Wyoming

June 12-16: Emptying the bucket and more.

First stop in Wyoming – Devils Tower National Monument. Ted’s bucket list item since “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. It’s hard to believe it came out in 1977 – 45 years ago. The tower is impressive and you can see it from miles away:

We walked the 1.3 mile trail around the base and enjoyed the tower, the views, the wildflowers and the trail.

We noticed rags tied to some of the trees. It looked like tree litter. There were some that had obviously been tied to the trees for more than a year. What a way to mess up a beautiful natural scene! The National Monument employees posted signs telling visitors that the Devils Tower National Monument, the first National Monument Designated by the United States of America, is sacred to over 20 American Indian Tribes. Undoubtedly, this is true. If ever there was a site that engenders feelings of awe, this is it. The tribesman pray to the monument and their ancestors and apparently the wind. They believe their prayers are tied in the knots. Undoubtedly first peoples worshipped at this site. The National Monument employees require visitors to leave the tree litter in the trees, keep our distance, and show utmost respect. What troubles me is the National Monument employees completely ignore the fact that the Tower is also sacred to current citizens of the the United States of America. That’s why it was made a National Monument. It is sacred to me because it is a beautiful testament to the power of God and His amazing creation. If I were to string crosses and Bible verses from the trees, do you think the National Monument employees would put up signs requiring others to respect my symbols of Christianity? Would they leave the crosses and the Bible verses for years? Undoubtedly, the Federal employees would honor my symbols of Christian reverence to the God who created the monument just a they honor the native Americans. Don’t you think that would be appropriate?

Tree Litter

We continued traveling west from the monument, heading towards Pinedale. On the way we went through a couple of sweet towns, saw some amazing landscapes, and had a couple of memorable adventures (not necessarily the good kind!)

Buffalo, Wyoming is very pretty and at the base of the Big Horn Mountains. The town seems to be going through a revitalization and we saw a little lot that had been upgraded. We both said it reminded us of something Ben and Erin from “Hometown” would do. Turns out, the HGTV Hometown peeps HAVE been to Buffalo to do a Kickstart.

Our plan was to drive over the Big Horn Mountains and stay at a campground in Ten Sleeps. The drive through Big Horn pass was breathtaking. We hit the sunset just right and were treated to golden views of the mountains.

We started looking for a campsite just as the sun set. Unfortunately, the RV campground I had planned to stay in didn’t have anyone around to check us in and signs posted about prosecute folks who camp without paying first. Grr. Too bad, it was a pretty town and looked like a nice campground, too. I would have liked to explore both, be we kept driving. Maybe we could stay at Thermopolis? No such luck. We tried several spots that were full and even considered staying on the side of the road near the river. The neighborhood didn’t look very safe. We ended up driving through the Wind River Canyon in the dark and missed both the canyon and the Thermopolis Hot Springs. At about 11PM we camped in a little campground between the road and the river just beyond the canyon. Sometimes our memorable adventures mean we miss seeing cool stuff.

We got up the next morning to continue the journey and stopped in Riverton to pick up a few supplies, find some coffee to drink and fill up the gas tank. We forgot to buy the gas. Goodness. We had followed the GPS recommendation to bypass the next town and head over the mountain, when we remembered we were low on gas. We started to back track towards the little town but I saw a few towns on the map near the continental divide. We were low on gas, but had enough to make it to Atlantic City. We turned back around and headed west again. BIG MISTAKE! Turns out Atlantic City isn’t on the road at all, and I’m not sure it even exists. You would think that we could just coast down from the continental divide and get gas at the next town, Farson. Well, this is not the case. Up one hill, down the next, up the next hill, down the next. The car’s computer system estimates fuel range in 10 mile increments. I started holding my breath and praying at about 100 miles. Up one hill, down the next; 80 miles of fuel and 90 miles to Farson. Up one hill, and down the next; 60 miles of fuel and 70 miles to Farson. We turned off the air conditioner. Up on hill and down the next; 30 miles of fuel and 40 miles to Farson. Ted slowed down to 45 miles per hour and put on the hazard lights. Up one hill and down the next; the computer no long registered a fuel range, 20 miles to Farson. We did make it – on fumes and prayers! We filled up with gas and to celebrate went across the street to eat ice cream. Of course!! Wow, that was a an adventure we won’t soon forget. By the way, the pass is lovely and we did see a moose and her baby.

We arrived in Pinedale without further mishap.

Thus began the tale of the Three RV Parks. Like the tale of the Three Bears, there was one one park that was “too old”, one that was “too fancy”, and one that was “just right”. We didn’t know this at first, so we spent our first night in Pinedale at the “just right” RV Park. It was about 30 minutes outside of town, so we decided to move to the “fancy” park the next night and cut down on travel time to the lakes. In the meantime, Ted made friends with a former fishing guide who was down on his luck and living in the “too old” park. Ted fished with him a couple times and ended up driving more than if we had stayed put in the “just right” park. Ironic. The “too fancy” park people didn’t like that we were in an old trailer and set up a shade tent. They had the sprinklers on automatic that sprayed water all over our stuff every night. We had ice forming in our chairs in the morning. It was rather annoying! In the end, I was grateful to be in the fancy park. I got food poisoning our last night. Being that sick in a public bathroom is much better if no one uses it and it is spotlessly clean.

Pinedale has a Mountain Man Museum. Of course, we enjoyed the museum. I had been reading a book about Women Homesteaders in the area and was excited to learn that one of the women, Madge Funk, homesteaded in Pinedale and her home had been moved to the museum. I was anxious to see the cabin and was thrilled to see that Madge had also a Camp Fire leader and even started a Camp Fire Camp. Much of my childhood revolved around Camp Fire Girls and camp. I called my sister to share the experience with her on face time. These pictures may not appeal to everyone, but Cyndi will enjoy them!