The town of Sundance is small, with a population under 2,000. Obviously, that was the draw. You can walk the main streets of downtown in no more than 10 minutes and get from the very outskirts of town (where my hotel is) to "downtown" in 30 minutes. It's ideally located not too far from the South Dakota border and all it's western to-dos, as well as Devil's Tower National Monument which is located in WY.
Thinking I would get great pictures at the tower at sunset, I planned to go there after my hotel room dinner. As it neared sunset, I made my way to Devil's Tower which is more than twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty. You can see this landform from miles away rising like a chimney out of the ground. The tower leaves a giant shadow on the nearby flat land and is quite a neck-strain to see to the top from it's base.
Though the tower was a remarkable rock structure, I was more stunned by the moon on my way home. As I left the tower at sundown - I drove to the hotel as dusk and dark set in. The drive was mostly through rolling farms and grassland. About half way between the tower and the hotel, I was making my way up one of the hills in the area. I reached the summit only to face the full moon welcoming me. Not just a soft "hello", but a very assertive one. I may have even gasped out loud! It was the largest moon I have maybe ever seen and light orange, the color of sherbet. You could even see slight color variances on the moon surface. I was in awe and immediately pulled over, wanting to capture this moment and rejoice in it's beauty.
It's so strange to me. I haven't always been outside for sunset on this trip, but I have made a conscientious effort to do certain adventures around sunset. (You mean I can see or experience something WHILE looking at the beautiful sunset?!) But here, it was not the sun that made an impression on me, it was the beautiful moon. The irony is not lost on me. I wish I could have captured it on camera. Even my slightly more advanced digital camera could not quite emulate the beauty. I was left to just live in the moment and enjoy the moon's wonder.
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