Dorrel and Stephanie: Dubois to Thermopolis

Monday morning I woke at my usual vacation wake up time (6:00 am) and wondered what kind of weather I would encounter when I looked outside. It was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky. I took my second shower in 14 hours which felt great. I think the kids must have drained the hot water with their showers the day before because this time the shower was hot. Hooray! After showering, I did another load of laundry and then set off on my bicycle to the grocery store while the clothes were in the dryer. Riding to the store with my trusty bike on such a perfect day I felt happy and content. I picked up ingredients for french toast and we had a tasty breakfast of: french toast, fresh hot syrup, bacon, eggs, orange juice and milk. It was a perfect morning and I just wanted to grasp the joy and hold onto it.

After breakfast we packed up our things. This time it went more smoothly. A gentleman who was staying in one of the cabins across the field from us even came up and complemented me on how well the children were working together. With the work out of the way, we went back to the pool for 45 minutes before leaving.
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The camp hosts were willing to let me leave the trailer at the campground while we explored Dubois. We first tried to find the Badlands Interpretive Trail. When I asked the host where to find it, she told me, “The Badlands are in South Dakota!” I told her I knew, but that I'd read about a trail in Dubois. Unfortunately, I'd left my Wyoming book at home which had the details. Looking online, the only information I could find was “Two miles out of town on Horse Creek Road”. We looked but couldn't find the trail. About 2 miles down the road we found Pony Creek Road which we followed for a ways. With all the rain lately, there were too many deep muddy areas and I was getting nervous. I was so glad I didn't have the trailer on as I turned the van around on a single lane road with soft shoulders. We never found the trail but we did get an up close look at the red rock formations.

view from Pony Creek Trail

Next, we went to find the Indian Petrogylphs above town. They are at the end of a very bumpy road and again I was glad not to have the trailer. The petroglyphs were very interesting. We saw a thunderbird and some interesting human like shapes that reminded me of some of the monsters from Monsters Inc. Even if you're not into petrogylphs, the drive is well worth it. Coming back, you get a great view of the beautiful red hills with mountains in the background.

it's hard to see the drawing in this photo

We picked up the trailer and drove down the road just a few blocks to the city park. The older kids were thrilled to see a skate park and grabbed their scooters and skateboards to go play. The little ones enjoyed the playground. It was a very nice park that even had a paved interpretive trail along the river. I wish we would have had time to explore it. After eating lunch at the park, we walked over to the Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center. It was a bargain at $6 for a family. The kids enjoyed the taxidermied animals and the exhibits about bighorn sheep.

I think at one time every town in America had one of these water fountains

Miriam saw it and said, "I just love those!"

Looking back, I wish we would have stayed in Dubois for two nights instead of one. I was enjoying exploring the area but always in the back of my mind was the upcoming drive to our next campsite. We ended up leaving Dubois after 4 pm which made for a late dinner at our new site. I don't know why Dubois isn't famous because it's located in absolutely spectacular country. It rivals anything I saw in Southern Utah. Those snow capped mountains framing the red hills are a great contrast. I would love to go back again and spend more time there.

"World's Tallest Elk" in front of the KOA

We drove through beautiful country, following our friend the Wind River (we've been driving beside it since coming over the mountains) to our next campsite on Boyson Lake. We stayed at Tamarand Campground. I'd selected a campsite right next to a cove on the lake but the lake level is still low (I think for the snow melt still to come) so the cove is dry. The campsite is not irrigated so we're camping on dirt and rocks. There are only pit toilets and a water spigot. I hope we can shower sometime before Friday!

Once we'd eaten and had camp set up, I could look to the hills and see a black wall rain coming. It looked pretty bad so I had the kids start putting things away. I looked around the campground at other people with Wyoming plates on their vehicles who were just sitting around and visiting. I kept looking at that black wall and thinking, "That looks serious". I felt silly for dropping tents and taking down the canopy but I just couldn't believe it was no big deal. Pretty soon, the wall of rain and wind was close enough that other people started reacting. Boats were flying in off the lake, barely making it before white caps picked up. Soon the wind was whipping around everywhere. I struggled to get the last things secure as the wind starting picking things up and throwing them around.

Isaac Colson had to go to the outhouse in the middle of it. He was half way back to camp while I ran around frantically snatching things and looking forward to his help. Then realized he had forgotten to wash his hands so he ran back to the water spigot while we yelled, "No! Come help us!" Soon everything was as secure as it was going to get and we loaded up in the van to wait out the storm. Then I realized our neighbors were struggling to put their own things away. A ski tube went flying by and across the dry lake bed. I sent the boys out to help the other families. When the next ski tube went flying by, Isaac Colson was in hot pursuit with our Isaac close behind. I tried to yell, "Come back!", images of telling Kim that her son had been struck by lightening, but I was down wind from the boys and there was no way they could hear me. They managed to grab on to the tow rope to the tube and managed to drag the tube, acting as a kite, back to the other campers. They received a $20 for their good deed. I was feeling pretty smug that I was a single mom with six kids camping far from home and not only did I take care of myself in the storm, but we were able to help other people too.

Miriam snatched this blurry photo of the view between the two front seats. See all those cables? It was a true mess! (And it happens each time we have a driving day.