We are back in Wyoming

 We only went 135 miles today out of Northwest Nebraska into Southeast Wyoming. Most of the route was still on the Oregon Trail, but then we met up with I-25 and headed north.  


We are glad we left at the usual time and had a short distance to go because it gave us a chance to stop for about an hour and a half at the Fort Laramie Historic Site.  It's a very large area surrounded on three sides by the North Platte River and it sits in a valley protected from the weather -This according to Ranger Steve who told us that they got a lot of wind, little rain, and very rare tornadoes.  Hmmm.....  The Visitor Center sign sort of dispels that statement, I think.  The site is very interesting, historically, and I could see John Wayne riding in after fighting those danged Indians.  




Unlike most National Park Service sites, this one allowed dogs to walk around the grounds.  Of course they couldn't go in the buildings, but being able to have Maggie with us allowed us to spend some time walking around the old buildings, parade grounds, and the outlying areas.  I'm sure that dogs are allowed because they want you to stop for a while and visit and it's too hot to leave the animals in the vehicles. Water was provided.



The temperature was in the mid 80s when we stopped, but we found respite from the sun and heat in a lovely shaded and grassy picnic area and had our lunch while watching the other tourists visit the site.  






Ranger Steve introduced us to the "retired government employees"  who live on site but Maggie didn't want to have anything to do with them.  She just sat right down and watched to make sure they didn't come after us. There is grass and water and lots of room to roam, so Fort Laramie is one of the park services sites to send their horses to spend their retirement.  



A few days ago we both started noticing very long trains filled with coal.  We've been trying to figure out, 1) where are they going, and 2) where are they from.   Well, today after seeing four or five trains with at least a hundred rail cars filled with coal heading in the opposite direction than we were, I had to find out.   So, as Rachel Maddow says, I pulled up the "google machine" and discovered that northeast Wyoming is coal country.  Very much coal country - they produce 3 times as much coal as West Virginia.  Now we at least know where it is coming from. As for where the 10s of thousands of tons of coal is headed, we decided coal-fired power plants were probably the destinations.  Rog wants to know how they figure out how many engines it takes to pull one of these trains.  Most we saw had 5 engines in front and one in back.

As we travel and the landscape isn't necessarily attracting my attention, my mind does have a tendency to wander and to wonder.   We've been seeing "Cheney for Wyoming" political signs. I know that they are for Liz, but my mind is thinking about her father.  From those thoughts I remembered seeing a bumper sticker on our last trip through Wyoming:  Longmire for President.  From there I decided one of the deputy's father in the Longmire series looks and is depicted to make me think of father Cheney.  Pretty scary what the mind can come up with when it is wandering!



We went through the small town of Merrill - population 240 - this morning.  It escaped me, but Roger noticed that every street corner had a barrel with flowers.  Wonder who waters them?  A very nice touch, indeed.  



We've been spoiled by mild temperatures - high 70s, low 80s - for the last few days.   Today - not so much.  We got to Douglas, WY and it was 93.  From the looks of the weather forecasts it seems we are headed into some unusually high temperatures for this far north.  We had hoped to go far enough north to avoid them, but looks like that's not going to happen.   Poor Roger had to hook up the utilities on the sunny side of the RV again and it about did him in.  He came in as red as his Detroit Red Wings shirt.  He had to recline with a bag of frozen peas on his head to cool off despite the fact he was wearing a hat outside.  It's pretty miserable when we first set up, but we have both air conditioners running, a ceiling fan, and a little desk fan, so after a few hours, we can get comfortable.  

We only gave Maggie 1/4 of a pill today.  She was so lethargic yesterday after taking 1/2 of one for two days straight.  She was her usual hyperness the first hour, but she did settle down.  I'm beginning to wonder if her anxiety is exaserbated by the drug because she feels out of it and doesn't know why.  Today I caught her sitting up with her head up and eyes closed as if she were wishing she were somewhere else.  Now that she's out of the truck and cooled off, she seems to have normal energy level this evening.


I messed up today - I thought I had checked all the cupboard doors before I opened the sliders.  Missed one - the same one that crunched a few days ago.  Took that baby right off the cupboard, hinges and all.  Of course, Roger with his traveling tool bag was able to put it back on, but he wasn't happy.  I've decided I'm going to have to go around and bungee all the doors so they don't swing open on bumpy roads.

This RV park has gravel roads, gravel sites, pretty sad, scrubby prairie grass between the sites, but the dog run is an immaculate lawn!  Lots of thick luxurious grass.  We know who rates here, don't we?

Tomorrow - Sheridan, WY and a predicted 99 degrees!  Wahoo!