Where was Wild Bill Hickock shot?

Hey Ya'll

"That would be Deadwood S.D. on 2 August, 1876". We did a little eating, a little drinking and a little gambling in Deadwood tonight.

The evening started out w/ us looking for a decent meal amidst the slot machines and we were directed to Diamond Lil's, Kevin Costner's resturant. It was a 3 story affair w/ the Sports Bar, (no slots) on the 2nd floor, and a fancier resturant on the 3rd floor. We went w/ the less $$ sports bar for pizza and steak. The guy on the casino floor directing people assured Cody that the Sports Bar had wine, (a prerequisite) and no smoking.

So we got up to a nice table overlooking the main street of Deadwood, ordered our wine and food and settled down for a nice chat. O-La...a group of 3 young folks all barely 21 sat down at the table next to us for drinks and a good smoke. All 3 lit up while the waitress (who's father hangs w/ Kevin regularly) took their drink orders. Cody and I looked at each other aghast! Smoking and eating do not exist in the same room in the wonderful State of Washington!! What kind of barbarians live in South Dakota?? Quick like a white-tail deer in the Black Hills, I was out of my chair over to their table. In an incredibly diplomatic manner I said that we were certain the man at the door said the Bar was "non smoking". But oh no. There WAS smoking in the Bar, in fact.

All 3 youngsters apologized profusely and said they really didn't need to smoke. I was very thankful and went back to my seat. After a few minutes the youngsters moved to another part of the Bar where I think they could smoke w/ impunity. I said I was sorry they had to move but thanked them. I called the the waitress over (who's dad hangs w/ Kevin if you'll remember) and told her I was buying their first round of drinks. Haha...when they received them one of the cute guys came flying to our table saying.."dude, you didn't have to do that...but thanks". Alls well that ends well.

We then moved to the downstairs where we each blew $10 in the slots. It only took about 20 minutes. I love Deadwood. xooxoxxpiequeen

Hey ya'll

I've left the blogging to Cody for the last couple of days because we were IN Cody, where I have generally too much fun to be messing w/ computers. All of my girlfriends from my very young days continue to support and tolerate me in a way that probably astounded my sister. As always, I hate leaving Cody, but if we didn't we wouldn't be able to continue our most excellent adventure. He we are now in Denver w/ Aunt Sallie and our Grasser cousins. We managed to get Roberta and Cathy with their mom here after we had all had lunch and visited for a long time. Pat is here as well, and it had been awhile since I'd seen him so I barely recoginized him.

We were at Taimi Kuiva's last night outside Laramie at her and her husband Dave's beautiful home. I have to admit tho, living up on the bluff w/ not much but the wind and the Antelops would be daunting. My goes off to Kuiv.

Tomorrow it's on to Nebraska, maybe Scotts Bluff if we can find out that there is much to see, but while I'm writing this in fact, Aunt Sallie and Cathy are telling us we can make it all the way to the Black Hills in one day from here, so we may tackle that. We'll be going back to the place of our parents honeymoon in 1952.

If we run into techno troubles out in the boondocks, our blog will have to be suspended until we find a good site like here in Denver. You can always call us if any of you are EVER worried! xoxoxoxxxpiequeen

P.S. Hey Dad, Cathy and Aunt Sallie just reminded us of the time Major came out to get you when you tried to punish one of the boys! haha, that was such a good story!

A change in itinerary

We changed our itinerary a bit today so that we could stop in Casper to visit Aunt Rose in the hospital. It was so great to see her and she was doing very well. She was chipper and ready to go home from the hospital, although the doctor said 3 more days before that would happen. In addition to seeing Aunt Rose, we also got to see Uncle Jim, His Honor, the Mayor (he looks exactly like I remember him). Perry, his brand new baby daughter, Megan and his step daughter Gabrielle (I think around 10 years old) were there along with Joanie, Vicki and Vicki's daughter, Jayli. It was so much fun to see them and we got lots of pictures which we will share when we get home. Then we drove on to Laramie and are now being hosted by Taimi Kuiva and her husband, Dave, in their beautiful home outside of Laramie at 8500 feet. It's just lovely and there are even deer grazing outside their windows. We will be heading in to Denver in the morning to see Aunt Sally and Roberta. (They were very understanding about our need to change itineraries due to Aunt Rose still being in the hospital in Casper.) The we4ther has warmed and we had a beautiful sunny day of driving with temps in the mid-70's. We are having a great time and wish you all could be with us. Until the next post ... Susie and Cody

A day in Cody (the town)

We had a great day today. We saw 1901 Kerper Blvd and 1308 Alpine Ave and went to the dam, St Anthony's church, drove from one end of town to the other and back and poked around in all the little shops on Sheridan Avenue. One of the highlights though, was stopping in to visit with Kep. We had a great visit and he was kind enough to let us take a picture and we told him that he would be on our blog tonight. Then we had coffee at the Irma cafe bar. It was just like the old days. We had lunch at Maxwell's which used to be the Green Gables. During my junior year in high school, I took my 50 cents (the cost of a school lunch in those long ago days) and had french fries and a coke every day at Green Gables so it was fun to be back there even if it is now a different restaurant. Tonight we will be at Mel's having a little birthday party for Virginia. Cindy, her son John-John and Jann will also be joining us. Tomorrow we are off to Denver with stops along the way to see Aunt Rose at the hospital in Casper and Taimi in Laramie.

Old Friends in Cody.

Day 2, we arrived in Cody after suffering a blizzard in Bozeman. I am here w/ some of my best buddies in the world, Jann, Mel and Virginia. Cody and I had already seen Cindy Everding in Red Lodge earlier today. Cindy comes here tomorrow and we'll all celebrate Virginia's birthday tomorrow night at her place. We'll go past the house on Alpine Avenue tomorrow and post a photo. We took a picture of the old place on Westridge in Bozeman today. They changed the color of the siding!! We'll talk tomorrow!

The Bacchus Pub is now "Ted Turner's Grill"

We arrived and met with Paul and Carol for dinner last night. We had a lovely time but were dismayed to find the Bacchus Pub closed. We tried Ted Turner's new place (open 8 days) and had a good meal. And were very impressed with the reasonable prices -- I guess he has enough money and doesn't have to make so much more! Paul and Carol are well and that Paul is quite the joker! By the way, since we forgot yesterday -- we wish John a Happy 42nd!

We spent this morning in Bozeman, a little shopping, lunch at McKenzie River Pizza and then drove to Red Lodge where we saw Cindy Everding and then on to Cody. I will let Susie post about our dinner and evening here!

Is this really Global Warming??

June 10th, and snow on the road. We experienced a bit of hydroplaning over Snoqualmie Pass, but then, Cody was driving like a bat out of hell! We had snow at all of the 4 passes we crossed except Homestake outside of Butte. Snow is likely in Gallatin Valley by morning. Just to let everyone know...my next vacation is to Dubai! xoxoxoxopiequeen