A Happy Father’s Day and a Birthday Celebration

Bozeman, MT  High 56  Low 34

This is why we made the detour to Bozeman.

Son – David; DIL – Kelly, Granddaughter – Katie

David called us on Thursday and told us that Katie was competing in a track and field event in Bozeman on Saturday. That was not to be missed.

They bought a new 16’ camper and pulled into the site next to us. It had quit raining when they pulled in but it was cold and windy.

The weather did not improve on Saturday for the competition. This was the sky over the stadium. We had rain, graupel, and wind. But the kids took it in stride and did their very best. (I whined the whole time.)

Katie competed in the long jump, the triple jump, the javelin and the hurdles.

Trying to stay warm between events.

Katie took home four medals and is headed to Idaho for Regionals next week-end. She fell on her tailbone on one of her jumps so she needs to do some healing before the next competition.

A wonderful Father’s Day for Jim to be able to spend part of it with David and a happy birthday for David on Sunday to be able to see his Dad.

Sidney was sure glad he finally got to meet Katie.

Heading North

Sunshine and Rain – Highs 64 to 72  Lows 38 to 42

Thursday morning we said a reluctant goodbye to our friends and that beautiful campground and headed towards Montana.

We were going to spend the night in Ashton, ID before heading up to Bozeman, MT on Friday. However, when we got to Rexburg, ID (Only about 20 miles from Ashton) a big highway sign was flashing at us – trucks not allowed on Highway 20 north of Ashton due to road construction. Other vehicles expect significant delays of up to two hours. HOLD everything!!

We pulled over, ate lunch and decided that we would head over to I-15 and head to Dillon for the night. So instead of a 180 mile day, we ended up with a 320 mile day. We didn’t even unhitch at the campground in Dillon.

On Friday morning we drove on to Bozeman. The closer we got to Bozeman the worse the skies looked.

By the time we got to the campground, it was pouring rain. It’s been forever since we have had to unhook in the rain. We were soaked to the bone.

The girls were not impressed either.

Scooter is always hopeful that there are critters waiting to be hunted.

Bozeman was not in our original travel plans but we had an excellent reason for the detour. Details in my next blog post.

Mountain Man Museum

Pinedale, WY  High 68  Low 41

The Pinedale, WY region was at the heart of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade, which supplied precious beaver pelts to the fashion industries of Europe and the eastern United States. Mountain men like Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Thomas Fitzpatrick and William Sublette carved their legends here, and opened the way for the pioneers of the Oregon Trail.

Pinedale is the perfect place for the Mountain Man Museum.

I have to say, this was one of the most interesting museums we have visited. It definitely ranks in my top 5. However, we only had 1/2 an hour before they closed so we whipped through in a big hurry and we’ll have to go back again because we missed so much.

I’m going to share a few pictures with you but you really need to visit this one yourself if you are anywhere close.

The prized beaver hat. Fashionable from 1550 –1850 because the material could be easily combed to make a variety of hat shapes. The demand for beaver pelts drove the animal to near extinction. The popularity of the beaver hat declined in the earl 19th century as silk hats became the vogue.

Jim Bridger’s rifle.

Several beautiful bronze sculptures.

More Winchester rifles in one place than Jim has ever seen. This is just a small portion of them.

Jim especially liked this one with the gold barrel.

War bonnet.

This is just a small sample of a great little museum.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Pinedale, WY  High 68  Low 42

Jim and Tom made one trip into Pinedale to the hardware store for parts for the toilet. (stupid toilet) Those weren’t the answer so Jim needed to make one more trip back to town and I decided to check out the town.

When we got to the hardware store, this is the sign I saw.

A slight detour down memory lane – Back in the early 1970’s I packed up and moved to San Diego. I’ve always been a restless soul and after living in Utah for three years I was ready for a change. Back then, you had to take all kinds of tests if you wanted to work for the Federal Government. Tests like typing and shorthand and ten key. After taking the tests it was months or years before you ever heard from anyone about how well you did or if you had a job somewhere.

