Day #5 – July 11^th

It is Thursday and I wake up about 5:30 am. I check the phone and we have service so I grab the laptop hoping to blog, but no suck luck. Neely is also awake so we decide to just get up and get our selves ready for the day. I try the internet again and manage to get online so I try to download a free word program so I can at least type the blog and have it ready to upload but the service is too slow and I can’t get it downloaded in time. Oh well… will do the best I can when I have service. I make a couple calls back home and then it’s time to hit the road.

Last night the plan was for us to head for Eastern Montana / Western North Dakota, but when we meet up with Mike we find out that the plan has changed. Models are showing the same type of activity we had the last two days, so we are heading in the direction of Yellowstone.

We are definitely in the plains. There is absolutely nothing in site no matter how far you can see. We occasionally hit a small populated area and boom, it’s gone in a flash. After a few hours we do a splash & dash to top off the tank and to pick up some snacks. I grab a coffee as I am in desperate need of a caffeine fix only to spill half of it on my knee. Dang that was hot!

We are in Wyoming and we pass the coal plant. We have seen several long coal trains and now I know where they are coming & going from. I try using the program on my laptop by creating a text box but it is still not working well for a regular word document so I give up again. So frustrated because I wanted to keep my family updated through the blog. Guess it was just meant for me to sit back and enjoy the ride so I do. We stop in Casper, WY, for a quick pit stop and some food. There are a lot of oil workers here from the oil fields & refineries. If it is one thing I take away from this trip is how polite people are. As I approach the door, three men stop, let me pass and open the door for me with a nod and a hello. I know I’m not home anymore! I dump the nasty coffee that I bought this morning and get a fresh cup…Ah so good!

Riding through the dessert plains it is about 98 degrees outside. We spot a dust devil and everyone cheers! What a cheep little swirl of dust will do to a storm starved Phelps & Walton.. Still blows my mind seeing herds of cattle just wandering around with no ranch in site. Who owns these animals and how do they keep track of them. Baffling.

We make a quick stop at “ Half Acre” an area where the Indians would herd cattle into for slaughter. It is an eerie place with a wind coming up out of the pit. You can almost sense the presence of those Indians and the buffalo & cattle they sent in there to their death. We continue on to Riverton and stop about 2:30pm for splash & dash and a stretch as the drivers switch off. We are on to Brooks Lake.

This is a place where Mike Phelps has camped before and he want’s to share the location with us. It is absolutely beautiful. The lake is gorgeous with a couple of folks out in canoes. We all head in different directions to take photos and soak in the beauty of the area. This is also our first encounter with the blood sucking mosquitoes. Oi they are hungry little boogers! We pull out and Mike checks out some of the other camp sites and we find a gentleman fishing in the stream. As we take photos he asks if we are getting any of the skeeters in our shots! I bet if I zoom in close enough I’ll find them. We then go find a place to stay for the next 3 nights and we get lucky on the third stop, the Rocky Mountain Lodge. We decide to go to dinner and then come back and unload the van.

The folks at the lodge recommended the Cowboy Cafe and it is a tiny little cafe where you seat yourself where ever you can find an empty seat even if it’s at a table with other folks. You just come in and make yourself at home. I ordered Mushroom Swiss Chicken Fried Steak and it came with rib sticking homemade mashed potatoes, mixed veggies and a homemade buttermilk biscuit. So much food I couldn’t fit it all in. Thought I was going to explode! This will be our eatery while we are here in DuBois, WY. We go back to our rooms and Neely and I have the equivalent of a mini apartment. Two queen beds, a fully outfitted kitchen and a little breakfast table where I can set up my computer. And YES I have internet!!! Tonight I finally post two days of blog activities! YAY!!!

Hope you are enjoying the journey. Feel free to post comments or share the link with anyone you think will enjoy the photographs. Not sure when I will get the next blog posted, but I will! Chow for now.