A Father's Day To Remember!

This past weekend was the best weekend ever! Briony arrived in Denver at 6:30pm on Saturday night, and we drove down to Colorado Springs, Colorado and checked into our hotel. We went to bed pretty early, because we had to get up a dawn on Sunday. Now, on most Sundays I wouldn't want to be up at 5am, but on this particular Sunday, we were both excited to do so.

First thing when I got up, I was presented with my very first Father's Day card.

We spent Father's Day with wolves at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide, Colorado.

They had a special Father's Day program, but we also experienced the Ultimate Alpha Experience, which involved interacting with two different sets of wolves, and a pair of foxes. This was the most amazing experience ever.

The first wolves we went in with were Keyni, Kekoa and Sakara. We did not interact with Sakara, she was the alpha, and very shy, but Keyni and Kekoa were wonderful. Keyni was my favourite of the day, mostly because he hung around us the most. He loved having his belly/side scratched, and it made him kick up his back leg in reflex. Kekoa took a little break from us and started howling, and every wolf there started as well. It was a pretty phenomenal thing to see.

After spending time with these two, we went and met Tala and Navi. Navi is the alpha of these two, and he LOVED Briony. As soon as we went in and knelt down he started licking her face and scent marking her, by rubbing his head and neck all over her upper body.

At the end of each set of wolves, we got to feed them a snack for an even more cool photo op. With Tala and Navi we got to do it at the same time, which was fun.

 After we finished with Tala and Navi we went to meet the foxes, Lika and Nevada. They don't like petting as much, but they love their treats. 

It was so great to spend this once in a lifetime day with my beautiful daughter.

The only thing that would have made it better was if Cale could have joined us.



In the afternoon we went to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and learned about the Anasazi Indians.

Later, we went to the Garden of the Gods, but it was so hot (100degrees) that we did not do any hiking, but watching a video on the area and the rock formations.

We did see this cute little deer having a snack as we were driving around.

Marking Geocaches Off My List.

Now that the weather has started to stay warmer a little more reliably, I decided to get back to work on two of my current Geocaching challenges. I am doing a DeLorme challenge which involves finding at least one Geocache on every page of the Wyoming DeLorme map book, and also in every county in Wyoming. I started these challenges after I'd already cached in various parts of the state, so some of my trips have been to places I've been before. Like yesterday.

I started by driving straight up to Buffalo, Wyoming, to find a cache from page 16. The cache I chose involved a lovely walk along the Bozeman Trail, and I learned a little about the Fetterman Massacre that occurred on 21 December 1866. Georgia was not as impressed with the view as I was, and due to my having to drag her along the trail to get the cache, we did not finish the mile long route.

After I marked page 16 off my to do list, I headed to Tensleep to find a cache in Washakie County. I had just gotten to GZ (Ground Zero) and started reading the informational sign about the name Tensleep outside of a small bar, and a truck pulls up. I pretend to stretch my legs and read the sign, and she comes up to me and asks if I'm looking for something. I smiled, and she told me that the hiding place had been taken down for repair, and she'd take me to it. It was in the back room of the bar. She took me through the side door and I got quite a few strange looks as she takes me to the back room and lets me take the cache out of the hiding place and sign the log. I put it back and thanked her, and she said she'd keep an eye out for anyone else looking and help them out until it got put back where it belongs. As I left the bar there were quite a few people discussing "that geo-thing." If I hadn't been on a time crunch, I'd have sat down and tried to convert them.


I decided at the last minute, to come home a different route than I went up, so I headed over to Thermopolis, where I saw an entirely different view of the hot springs that I visited last year.
 

I wish I'd brought my swimsuit, so I could have gotten my free 15 minute soak in the State Bath House in Hot Springs State Park (copper roofed building). This link will tell you all about the area, but here are a few tidbits from their website and what I learned while visiting there last year.

The mineral hot springs are believed to have healing powers, and are maintained at 104 degrees in the State Bath House. When the Shoshone and Arapaho tribes gave the land the government in 1896, they put in the treaty that it would remain open to the general public and be free of charge. Anyone can go in and soak for up 15 minutes per day.

Right next to the State Bath House is the State Bison Herd. Last year I didn't see any, due to a visitor right before apparently having let his off leash dog run them into a canyon out of view (so said the nice lady at the Bath House). It is a beautiful area, the Hot Spring State Park.

The Spirit Hole is an extinct hot spring, and shows what the currently active hot springs look like under the water's surface.

