Feeling a Little Deflated

Jessie and Ralph Harrison
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We woke up this morning feeling refreshed from the freezing night in the mountains to learn that a wild buffalo was seen wandering through our campsite earlier this morning. We packed up and got a quick picture with Ralph Harrison, our camp site host. He was very nice to us and went out of his way to talk to us and make us feel welcome. One of the many people that we won't forget from this trip. We left the park and headed north through Sturgis. The town is much smaller than we had imagined, and by that time most of the bikers had moved on down the road. We continued on to Wyoming and Devil's Tower. It stands 860', which is about twice as tall as we had expected. It's all alone in the middle of nowhere. VERY creepy.

We saw wild donkeys at the state park!
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We headed back to South Dakota and intended to find a hotel and then go on down to Deadwood. Instead, after finding a hotel and checking in, we drove the 45 miles back to Rapid City to replace our recently discovered slowly flattening tire. We spent the evening at the Rushmore Mall waiting for the new tire. We figured, on our way back we should go ahead and stop by Deadwood. It was basically a strip of casinos and the actual bar where Wild Bill Hickok was shot. We headed back to the hotel and went to bed.