Wyoming - STR-2021-9

Thursday, 24 June

Yesterday, we had made a tee time for 7:30AM as the weather forecast indicated rain starting as early as noon. Located only a mile from the campground made it an easy commute.

Golf today was at Monument Shadows Golf Course in Gering, NE, located just east of Scott's Bluff. From the top of Scott's Bluff yesterday, it looked like a beautiful course, and we could not see many golfers playing. It was just as beautiful up close as well.

Concentrate

We were the second golfers of the morning to go out. On the third hole, Darrell's golf ball decided to go swimming, and the two shots on that hole wound up being the difference for the first nine holes. Darrell's ball also had some sort of affinity for the beach (sand traps), which did not help his score. Or maybe it was the distraction of playing golf in such a beautiful setting.

Kris took honors on the day - again. We enjoyed the course and the course conditions and would definitely play it again. Very picturesque.

Starting early and playing at our pace resulted in finishing earlier than expected. We headed west to visit Fort Laramie National Historical Site in Fort Laramie, WY. As we did, just as we crossed a railroad before getting on US 26, we saw the sign for the historic route for the California Trail and the Pony Express.

Fort Laramie was another key location in the settling of the West - from its days as a fur trapper trading post, to dealing with security for settlers on the Oregon Trail, California Trail, and Morman Trail which passed by the fort located at the confluence of the North Platte River and the Laramie River.

Fort Laramie was also a post on the pony express route between Saint Joseph Missouri and Sacramento California

Similar to our visit to Fort Robinson, we spent most of our time taking in the video and the exhibits in the visitor center. Because we had visited a number of old forts in the last two weeks, we limited our building visits to the Calvary barracks.

We continued west on US 26 and took I-25 to Casper, WY to visit the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center (nhtcf.org). Neither of us were sure what to expect. Based on the various museums and forts we had visited over the last couple of week, we hoped it would provide a broader perspective of the history of Westerner settlement of the West

We started with a video presentation in a theatre-diorama that told the story of emigrants moving along the Oregon, California, and Morman Trails. Very well done. All three of these trails followed the North Platte River from Fort Kearny, NE. At Casper, the trails diverged, in part because the North Platte River turned south. Crossing the North Platte River was treacherous enough, but the next 50 miles or so was without water.

We learned that the thousands of emigrants traveling the trails resulted in three miles of grass loss on either side of the trail as animals grazed. This over grazing disrupted the bison grazing and migration habits, impacting the Native American way of life. And made the journey for those who followed even more challenging.

One exhibit was a covered wagon that rocked and jostled you to the video played on a screen as if you were looking out the front of the wagon. The "ride" portrayed crossing the river. Very well done.

We were both pleased with the exhibits, and found it worth the 3+ hour drive added to our travels. The exhibits, being focused on the trails and the people who used them, provided a great overview of the mid-1800s, whereas the fort visits tended to focus on the role the fort played. A nice way to tie together many of the stops since Fort Scott in eastern Kansas.

We decided to spend the night in Casper, and called the Fort Casper Campground for a site. The campground is somewhat tightly packed, more like a large gravel parking lot with hookups. Just fine for our needs.

Friday, 25 June

With our stay in Wyoming last night, Sprinty earned his 40th state camped in since being adopted by Kris and Darrell in February 2017. During the night, the rain moved in. With rain forecast for most of the day, and few points of interest along our journey (NW Wyoming is one of the planned stops on our caravan in late August/early September), we decided to make it a drive day as we repositioned to Colorado, 274 miles south (4.5 hours of drive time per Google Maps). We did adjust the route to visit Independence Rock near Alcova, WY.

Pioneers traveling to Oregon, California and Utah and Pony Express riders carrying the mail across the nation all knew Independence Rock as one of the most important landmarks on their journey west. Many of the travelers left her names on this rock, either carved or painted in axle grease.

From Wikipedia: "The rock derives its name from the fact that it lies directly along the route of the Emigrant Trail. Pioneering wagon parties bound for Oregon or California usually left the Missouri River in the early spring and hoped to reach the rock by July 4 (Independence Day in the United States), in order to reach their destinations before the first mountain snowfalls."

We enjoyed some good luck as the rain stopped just before we arrived at Independence Rock. Also next to Independence Rock was a rest area with a free dump station. We took advantage of the break in the rain to attend to that chore.

As we continued south to Colorado, we drove in high plains what reminded us of West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, only greener. We had rain, light drizzle with periods of no rain. Sprinty must had enjoyed it as he returned almost 19mpg.

The most interesting part of the drive to the Colorado border was the three large deer that decided they wanted to see Sprinty up close and jumped onto the road. Fortunately, we were able to bring Sprinty to a stop in time - an advantage to driving below the speed limit.

The crossing into to Colorado on Wyoming 230 was uneventful - just a sign and not much of a place to pull off and get a photo.

Our destination for the night was a campground in Kremmling, CO where we had a reservation. But Sprinty had other ideas. And sometimes Sprinty is in charge. Deets on the afternoon's adventures in the next blog post.