The Ledge in Lights

Christmas lights outline BC provincial legislature...

During the Christmas season the provincial legislature (a.k.a. The Ledge) lights up in green and red.

After the hard work is done...

Chillin' in the hot tub with some buds and brews...

... it's Miller Time!©

Crazy Horse Memorial

Faith can move -- or shape -- mountains...

We first saw South Dakota's Crazy Horse Memorial about 15 years ago. It didn't appear to have changed much since then but that's probably only due to the sheer size of the sculpture. To fully appreciate it, take a look at how small the earth moving equipment looks in the photo above.

The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet (195 m) long and 563 feet (172 m) high. The arm of Crazy Horse will be 263 feet (80 m) long and the head 87 feet (27 m) high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet (18 m) high.

It will likely be decades before it's completed.

From Wikipedia:

The memorial is a non-profit undertaking, and does not accept federal or state funding. The Memorial Foundation finances the project by charging fees for its visitor centers, earning revenue from its gift shops and receiving contributions. 

Ziolkowski reportedly was offered US$10 million for the project from the federal government on two occasions, but he turned the offers down. He felt the project was more than just a mountain carving, and he feared that his plans for the broader educational and cultural goals of the memorial would be overturned by federal involvement. 

What the final sculpture will look like...

Vallarta nights

The western sky glows with the setting sun over Puerto Vallarta...

The setting sun silhouettes the palm trees that line the bay of Puerto Vallarta...

Death of a gunslinger

Photos of Wild Bill Hickok on the walls of the No 10 Saloon...

James Butler Hickok a.k.a. Wild Bill Hickok was only thirty-nine when he was shot and killed in Deadwood while playing cards in a local saloon.

His reputation as a gunslinger was embellished by penny novels of the time. They described him as having killed over 150 men when the reality is that he probably only killed about six or seven men.

The hand of cards that he supposedly was holding when he was killed has come to be known as a Dead Man's Hand... a pair of aces and a pair of eights.

He is buried in the cemetery above Deadwood.

Visitors to Deadwood can see entertaining re-enactments of the shooting at the Legendary Old Style Saloon No. 10 on Deadwood's main street.

Wild Bill's headstone above his grave overlooking Deadwood...

Welcome to Deadwood

Main Street Deadwood welcomes you... sort of.

American's wild west is very much a part of Deadwood's history. Many famous characters such as Wyatt Earp, the Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok passed through Deadwood.

Saloons, casinos and tacky gift shops...

Deadwood SD

Their slogan is the real deal...

Deadwood SD was our ultimate destination during our summer road trip. We had visited the area briefly about 15 years ago and had always wanted to return.

Deadwood was originally known as Deadwood Gulch. Although I had heard the word gulch often used in western movies, I didn't know what it meant until I looked up the definition.

A gulch is defined as a narrow and steep-sided ravine marking the course of a fast stream. Although Deadwood Gulch sounds like a cooler name for a western town, it eventually came to be known more simply as Deadwood.

A small town with a big history...

Bull in a bar

Now that is a Texas longhorn!

Not far from Devils Tower in Wyoming, we discovered this Western bar that was so perfect that it could have been a movie set.

Behind the bar the wall was plastered with currency written over with notes of appreciation.

Bucks, bullets and booze... the currency of America...