Thermopolis- Day 2

I decided to improve on the swing we had in camp. I stopped by the hardware store and bought a high pressure PVC pipe and a hack saw. We threaded that onto the rope and made the swing much more comfortable to sit on. The PVC pipe was cheap and I figure if it cracks, I have lots more to replace it with!

my supplies (+ rope)

finished swing

See that dry lake bed behind William?  Grr!

After a lazy morning around camp, we headed back to Thermopolis for another day of playing. I first needed to get bread for our lunch. I decided to try a different grocery store than the one I'd stopped at the day before. After going into two stores where I struck out (Family Dollar & some kind of K-Mart wanna-be) I found an IGA and got the bread we needed.  I should have just gone to the first store but they only had cheap wonder type bread.  Guess what I found at IGA?  Cheap wonder type bread!
Our first stop was the mini golf course in town. The course was nothing exceptional but the kids still had fun. There were lots of trees providing shade which helped make the experience more fun on a day that I think approached 100 degrees.

We ate lunch at Hot Springs State Park and then went to Star Plunge. It's a pool w/ two water slides that uses water from the hot springs for everything. There was a definite sulfur smell to the water. One of the water slides was up the side of a steep hill. Instead of building stairs, they just laid concrete up the hill. By the time we'd get to the top, our feet would be so hot! The ride down was pretty fun. They also had an enclosed tube slide. Sitting at the top, waiting my turn, with the sulfur smell wafting up and waves of heat washing over me, it didn't take too much imagination to believe I was at a portal to the underworld! Wednesday was an extremely hot day and the pools were heated to 97 degrees. We actually had to get out of the pool and sit on the side to cool off (the opposite of what we do in Western Washington). One of the best parts to me of playing at the pool was the chance to take showers afterwards.

the 97 degree pool

Isaac Dickson jumping in

Isaac Colson jumping in

Anastaya jumping in

Elizabeth got to the top three times and changed her mind three times

William exiting the slide

The tube slide is visible in the back.  Love the color all those minerals have turned the tube?

We let William open his gifts today (his birthday is on the 29th) so he would have new toys to play with.

a new truck and a new camping chair

After dinner, we spent our evening at the lake shore.  I spent my time reading a few pages from my book, watching the fish jump, and untangling the rope that kept the raft from floating away.