This was a cool little walk to where the settlers got their first glimpse at the hot springs.

Here are the few bison I saw today. I had forgotten to take my camera with me, so I only had my cruddy cell phone to document them. I imagine the big one in the front is daddy, and the ladies up the hill with the babies are his harem.

I was going to go down this set up steps to see a spring entering into the river, but it was overgrown, and there was a snake, and some freaky looking spiders, so I settled for this view instead.

Upon leaving Thermopolis, I traveled through the Wind River Indian Reservation, and was reminded once again how beautiful it is here. I don't know why, but I absolutely love these tunnels, and this section of river.

And that was my day. I left home after work, about 9:30am, and returned home at 11:30pm. I only got the two caches, but they were what I needed.

I got the two circled ones, and in two more trips can get the rest. I'm headed to Yellowstone in a few weeks, so I'll be able to get 10, 11, 20, & 21. I should be able to get bottom corner over a three day weekend. It will take a while, because there isn't much of anything in most of those boxes, so the caches are few and far between.

The Pass Is Open.

Since I have been living in Laramie, I have driven the pass over the Snowys each Memorial Day Weekend. This year I was a bit disappointed in the trip. The snow was not nearly as deep as it has been in the past few years, and very dirty, so there were less photo opportunities.

I did stop at this pull over to admire the dedication some folks have to skiing.

This hillside was covered in ski tracks, from the top down. The photo does not do justice to how tall this is. I wouldn't want to climb it, that's for sure.

I also stopped at a couple of my favourite spots along the way. These are some of my favourite mountains, towering over Mirror Lake.

I have a particular fondness for the overlook at Libby Flats.

It provides these views:

It is always very windy here, and Georgia was not loving it today, as this was the path from the car:

She hates walking on snow, but loves eating it. It's a short walk, but I got hot so I took off my sweater and just had a tank top underneath for the walk back. My shoes and socks were soaked, so I took them off as soon as I got back to pavement. There was a family getting back in their car that stood and gawked at me. I overheard them saying that maybe they would come back on a day that was warmer. I did my best not to laugh at them. It was 44 degrees and sunny. Yes, the wind does make it chillier, but it's nothing like 44 degrees in Virginia. I think I have adapted very well to the weather here in Wyoming.

Appledore.

Appledore is my family home in Virginia. It was built by my great great grandfather, Dr Massie Lobban McCue, and completed in 1896. I have lived there off and on through the years, and it has always been home to me, no matter where I lived. So many celebrations have been had in this home, Christmases with our cousins my whole childhood, birthdays, I was even married here. 

Appledore was left to Heather and myself, but many years ago we came to terms with the fact that even if we both lived there together, for the rest of our lives, we still would struggle our entire lives to keep it up and take care of it. Our beautiful home has suffered greatly by sitting empty these last three years.

Appledore is finally on the market. Selling what is HOME to me is makes me sad, but I will have so many more freedoms with my life once it is sold.

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I'm Dreaming... Of a New Vehicle...

I have owned a number of vehicles in my life:1975 Ford Thunderbird.1989 Cutlas Sierra. Ford something sedan. 1994 RAV4. 2013 Nissan Rogue.

Each time I got a new vehicle it was because something happened to my previous one, whether an accident (never my fault) or major problem that would cost more than the car to repair.

I thought that I loved my Rogue, and c'mon, it's a ROGUE, I love Scotsmen, it was PERFECT for me! But it turns out that although I can sleep in the back, which was one of my requirements, it's not the right vehicle for me at this time in my life. So I am looking for a new vehicle, not out of necessity, but out of want, for the first time in my life.

I thought that Honda Element would be great for me, because they were designed to be camped in. Honda stopped making them in 2011, and there is a high demand for them still, keeping their sale price higher than it should be for a vehicle their age, and with the miles on them that I've seen while shopping.

I have narrowed down my ideal list to the following vehicles:

Nissan Xterra (which they stopped making in 2015)

Toyota FJ Cruiser (stopped making in 2014) – to be replaced by 4Runner Trail Edition

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Apparently I have an affinity for vehicles that are no longer being made.

I talked with a client the other day that has an FJ Cruiser, and he loves it. He is 5'10" and uses his to go hunting and camping, and he sleeps comfortably in the back. It was wonderful news to talk at such length with someone who owns one, as opposed to just someone who is selling one.

After all my research, I can't wait to start taking some of these out on test drives to see which one will be the perfect match for me.