An 1880 Train Ride...

I've always wanted to go on an old time train ride, so we took a ride on the 1880 Train that travels in the Black Hills between Hill City and Keystone, SD. We timed it for late in the day so we could have dinner in Hill City after the ride. The train left the Hill City station about 4 PM on a lovely, sunny afternoon and I opted for the open car...Jack would have preferred the closed car. We saw some beautiful homes along the way and some great countryside...and everyone we passed waved at the train I was busy taking pictures.

We arrived in Keystone after about an hour and had a fifteen minute break until it was time to head back to Hill City. The train no sooner left the station than the winds picked up and the rain started. Suddenly, the open car didn't seem like such a good idea! Fortunately the rain stopped and the sun reappeared in about twenty minutes. When we got back to Hill City, we discovered there had been a major hail storm that left piles of hail on the ground that looked like snow!

Hail spots at the Train Station

It was after 6 when we got back to Hill City and we were hungry, so we headed over to the Alpine Inn, a restaurant that had been recommended to us by several people. People were waiting outside, but we expected a wait on a Saturday night. What we did not expect was a three hour wait! We went back to Keystone and had a nice dinner at the Ruby House. We'll try the Alpine Inn again the next time we're in the Black Hills.

Hail from the storm