On Friday Joyce and I went to see the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, which we think is a "must see" when you are passing through Casper.
The Center tells the story of the Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer and Pony Express Trails and the pioneers that traveled them, all of which passed through the Casper area. Over 500,000 folks faced untold hardships on the trails in search of religious freedom, land and wealth.
Yesterday we drove south west on Highway 220, which follows some of the Trails routes, to see Independence Rock. The Rock is one of the more famous landmarks along the Oregon Trail and has served as a meeting place since the area was first inhabited.
The Rock is most famous for the names inscribed on its face of people who passed by this place. Joyce, Patty and I hiked around the base and actually made the climb to the top. Independence Rock deserves a place on your "bucket list".
After spending some time there, we drove on to the Mormon Handcart Historic Site at Martin's Cove. The Martin's Cove Visitor Center recognizes the story of the Martin Handcart Company that found itself caught in a early winter storm in 1856.
The Center is located on the historic Tom Sun Ranch near Devil's Gate and is operated by The Church of Latter Day Saints. All of the docent Elders and Sisters who work there are on a Church mission and believe me, very enthusiastic about what they do.
Today Joyce, Patty and her little dog, Buttons drove down I-25 about forty miles to see Ayers Natural Bridge and have a picnic. When we turned off onto the road leading out to the park we saw a very large sign that said "No Pet Allowed In Ayers Park". I was just a tad irked to say the least but, this is unfortunately becoming much more prevalent these days.
After turning around, we headed down to the town of Douglas in search of greenery where we could enjoy our picnic. We found a nice little city park next to the North Platte River where we enjoyed some chicken with all the fixin's.
Douglas is home to the infamous "Jackalope" and is on the National Register of Historic Places. We didn't do much exploring since it was Sunday and the town was pretty much shutdown. However, I did get some fuel at the local Jug 'N Lug for $3.74.
Tomorrow we head down to Francis E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne for a couple of days.
08/14/2012
We arrived at F. E. Warren AFB, WY Crow Creek Famcamp in Cheyenne about 2:30 PM yesterday. During the run down I-25 we saw threatening skies ahead of us but, we beat the storms and got situated in our site just before the thunderstorms hit the base. Although it didn't rain a whole lot, we did have some lightening.
08/15/2012
Joyce and I went to see the Cheyenne Frontier Days-Old West Museum yesterday. Had a nice time walking around and enjoying the exhibits, especially the video about the "Daddy Of The All" Frontier Days Rodeo.
08/19/2012
We extended our stay at F. E. Warren and on Thursday we drove down to Estes Park, CO and up to the Rocky Mountain National Park. After getting our National Park Passport book stamped at the visitor center, we decided to drive up the Old Fall River Road and then come back down the Trail Ridge Road.
Old Fall River Road is a one-way, mostly dirt/gravel trail with very steep grades and several hair-pin turns that we had to make. The speed limit on the road is 15 MPH and once on it you'll understand why. At about 9000 feet I really started feeling the effects of the high altitude but with Joyce doing the driving, I just sat back and relaxed and took in all the beautiful scenery.
At the 11,000 foot-plus Alpine Visitor Center at Fall River Pass Joyce took a short break. Me? I just stayed in the truck and relaxed since at that altitude I was feeling a little light-headed.
After leaving the visitor center we joined the Trail Ridge Road for the trip down the mountain. Well, actually you climb to the highest point at 12,183 feet before starting the decent back down to Estes Park. By the time we got to that point I was somewhat acclimated to the altitude and with Joyce still doing the driving, I enjoyed all of the beautiful mountain views.
That's Old Fall River Road across the canyon
We stopped on the way down to have a picnic lunch and then made our way into Estes Park. This artsy community is something like Sisters, OR but amped up a tad with numerous shops selling all the tourist junk you can imagine and several pricy restaurants.
Yesterday we packed up, jumped on I-80 east and made the 306 mile run to Elm Creek, NE. See there everyone, we can drive more than 250 miles in a day! We stayed at Sunny Meadows Campground, a no-frills Passport America park there for $15.
Since we only had 207 miles left to get to Offutt AFB, NE, we got took our time and left Elm Creek about 10 AM and arrived here at the Offutt AFB Famcamp around 3 PM. The driving directions said in order to avoid the sharp turns in the town of Bellevue, we needed to take a less direct route than was indicated by our GPS. Shortly after making the first turn we started getting some light rain and then ran into road construction with mud all over the road. Of course, a lot of that mud mad it's way onto our truck and rig!
After checking in and getting situated in our parking site, we hosed off the trailer and then headed into town to do some laundry. Joyce had hoped to used the laundry facility here at the Famcamp but only one washer and dryer was working and the other was being used. Although it costs us a few more dollars sometimes, we have found that using a commercial laundromat is much more convenient when we have several loads to get done. Our Splendide machine in our trailer just isn't up to the task of doing that much laundry.
We are going to be here for three days and then we'll make our way down to Ozark, MO to visit my youngest brother and family.
