Rio Travelers: DEVILS TOWER AND BUFFALO WYOMING

There is something about a Walmart that gets RVers excited. This one was on our way to Devil's Tower from Deadwood and there weren't many of us that didn't stop.

We had an overnight stop in Devil's Tower, Wyoming to visit the nation's first national monument. It was established in 1908 by Pres. Roosevelt. Geologically, there are several theories as to how it was formed. Maybe the core of an ancient volcano? Native American legend, as depicted by the painting below the photo, is more interesting. The grooves in the tower were claw marks made by a bear who was trying to attack a group of children. How ever it was formed, it was an amazing site. That evening, we had fun playing Adventure Bingo.

Our next stop was in Buffalo, Wyoming. It is a very small town with a notable history. The Occidental Hotel (Occidental meaning Western) was built in 1880 and had many famous guests such as Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, Teddy Roosevelt and Butch Cassidy. Another guest was Owen Wister, who wrote "The Virginian" modeling characters after people he saw at the Occidental Saloon.

Buffalo is also the site of the A and E series "Longmire".

We had a wonderful Sunday brunch and tour of the still functioning Occidental Hotel and Virginian Room restaurant. The hotel has been renovated and furnished using period pieces and it is beautiful. It does however have a TV and WiFi in each room.