4 Mile Old West Town

Four Mile got it's name from the Stage Coach drivers. It was 4 miles from Custer where the mail was picked up. It was on our VIP pass so we headed down there after work to check it out.

There are a lot of old buildings.  There is an audio tour of the property.  The audio tour was actually on an old Cassette Player with the push buttons.  It was very informative.

I was falsely accused - it just makes me so mad I could Spit!  Really - I didn't do it!

The main road was wide here like in Custer so that the Oxen carts could turn around without unhitching.

 Actually this is no State Income Tax here

On Friday nights they have a shoot out.  There is actually quite a long skit.  The woman in the Black with the cigar is the owner - we had quite a nice chat with her after the show.

There was a snake oil salesman as well.

 All medicine men have a bag full of  Trix!

Gary got caught up in the show!

The End

Till Later,

Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n

Melissa and Gary

A drive on the Wild Side - Bear Country U.S.A.

We finally get to Bear Country a drive thru wild life park.

Elk - how do they keep their heads up with those antlers??  I guess the guy on the right is taking a break.

Nice Rack

We were told Kirby was Poodle/Shepherd but now I think he was Artic Wolf

Finally!  We get to see a Big Horn Sheep

The Bear was a little wary of these Timber Wolves, can't blame him they have a crazed look on their faces.

Once again, the traffic in South Dakota is a Bear!  Traffic was bearly moving!

A real roadside attraction.

Is it time to hibernate yet??

Can't seem to get away from the Buffalo

After the drive thru there is a small zoo with other animals, mostly babies

The Lynx

A baby Arctic Fox

And then the Baby Bears

They are so darn cute.

I want her job!

Now we can highly recommend it to the guests

We continue on to Rapid City to do some shopping and decide to stop at Hart Ranch a member's only Exclusive RV Park that our friends, Pam and Harold travel around with Fairs and Carnivals promoting.  On our way out we are delayed by yet another traffic jam.  Gary almost had a Cow - we were barely MOOOving!



Shopped will we dropped and then had Dinner at the Fire House Grill

Pass by our favorite Bar on the way home.

Till Later,

Meanwhile we keep on Trek'n

Melissa and Gary

Gold Discover Days in Custer, SD

This weekend was Gold Discovery Days in Custer.  We're talking Hot Air Balloon Rally, Parade, Antique Car Show and Hospital Bed Races.  Life in the Fast Lane!

Hey we have Friday Night off so we head into town to check out the Hospital Bed races.

Saturday Gary starts at 9:30 and I start at 2:00 so we get up early to see the Hot Air Balloon Rally that was supposed to go off at 5:30 a.m.  Got there but they didn't get out till almost 6:30 - could have used that extra sleep time!

Next we check out the Antique Car Show 

Loved the jean upholstery in this one 

Gary missed the Parade cause it started at 10:00.  Gold Discover Days started in 1923.

Mitch our resident General Custer 

Just love a small town parade 

Till Later,

Meanwhile we keep on Trek'n

Melissa and Gary



An action filled day off!

Since we only have one day off this week we decided to do some of the things we haven't gotten around to yet. It was another Hot day - 90's so we headed underground.

1st stop - Big Thunder Gold Mine

Watch your head! 

Big Thunder is one of the safest mines in the area. The rock stability allowed the miners to use very little timbering. Because of its safety, during times of war, the Big Thunder Mine was designated as Keystone's bomb shelter.

Not much gold was taken from this mine.  Lore has it that they discovered some gold in an adjacent area but did not file a claim.  They got drunk and talked about the gold they found and someone else filed a claim out of spite but did not have the money to excavate it.  They sold the rights to someone else for a few thousand dollars.  The mine ended up producing over 3 million in Gold

After the tour we panned for gold and even found a few flakes! 

Getting warm again - so back underground to Rushmore Cave.  This is the original natural entrance.

It is filled with natural limestone formations

Lots of narrow winding tunnels and ups and downs.  Could've used the hard hat in here too. 

 The "Big Room"

 Lots of Stalactites

We got free admission with our VIP Pass and they told us the zip line ride was free as well.  Since we were well chilled from the hour tour we didn't mind waiting in line in the hot sun. 

Next Stop Mt. Rushmore to do the Audio Tour

Time to head home, we take the Iron Mountain Road with the Pigtail Bridges - you drive under the bridge and then the road circles around so you cross the bridge

As we were driving home we passed the Black Hills Playhouse.  They do a practice run of a play on the Wednesday before opening and VIP pass holders get in free.   We hadn't had a chance to do one yet, we were either working or had forgotten about it or last week when we remembered it was an off week.  I had it in my mind that it was next week but I noticed cars in the lot as we drove by and decided to check my "cheat sheet"  and sure enough it was this evening so we did a U-Turn and headed back

We ended up seeing "All Shook Up"  a musical comedy with a lot of Elvis music and comical situations of mistaken identity.  The Set wasn't complete and it was the first time the cast had performed in front of a live audience.  They only had 5 days of rehearsals.  They did quite well and we enjoyed the performance.

Till Later,

Meanwhile we keep on Trek'n

Melissa and Gary