I needed money in order to live so I went to a temporary employment agency. They sent me out on several temporary positions and one was in the regional accounting department for Hardware Hank. They were so impressed by my work ethic that within two weeks they offered me a full time position.

The gentleman I worked for had a reputation of being a real stickler for detail and had several secretaries quit or he fired them before I showed up. For some reason we really clicked and had a fantastic working relationship.

About six months later, I finally heard from the Feds and discovered that six different agencies wanted to hire me because my test scores were quite high. I really hated to leave Hardware Hank but I know that working for the government would be a better opportunity for me and I chose the IRS. For me it was definitely the right move.

Amazing how a sign can bring back long forgotten memories.

Oh – and Jim finally got the parts he needed to fix our leaking toilet. They are called Shark Bite connectors.

This is the view on our way back to the campground.

Wyoming

Pinedale, WY  High 65  Low 38

Sightseeing and playing tourist in Wyoming had to take a back seat to our stupid leaking toilet. Jim would fix one spot and then a different one would leak. Very frustrating.

We finally reached the Warren Bridge Campground between Pinedale and Jackson, WY.

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This is my kind of campground – no trees. I know many of you love to camp in the trees but I love the wide open spaces. This campground is on BLM land and for us old Americans it’s only $5 a night – no hookups.

The main reason we wanted to be here was to visit with our good friends. Tom and Diane are camp hosting at this campground.

Jim, Jeff, and Tom

Me, Diane, and Tina

Had this beauty wander through the campground. Notice how close it was to Jim and Scooter.

This mama killdeer kept a wary eye on us as we walked by her nest which is on the road. Tom and Diane put up a fence around her so hopefully there will be babies before too long.

We spent several nights here and Jim was finally able to stop the toilet from leaking.

Utah Sights

High 80’s

Metaphor – the Tree of Utah

There is no place to pull over to take a picture so this was the best I could do.

This one taken by Eccentric Roadside is much better.

Out in the middle of the salt flats is this 87-foot-tall sculpture that was created by the Swedish artist Karl Momen in the 1980s. The sculpture, which is constructed mainly of concrete, consists of a 'trunk' holding up six spheres that are coated with natural rock and minerals native to Utah. There are also several hollow sphere segments on the ground around the base representing falling leaves. Inscribed on the plaque are the words from Ode to Joy – “A hymn to our universe, whose glory and dimension is beyond all myth and imagination”.

Sam – this picture is for you.

Ups and downs through the mountains.

And clouds, beautiful clouds.

The only stop we made in the state of Utah was to get fuel. On into Wyoming.

Wendover Will

Wendover, UT and NV

We almost didn’t spend any time in Wendover. I had no idea there was so much to see and do in this little town. And there was so much we didn’t get to see that Wendover is on my bucket list to visit again.

Wendover Will welcomes you to his town.

He is the world’s tallest mechanical cowboy at 90 ft. He has over ¼ mile of neon tubing. He was built in 1952 when he replaced a pole light, originally erected in the 1920’s, at the State Line Cobblestone Service Station that served as an oasis for travelers along the Victory and Lincoln Highways. The owner was William Smith who built a casino at the service station location when casinos became legal in 1930. It’s now the Wendover Nugget. Will was moved from the Nugget to his current location at the western entrance to Wendover.

Wendover, Utah, and West Wendover, NV, are actually two cities located in two different counties and states. That means the towns each have their own mayors, city councils, administrative and public works departments. The towns are served by two city police departments, two county sheriffs and two state highway patrols.

Right at the border, there are two huge casinos (on the Nevada side, of course) – the Nugget and the Mandalay Bay. We decided to try our luck at the Bay and each of us took our $20 off to the slots. I am notoriously unlucky and usually lose my $20 in about ten minutes or less. I actually played for over two hours on that $20 before it was gone. Jim did much better. He cashed in with $75.

All was not fun and sightseeing though. We have a toilet that is leaking. Jim spent several hours trying to figure out what was wrong.

Put in new seals and tightened all the connections and we thought the problem was taken care of. Guess not. So tomorrow he’ll have to take another stab at it.