The music is “Back to Back” by Whitey Morgan and the 78’s, YouTube audioswap.
While we had been here before, in 2001, we had just been passing through on our way to Glacier National Park and had made reservations at a hotel in Great Falls for one night.
In 2007, though, Great Falls was a destination for a family visit. A brother, his wife and two sons were living there.
While visiting with family, we also saw some of what is left of the falls, went to a farmers’ market, saw an autocross competition, visited Giant Spring State Park, spent a little time at a horse auction and stopped at the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center.
This was our second visit to Devils Tower. Our first was an abbreviated, quick visit-and-get back-on-the-road side trip on our way home from a western vacation.
On this 2007 visit, we stayed 3 nights at the Devils Tower KOA campground, just outside the entrance station to the monument.
One of the trails that we took was a trail that goes all the way around the base of Devils Tower. Devils Tower is a sacred site to many American Indian tribes. All along the trail could be seen Indian prayer offerings (bundles and cloths).
The other trail we took was a full moon hike with a park ranger. I did have a couple of good images that turned out from that night, but they were from after we got back to the camper. One of them is the last image of the video slide show at the beginning of this post.
Photos (from top to bottom):
Prayer bundle in the forest at the base of Devils Tower
Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon), and Larry Butler (Josef Sommer) run towards Devils Tower, Close Encounters of the Third Kind scene right at the entrance station to the monument.
Devils Tower National Monument entrance station.
It’s interesting, now, how familiar much of the scenery in the movie is now, including some of the scenery outside the park. The area where the military encampment is shown to be in the movie is now the site of several better than average touristy type shops.
Devils Tower (Lakota: Mato Tipila, which means “Bear Lodge”) is a monolithic igneous intrusion or volcanic neck located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet (1,558 m) above sea level.
The day we decided to visit Deadwood, South Dakota, turned out to be during the “Kool Deadwood Nights” festival.
We had no idea that there was anything special going on until we got there. When we had trouble finding a place to park, we almost decided to head on down the road to see other places and sights.
Deadwood’s Main Street was filled with the chairs of people who were planning to attend the night’s entertainment. We have no idea who was performing that night and we were not prepared to stay that late.
Kool Deadwood Nights: Car lovers come together for four days full of classic cars, classic music and classic fun. It’s a 50’s and 60’s sock hop—Deadwood style. Enjoy parades, show and shines and FREE concerts on Main Street featuring the biggest names in rock ‘n roll history.1
Deadwood, named for dead trees found there when it was established, was illegally settled in the 1870s in territory granted to native tribes in the 1868 Treaty of Laramie. An expedition led by George Armstrong Custer in 1874 announce the discovery of gold in the Black Hills. The news, of course, triggered a gold rush, and gave rise to the lawless town of Deadwood.
The town’s early history forms the basis for the storyline of the HBO TV series named Deadwood.
One of our first stops on our 2007 trip, after visiting family in Nebraska, was the Black Hills of South Dakota. While there, we visited Mount Rushmore national Monument.
We had stopped at Mount Rushmore once in the late 80s. We were on our way home from vacationing in Wyoming and Idaho and our visit to Rushmore was a hurried afterthought.
This trip, we took our time and got the full benefit of the visit. Mount Rushmore is worth seeing.
USS Razorback, SS 394, North Little Rock, Arkansas
A Balao-class submarine of the Sandlance variant, USS Razorback was built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.
Her keel was laid on 09 September 1943. Razorback was constructed in Drydock #1 at the shipyard, and she was launched, along with two sister ships USS Redfish (SS-395) and USS Ronquil (SS-396), on 27 January 1944. USS Scabbardfish (SS-397) was also launched at the shipyard that day. This was the largest single-day launch of submarines in US history.
After five WWII combat patrols and extensive service during the Cold War, on 30 November 1970, USS Razorback was decommissioned and transferred to the Turkish Navy, where she served until decommissioned on 08 August 2001. She reached her new berth in North Little Rock, 29 August 2004 at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.
Begging Burros is a name used to refer to feral burros (asses) in Custer State Park, South Dakota. The burros are descendants of a herd that were used to carry visitors to the top of Harney Peak. When the rides were discontinued years ago, the burros were released into the park. Elk, mule deer, white tailed deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, and mountain lions also inhabit the park.
ass: (noun) 1. A hoofed mammal of the horse family with a braying call, typically smaller than a horse and with longer ears
burro: (noun) 1. The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E. africanus. In the western United States, a small donkey is sometimes called a ”burro” (from the Spanish word for the animal).
The town’s early history forms the basis for the storyline of the HBO TV series named 
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