Deadwood and Devils Tower

Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2014

Gillette, WY

DOAI Rally

Devil's Tower

We were up early to enjoy coffee and donuts before we boarded the bus for our tour of Devil's Tower and Deadwood today.

Our first stop was at the Vore Buffalo Jump for a quick picture taking  opportunity and leg stretch on our way to Deadwood.

We arrived in Deadwood where the City tour bus was waiting to take most of our group to the cemetery and historic area.  There was no room left on the bus so Al and Karin did not take the city tour.  We had done this tour before so we decided to spend the time eating lunch and exploring the shops on main street.

Al and Karin DeHaas joined us for lunch at Mustang Sally's in Deadwood.  They live in Germany and store their Discovery in Colorado.  They come to the US on holiday each year and pickup the D in Longmont to tour around.  They are hoping to go full time soon.

We found the Midnight Star Restaurant that is owned by Kevin Cosner.  The place is decorated  with pictures and costumes from his movies.  This was the costume from Water World. 

Posters, pictures and costume from The Body Guard

Dances with Wolves

Our timing was all wrong as we boarded the bus at 1:00.  The gunfights in the street and other shows started daily at 1:00.

Another stop in the town of Aladdin on our way to Devils Tower to check out this 100 year old store.

The town of Aladdin is for sale for the price of $1.5 Million.  Anyone interested in owning your own town?

The store was packed with merchandise.  It was surprisingly clean and well organized as you walked across the creaky old wooden floor.  Lots of collectables, clothing and antiques. 

I don't know if you had to buy the entire beer can collection or just buy the one you wanted

Finally we arrived at Devil's Towner and was given 30 minutes to take pictures.  Of course the trail around the tower takes 45 minutes to an hour so no one could take the hike.

After pictures were taken, everyone just sat in the shade waiting for the bus.

Back on the bus we go.

Our bus driver.

There was a stop at the prairie dog town as we left Devils Tower.  These little fellows were not camera shy.

We had one last stop at the Devil's Tower General Store for everyone to buy ice cream before heading back to the Cam-plex.

Friday, Aug. 29, 2014
Gillette, WY
Cam-Plex DOAI Rally

Today was seminars for everyone.  Becky attended the seminars about Password Manager for your computer, Cloud Computing and Traveling with your Pets.  Traveling with your pets was given by a woman that volunteers with the Red Cross to handle animals during disasters so she had lots of tips to keep your pets safe in emergencies.  They travel with 3 dogs, 1 cat and 2 ferrets.  They also volunteer for ferret rescues.  She gave lots of good ideas for getting your pets out of your RV in case of fire, remedies for sick animals, and keeping records of vaccines and medications on each pet.  This evening we handled the sale of 50/50 tickets during dinner.  We raised $500 so $250 will go to Jump Wyoming charity and $250 went to the lucky winner.

The local Food Pantry will get a big boost from the DOAI group.   It was an impressive donation.

The DOAI donated 673 pounds to the local food bank.

Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014

Gillette, WY

Cam-plex DOAI Rally

The morning started with coffee, donuts and fruit in the hall.

Anne and Wally did a great job of organizing and serving food to all the attendees.

On the schedule today was round table discussions for the pilot and co-pilot in the morning.  The afternoon was a ladies tea party and quilt show.  Some of the members brought their quilts and told the stories to go with them.

There were so many beautiful quilts but I had to narrow down the pictures.  This was one of the most interesting patterns I have ever seen.

This quilt was done with pictures of her son's high school days as a graduation present.  It was like a cloth scrapbook he could cuddle in.

This pattern was done completely with octagon pieces. 

This quilt was made from all the victory flags from her husband's racing career. 

We had a fabulous Prime Rib dinner with cheese cake for desert.  Becky sold another $401 in 50/50 tickets making a total of $901.  Our President John Baker had the lucky ticket and donated his $200 winnings back to Jump Wyoming.  With the quilt raffle and 50/50 we gave almost $2,000 to Jump Wyoming to help buy work clothing for the single mom's in the program.  This was the last night of our rally and many of the members are leaving in the morning.  We will stay another day to catch up laundry, clean house and pickup groceries before we hit the road again.  We will be making our way towards Atwater, IL where we will spend some time with RV friends we met in Texas last winter.  Stay in touch...

Becky and Lonnie