Bang-ups and Hang-ups Can Happen to You.

Needles Passage through the Badlands is definitely not for the faint of heart.  I thought the Iron Mountain road was treacherous, but this brings new meaning to it.  The road is very narrow, barely allowing two cars to pass.  There are hairpin turns and steep inclines, most of which have no guardrails.  I actually felt like I was going to be sick as we drove the road.  But yet again, the views are amazing.  You drive through rock formations that look other-worldly.  You can see for miles.  It is like nothing you will ever see in New Jersey!

Looking out the car window on Needles Passage

The "Needles"

After this ride we decided to visit one of the many caves that are in the Black Hills.  We picked the Beautiful Wonderland Cave since it was on our way to Sturgis.  As we were travelling up a small rural highway we see a sign directing us down a dirt road to the cave.  We took the turn...and so our adventure began.  Not far in our fuel light came on.  Anyone who has driven with me knows I push the car- I usually get about another hundred miles before refilling.  Well, this road went on and on.   We finally reach the end and are directed to ANOTHER dirt road.  It was even bumpier and dirtier than the the other.  Rich takes this moment to remind me we have been driving at about 20 miles an hour with the AC on and may not get my hundred miles.  That didn't make me feel any better.  We get to the cave and while I wouldn't call it a beautiful wonderland, it was pretty cool.  The step leading to it were easy to manage on the way down- not so much on the way up.

So after we leave the cave we still have that long dirt road to contend with, a fuel light on, and me getting increasingly nervous.  Once we hit pavement we decided to press our luck and go to Sturgis since backtracking didn't look any more promising. 

We made it to Sturgis and pulled in to the first station we saw.  This was one of those times where I am glad my van gives so much advanced warning.  We filled the car, with a few gallons to spare. (At this point Rich checks the tire, and while one tire is slightly low, there is no indication of what is to come.)

Sturgis is a sleepy little mining town that is dominated by motorcycles.  The town is inundated with about 100000 bikers for a huge rally every August.  It then reverts back to a four block quiet town.  Thankfully, we were not there during bike week.  (Although Rich may disagree.)  We checked out the Harley store and continued on our way to Deadwood.

Downtown Sturgis

Deadwood is the quintessential mining town.  Most of the buildings in the historic district are still the originals.  As we meandered up the main road we saw a sign for a free enactment of the murder of Wild Bill Hickock in the Saloon #10.  I just had to check that out!  In we go, and managed to snag seats close to the action.  An actor steps up and chooses four people from the audience to assist.  (We were not chosen.)  He gives a brief history of Wild Bill's life and then the fateful poker game begins.  With the volunteers acting as the bartender and his playing partners we watch as Bill gets shot in the back while he was holding the "dead man's hand."  It was pretty hokey to me, but I guess convincing to the younger set, as Danny leans over to me and says, "Is he really dead?"

We took a few pictures of the kids with the actors and headed out.  We decided to head back to the hotel since we wanted an early start to Denver the next day and the kids wanted to go swimming.   We were on Interstate 90 for a while when Rich says, "This car next to us is trying to say something."  I look and see the woman saying that our right rear tire is going flat.  We thank her and immediately pull over.  Sure enough, the tire is decidedly pancake looking.   (As an aside- we debated buying new rear tires prior to the trip, but opted not to.  Wrong decision!)  With Danny sleeping contently, the rest of us got out and watched Rich change the tire.  Ian even got in on the action.  In no time at all we were back on our way and trying to figure out where to go for a new tire.  We found a Sears close to our hotel, but they were closed.  So was the other tire place in the area.  Rich decided to call it a night and he would go out early the next morning to take care of things.

After a quick dinner we returned for swimming and laundry.  I was glad this day was done!