7/11/2013–Kaycee, WY to Thermopolis, WY

With temperatures expected to be pushing 100 today, we got an early start on our trip from Kaycee to Thermopolis.  I had been down to the Chris LeDoux Memorial Park earlier in the week but didn’t take any photos, so before leaving today I walked down there to get some pictures.  For more information about Chris LeDoux and the park, you can read about it here.

After getting on the road, our first stop was in Casper to take on some fuel at $3.839 a gallon.  From there, we drove through a few towns that have obviously seen better days.

And a lot of the usual high country desert scenery.

We eventually got into the Wind River canyon area and the scenery improved.

We drove through a series of three tunnels.

We followed the Wind River through the canyon.

An older DeSota driving toward us.

While stopped in a construction zone, there were some beautiful home perched above the red bluffs.

We arrived in Thermopolis and were able to snag a couple of nights at the Eagle RV Park which was probably lucky as the Wyoming State H.O.G. (Harley Owner’s Group) is here for the weekend.  After lunch, we drove around town to look at the hot springs and bison area.

Yes…we know buffalo are dangerous…bison are dangerous too.

This group does appear to be pretty laid back.

There are also dinosaurs in Thermopolis…we’ll find out more about them tomorrow.

Several people seem to be enjoying the hot springs.

A view of Thermopolis from up on the hill.

This was an informational sign about Tepee Fountain and how it’s evolved over several years.

Tepee Fountain.  We also found a similar fountain in town.

We returned to the RV for dinner and an evening doing our computer and tv thing.  That’s it for today!

7/9/2013–Kaycee, WY–Cattle Drive on Slip Road and TS Was Here

We received a call from Pete and Jo this morning that they would be arriving in Kaycee close to noon, so we did our morning thing as we waited for them to get here an get set up.  After a quick lunch, we all loaded into their jeep and headed west of town to the Slip Road where we were told there was a cattle drive going on for the next day or so of a herd of about 2300 cattle.

Here’s the start of Slip Road.

We drove up into a clearing and saw a herd of cattle looking to be all settled in so it looked like the drive was over.

We stopped for a while to talk with the cowboys (and girls) to find out they were just at a resting point until ready to move again.  We found out we were misinformed and that there were only about 350 cattle in this herd.  After a short break we decided to continue on the road to see what else we could see and there is definitely some beautiful country in this area.

What do ewe know…we found some sheep.

And and old ranch down in this draw that didn’t seem to be set up with any permanent homes, so maybe just a stop during the cattle and/or sheep drives.

We turned around and headed back the way we came an found the cattle drive continuing on up the road.

There were some beautiful red bluffs on our drive back to town.  We could see where the color in the Powder River comes from here.

We came across a spot along the road where people write their names in rocks.  Who would have known that TS had been here!

This photo just doesn’t look quite as nice as the real thing, but there is some really cool blue coloring in these rocks.

Although it’s been in the 90’s around here, the Bighorns still are capped with snow.

Back at the RV’s we enjoyed happy hour outside, but moved inside out of the wind for dinner.  We have another great trip planned for tomorrow.

7/8/2013–Kaycee, WY–Old Fort Reno and The Bozeman Trail

After lunch, we decided to head out on a road trip to see Old Fort Reno and The Bozeman Trail.  We drove approximately 20 miles east of Kaycee then took Lower Sussex Road about 8.5 miles north.  There’s basically nothing left of the fort, but there are informational signs and a monument at the former location of the fort.

Front of the monument.

And for easier reading…a close up photo.

The backside of the monument.

Informational sign about The Bozeman Trail.

We saw a few deer along the way.

and several antelope…this one was resting.

This one was trying to hide.

A doe leading her fawns away from us.

Three antelope enjoying what little shade they could find.

This big bull was trying to get away from the paparazzi.

A young antelope resting at the side of the road.

The Powder River.

And we saw these sand hill cranes in a field as we neared town on our way back to the RV.

We still have a couple of sightseeing trips planned for this area before we continue toward Yellowstone National Park.