Deadwood Road Rock Face

Deadwood Road Rock Face

Oil on black canvas, 10x10

Cycling back for a moment, geographically! The rocks and bluffs in the Deadwood area are spectacular, rising straight up, craggy and multicolored, cold in the shadows and warm as autumn where the sun hits them. Pines grow in impossible places, where it seems there couldn't be anywhere near enough dirt. And here and there, in gorgeous bursts of color, fall aspens. Luscious.

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Spotted Horse

It was a gorgeous afternoon when I rolled past the road to Recluse and into Spotted Horse, Wyoming. I had to stop!

Spotted Horse is basically what you see above. It's a bar/restaurant. There were no gas pumps to be seen, in spite of the "Standard" sign. There used to be a post office, but it closed in the mid-60s. The official population of Spotted Horse, according to the woman behind the bar, is two, but on the day I was there, half the population was away. The other half, the man who owns the restaurant, was in the back on the phone. 

The bar/restaurant survives because people travel that road and stop in, much as I did. Sturgis, a big motorcycle oasis, is right near Deadwood, just down the road from Spotted Horse, and lots of bikers stop in, the woman said. Hunters stop in, too, and especially in the summer, vacationers. 

While she was telling me this, the other phone rang, and she picked up and had a long conversation about her brother-in-law who had just died, and how she was going to go back to Arkansas for the funeral but hadn't gotten plane tickets yet, etc. 

While she was yakking, I noticed the many dollar bills with people's names and hometowns, tacked all over the walls. And the "Best Burgers in Town" sign. Better be, since they're the only burgers in town. 

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Dog of the Day

Saw this little gal in Wall Drug. It was a chilly morning, and she was bundled up, and seemed quite pleased about it. She was just a puppy, and as sweet as could be.