Update from Spearfish, South Dakota

Sat 24th Sep

Spent the entire day touring the beautiful Black Hills. This must be one of the best times of year to be here. All of what I imagine will be high season crowds have gone, the trees are just starting to turn, and it is not too cold.
Went on a drive through Custer State Park www.CusterStatePark.info and from the road the wildlife we saw were deer, buffalo, mules, goats, prairie dogs, chipmunk, and turkeys.
It is a pity we could not be here next weekend when the round up of the Buffalo herd starts. Must be quite a sight.
We then drove over the Needles highway to Hill City whre we lunched in a Diner.
Visited Deadwood which is a bit of a depressing place as it seems to have been inundated with casinos. We did however climb the hill to Mt Moriah Cemetery and saw the graves of Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, and other notables from earlier times. However, we didn't see the Deadwood Stage rolling over the hill. :-) We did see a genuine Deadwood Stage exhibited at the House on the Rock a few days ago.
We eventually ended up in Spearfish for the night.