{ Deadwood } Part I

Sup peeps!!  I am so stoked to share my adventure with you!  As you most likely know by now from the girls, we had to leave the Outer Banks of N.C. and head inland for a few days to avoid those hurricane force winds that Arthur was sharing up and down the coast.  So, we ended up at this really small (and kinda boring) campground out in the middle of nowhere.....seriously, I'm not jokin', it was like in the middle of a soybean field!  BUT, right across the road from the campground was this place called DEADWOOD.  Yep, you read it right.  Now, when I first saw the sign as we pulled in to the campground, I thought to myself; oh yeah, that place sounds happenin' (extreme sarcasm) and wrote it off as B-O-R-I-N-G.  The next morning I got up and figured what the heck; I'd go and check it out.....I mean what's to lose other than a few precious hours watching the soybeans grow, right?

So, it turns out that this place has been around for a while and is known in the area for having western themed dinner shows and a little amusement park.  I liked the idea of being amused so I decided to go on in.  I walked down this long bridge into a kind of courtyard place area and all of a sudden, I heard someone call my name; "Trey!!"  Kinda freaked me out to tell ya the truth.  I looked around thinking there must be another dude named Trey (lucky dude, right?) and then I saw my best buddy, Alden, over by the train ride waving wildly to get my attention!  I was totally stoked!  Now, I wouldn't be bored at all! 

"Dude, whatcha doin' out here in the middle of freakin' nowhere?" I asked.  Alden explained that he too had to stop his vaca at the beach to get out of the way of Arthur.  He and I both could not believe how lucky we were to have both ended up at the very same campground!  He was actually excited to visit DEADWOOD cause he'd heard about this place on TV.  Boy, he had me there. TV? You gotta explain this one to me real slow.....

So, turns out the owner was featured on a show called 'Doomsday Preppers' that was on the NatGeo channel a while back.  The Wild West amusement park is used as a front for the family's end-of-the-world preparations.  Cowabunga dude, I did not see that coming!  Alden, being the sorta guy he is, went into great detail about their guns and a real live cannon that they shoot!  I for sure wanted to see the cannon blast.

Alden really wanted to ride the train but the engineer wasn't around.  Alden had already purchased enough tickets to ride the train twice but said he'd give me one so we could ride together.  Awesome.  But we had to wait for the engineer to return so in the mean time, we decided to explore the place. 

We headed over to the carousel ride and jumped on the horses!  I threw my hands up in the air and yelled; "Yeeeeeehaw!!"  Heck, at that very  moment, I felt like Hop-a-long Cassidy or.....better yet, The Lone Ranger.  Ha ha, then the thought it me - Alden could be Tonto!  What a riot.  At this point, I couldn't help but notice that Alden was holding rather tightly to the bar.....almost like he was scared of falling off.  Some Tonto he'd make!  I am pretty sure the real Tonto rode his horse bareback and he most certainly didn't have a metal bar to hold on to!

After a few times around, Alden seemed comfortable enough to at least throw one hand up.....and when it did, he yelled out really loudly; "High Ho, Mr. Ed!!"  At this, I nearly fell of my horse.  Mr. Ed?  Seriously?  "Dude! The Lone Ranger did NOT ride Mr. Ed!!!".  He didn't reply.  I just put it down to his totally random sense of humor.  He is always saying the craziest, most random things that totally crack me up!

After a dozen times around the carousel, we headed over to the rock-climbing wall....saaa-weet!  Before I could even grab a rock, Alden was scaling the stinkin' wall!  Now, that like totally threw me.  He was afraid to ride the carousel horse but he can climb a rock wall with nothin' but a little rock to old on to?!?!?!  Somethin's wrong with my buddy Alden.

By this time I really wanted to take a break but ohhhh, noooo.  Not happenin' yet.  Alden was up the orange ringed ladder and yelling "Last one to the top has a rotten leg!!"  Now, I have to admit, as soon as I realized what he said, I immediately looked around and prayed that nobody overheard him.  Whew, thank God no one else was even remotely close to us!  "Dude! It's not a rotten leg, it's a rotten egg!!"  To which he replied "Where?"  Oh, for cryin' out loud.....really?  So, I caught up to him and convinced him that I really, really needed to go and chill-ax.  

As we made our way back to the courtyard, we came across this heavy dude with no hand, two broken ankles and a creepy scar across his face.  Not sure why he was holding a flowery lantern?  It didn't match his outfit at all.  Captain Hook was a pirate, not a cowboy, right?  Maybe he was yodeling?  I dunno but he was definitely lackin' in the swag department.  Frankly, he left us speechless but since we were tourists, we thought the least we could do was have a photo op with him.  Not sure what more we can say about this poor guy other than he'd make a good character in one of those creepy doll movies.

Back in the courtyard area we found a super cool water well that had some nice shade...perfect for a chill-axin' moment....or two, or ten or heck, even twenty.  We talked about how it must have been hard livin' back in the olden times when you had to go and "fetch" water for drinkin' and washin' and all kinds of water-needin' chores.  We both agreed we were really glad we weren't actually born waaaay back then. 

After a nice long break, I was starting to feel like explorin' again.  We started looking around to see what else we could get into.  Alden was getting antsy to ride the train.  He absolutely loves riding trains and I just knew that until we did that, he was not gonna stop talking about it.....plus I have to admit, it did sound like a load of fun.  Apparently, the word around town is they had "aliens" back in them woods!  Who knew that aliens had landed and were living in the middle of "Nowhere, NC". 

And, just as I was about to suggest going back over to the train station to see if Mr. Engineer man had returned, both Alden and I heard a loud "All Aboard - Awwwl Aboard!!!!"  Whoa, that was great timing!

Stay tuned for the rest of my story!  There is much more  to share.....it's just that I gotta catch some much needed Z's.....like right now.  ~Trey ✌ 

P.S. If you want to know more about Alden, check him out on the "Meet the Guys" page!

18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Trey's shorts & Tee by  Minipparel ~ Etsy®

Trey's navy tennis shoes from seller; simplethings4now on eBay®

Alden's Bermuda shorts & Tee by Minipparel ~ Etsy® 

Alden's shoes are 2003 Grey Sneakers by American Girl®