, and Jacob took us to the airport. It was a great visit and probably the most time we have spent with Jacob since he was a little boy. He is an intelligent and thoughtful man now and we enjoyed his company.

The skies were clear except for a very high broken layer which kept us out of the hot sun. The air was smooth as we left the dry barren land of the west and entered the treed high plains of eastern Montana. As we approached Billings we saw the only "skyscrapers" in Montana. This means Billings, Montana's largest city, has the only buildings higher than 6 or 7 stories. We stopped in Billings for lunch and walked around the courthouse area to stretch our legs. I am impressed with the people of Montana who are exceptionally friendly and polite, and with the cleanliness of the cities. Of course, this big sky country is impressive all on its own.

We passed by Devil's tower, about 2000' above. It's an amazing sight but difficult to capture in a photo from our plane. Arrived in Spearfish which is just a skip and a jump over the border in SD about 4:30.  We drove from the airport to the Lodge at Deadwood. It is a new casino/hotel just outside the old reconstructed town of Deadwood. We are here for the comfortable room and plan not to visit the casino. As devotees of the HBO tv series DeadwooD, we were surprised to read in the guidebook how much of the real story was incorporated into the tv show. Life imitating art imitating life. Tonight it was steak, tomorrow it is serious hiking in the mountains that are beginning to turn Aspen yellow.