Sunday July 1, 2012

Dave and I woke up early, showered and started taking down our tent before the boys woke up.  When everyone was awake we showed them how to roll their bags and mats.  We then had a quick breakfast of bagels and cereal before stowing the tents, chairs, kitchen equipment, and sleeping bags to the back of the truck.  We said goodbye to Custer State Park and got on the road at 8:20.  We traveled for three hours before stopping in Douglas, WY for an early lunch.  We tried to eat at the local diner, but there were about 20 people in line so we went across the parking lot to Pizza Hut.  We finally decided that the diner was so busy as today is Sunday and people may go out to eat after church.  We called our friends, Charlie and Barb, to let them know where we were and that we intended to be at their house by late afternoon.  By looking out the windows, the boys have seen why Charlie calls Wyoming, the Big Empty!  We drove for three more hours until we got to Riverton where Theo and Dan had to stop to use the restroom – the waitress at Pizza Hut kept filling the boys’ glasses with root beer and for some reason, the boys felt obliged to drink every drop!  We pulled up at Charlie and Barb’s at 3:30 and by 4 we were up the road to their neighbor’s house – today was a local get-together for the people who live on Ridge Road.  We had a wonderful dinner of brisket, chicken wings, salmon, sloppy joes, salads, homemade bread and homemade ice cream for dessert.  One set of neighbors, Robin and Jack, invited the boys to come up to their house.  They each had a chance to ride a horse, Yetta, and Jack taught the boys how to rope with a lasso.  Charlie let Alex drive the “quad” back to the house – he was in 7th heaven.  They all had a wonderful afternoon and now they are writing in their journals before bedtime.