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Segways hit the Hills The other day I was taking a lunchtime stroll with my buddy Frankie (a little black pug who is our office dog) in Deadwood when we met a group of Segway riders zipping down the sidewalk on Sherman Street. Even Frank, not easily impressed, stopped and stared. At first glance, a Segway seems an improbable form of transport. Riders seem to defy gravity as they stand on the platform between two large wheels. There's a handlebar, which stands just above waist-high. The riders were patrons of Rushmore Segway, a new tour business in Deadwood and Hill City. For $35 to $45, you can take a 90-minute guided Segway tour through town.
State to show off new Roughlock Falls
Roughlock Falls is an idylic spot in Little Spearfish Canyon. It's just up from Savoy, also known as the Latchstring Restaurant. It has a great little picnic area, and on a hot day there is no better place to go wading. There was always lots of kids and dogs and grownups splashing around under the falls on Sunday afternoons. For years, Roughlock Falls and the surrounding property was the property of Homestake Mining Co. But in 2006, the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department bought the property. Last fall, the state began $500,000 in rehabilitation work. Now, the GFP is ready to show off the improvements at the Roughlock Falls Nature Area, as it is now called. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house is scheduled for Sunday, July 13, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jeff Vonk, GFP secretary, will be the keynote speaker.
Live Chat Launches on BlackHillsVacations.com
More than a few people have looked at the popularity of chatting, texting and instant messaging and prophesied the downfall of civilization. "No one will know how to talk to each other anymore!" "We're raising a generation of kids with no social skills!" "Darn kids, get off my lawn!" I agree. Not only do the neighbor kids play on my lawn (darn kids), but I think we lose a little something by firing up the instant messanger instead of picking up the phone. Not that I'm going to do anything about it. If anything, I'm texting on my phone and using IM more than I ever have before. Chatting on the computer is easier, cheaper, and a lot less threatening than having to make a call. That's exactly why a lot of service-based websites have launched live chat. Black Hills Central Reservations is the latest to jump on the chat bandwagon, having launched instant messanging on www.blackhillsvacations.com about... oh, two minutes ago.
Tipis and Telescopes in the Badlands One of the best places to see the night sky is Badlands National Park. Not only are there no city lights to obscure the glow of the stars, but there aren't any trees to narrow the visual range. I remember sleeping outside in the Badlands as a youngster and seeing for the first time a satellite make its way from north to south along the amazing dome of star-filled darkness. This summer, Badlands National Park is getting serious about its night sky.
History Channel visits Mammoth Site
(Photo courtesy of the Mammoth Site: Dr. Larry Agenbroad is interviewed by a film crew from the History Channel in the bone storage area at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs.) -- The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs is one of my favorite places in the Black Hills. It's a paleontology dig and a museum rolled into one very fascinating site. You get an up-close view of hundreds of mammoth bones while they are being excavated. And the facility is set up in a way that really does a good job of telling the sad story of these ill-fated creatures. Now the History Channel is telling that story as well. A crew from the History Channel series "Evolve" was in Hot Spring to film the site and to interview Dr. Larry Agenbroad, the scientist who has been involved in the project from its beginning.
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