July 4th pics

Something happened when I tried to upload the photos so I will try again.

7/4/17 Tuesday Lander

Happy 4th of July everyone!  We went to the parade downtown this morning.  It was a real old fashioned small western town parade - lots of horses, kids floats, square dancers, pioneer wagons and Indians.  The kids were disappointed when Charlie told them that the town banned water balloons this year as someone was knocked off a float last year and required stitches, but not to worry, the people watching as well as the people on the floats were equipped with super soakers.  Everyone who wanted to got wet and then at the end, the fire trucks all stopped at one corner (nearest to us) and turned on the hoses, some of them from the top of the ladder trucks.  We told the girls they could join in the fun and I'm not sure if the photo shows it, but they got soaked to the skin!  We came back to the house and walked to the buffalo burger BBQ in a nearby park for lunch.  On the way back, we passed a shed full of junk and I took a picture of the sign posted in front.  We are now back at the house and the girls are writing in their journals and reading while Charlie, Barb and Dave take a nap.  Heidi, Chris and Jason went back to their motel for a swim in the pool and they will be back for dinner.  After dinner, we will go to the rodeo and fireworks if everyone can stay awake long enough.

7/3/17 Monday Lander

Wow!  What a busy day we had yesterday!  I tried to get to the computer, but the internet was slow and then we just ran out of time.  The first two pics are from the day we got here:  water rushing from the mountains, which are still snow covered at the higher elevations, into Sinks Canyon, and the happy fat trout that the girls were feeding.  Yesterday, we woke up to find a yellow-bellied marmot (about the size of a woodchuck) had gotten into the fenced back yard and was eyeing the garden.  Charlie said he has never heard of one so close to town.  Eventually, he slipped back under the fence and ran away across the field behind the house.  After a wonderful breakfast of homemade sausage and pancakes, we packed a lunch in the cooler and headed out for the day.  Our first stop was to Antelope Springs, where the girls and Jason tried their hands at fishing (Jason didn't need any lessons).  Charlie and Dave did most of the casting as the girls couldn't get the line out far enough.  Despite their best efforts, the biggest catch of the day went to Ella, who caught a huge mass of algae that was floating near shore (see pic)!  I spent my time untangling lines, getting algae off of hooks and taking pictures - I especially like the one of a bee getting nectar from a thistle.  We then drove up to the cottonwoods for our picnic lunch and then back to Agate Flats - off on a dirt road several miles.  The girls had a great time picking up small moss agates.  They counted later and Ella had over 90 of them and Zoe had over 40.  I picked up 3 and Dave got a dozen or so.  I think the young eyes and being closer to the ground is a great advantage.  Some of the cacti were in bloom (see pic).  When we headed back to the car, it was surrounded by cattle from the field across the road.  Our best guess is that the rancher who brings out the hay to feed them drives a red truck as they showed no interest in Charlie's truck - only ours.  They chased off easily and we boarded everyone up and headed back to town.  On the way, I made Dave stop so I could jump out of the car and take the last picture.  It was growing next to a cattle guard in the middle of dry ground.  When we got back to the house, we looked it up and our best guess is that it is a wild larkspur - stunning in such a barren landscape.  We were going to order pizza for dinner, but somehow our order was canceled so we ended up going into town to a Mexican restaurant.  The food was very good and with everyone full and tired, we came back and went right into our beds.  It was a long, full day!  Today (the 4th) looks to be fairly full also, so I may not get a chance to blog again.  We will be going to the parade this morning, the town BBQ for lunch (thanks to Charlie's friend, Jim, for the tickets) and the rodeo and fireworks this evening.

7/2/17 Sunday Lander, Wyoming

We got up this morning and packed up our tents into the back of the truck and got on the road.  We decided that it would save time to not cook breakfast and wash dishes at camp so we went into Custer and found a bakery/cafe.  The food was wonderful!  The girls each had sour dough pancakes, Dave had scrambled eggs and bacon and I had an egg and cheese sandwich.  The girls thought the slogan was hysterical for some reason: "You'll love our buns!"  We then drove to Lander.  At one point, we went through a town, Lost Springs, with a population of 4.  If we had moved in we would have doubled the population!  We drove past a lot of land with nothing on it and explained to the kids that this is why Charlie calls Wyoming the Big Empty.  Wyoming would contain about 18 Connecticuts and the population of Wyoming is only 550, 000!  We also passed a train with coal cars.  We counted 138 cars, which included 3 engines.  We stopped in Riverton for a quick lunch and then headed to Lander to Charlie and Barb's house.  Charlie's daughter, Heidi, son-in-law, Chris, and grandson, Jason are here this weekend also as it is Heidi's 30th class reunion.  We went with Charlie, Barb, and Jason to Sink's Canyon.  The water was really rushing down from the mountains!  We took the kids to a place where the water comes out after traveling underwater.  The trout hang out in one spot and you can buy fish food for a quarter and the girls loved feeding the fish.  The trout were very large and after seeing how much food they eat from the tourists, I can understand why.  Back at the house we sat around and talked for a while and then got ready for dinner.  We had pulled pork sandwiches, salad, and potato puffs.  Barb had made a chocolate bundt cake for dessert and everything was delicious.  The girls have written in their journals and we will do our reading soon so the girls can hit the sack.  I will put pictures up tomorrow.

7/1/17 Saturday Custer State Park

Today we woke up to the coldest temps yet!  It was 42 degrees this morning and is 88 now - late afternoon.  The girls said they were very snug, but Dave and I were quite cold in the night.  It probably is because we are using the same sleeping bags we used in 1985 when we took our own kids out West.  I thought I might order new bags for us and have them sent to Wyoming where we are staying with friends, but because of the holiday, they wouldn't arrive until the day we leave.  Oh, well, we have only one more traditionally cold area for camping and we will wear our socks to bed!  We all showered this morning and then headed to Wind Cave.  We had to wait for our ticketed time for the cave tour so the girls spent that time filling out their Junior Ranger booklets and looking at the exhibits in the Ranger Station.  We had to walk down 300 steps to get into the cave in dimly lit twisting passages, some so low that even I had to duck a bit.  I am posting a photo of the original hole that was discovered in the 1800's.  It is less than 18" in diameter.  I can't imagine how they dared to go into the cave with only candle lanterns as it was very dark.  The girls enjoyed the tour and this was Zoe's first real cave experience as when we did Jewel Cave, we just went down to a large grotto and did not walk along the passages.  There were some neat formations in the cave that I have posted in photos - box formation and lacing (which is really just white calcite).  When we were done with the tour, we ascended to the surface in an elevator - I'm glad we didn't have to climb back up!  Back at camp, we had lunch and gathered our dirty laundry for a trip into town.  Dave and the girls explored the town while I tackled the laundry.  We all got done about the same time and stopped at the grocery store for more ice and carrots for feeding the donkeys.  The girls are now down at the playground and are looking for little kids to donate the toys they got at Burger King on our trip out here.  We were full from our late lunch yesterday so the girls made scrambled eggs and blueberry pancakes for dinner - very tasty.  Tonight they are making ham steaks, which we will have with corn, applesauce and leftover rolls.  We are going to try to hit the wildlife loop after dinner tonight as the girls want to say goodbye to their favorite donkeys.  Tomorrow we are headed to Lander, Wyoming to visit with our friends Charlie and Barb.  We have been straightening the truck at every opportunity today as we will pack it up in the morning.  I will have to post the pics separately as the internet is getting fluky.