August 8, 2020 - Fort Collins, CO to Boysen State Park, Wyoming

We are finally getting away this summer and heading to Yellowstone with our friends, Ann and Gary. The RV was packed and ready to go by 7:45 this morning, but our poor little Penny is staying home with our house sitter since national parks are not really dog-friendly.

We are following the route Tobey took on his bike trip to Yellowstone and headed north from Fort Collins on Hwy. 287. It is always a beautiful sight as we leave LaPorte and get onto the highway.Further down the road, we spotted one of Wyoming’s great resources – wind farms! Believe me, the wind knows how to blow in Wyoming! Our little RV rocked and rolled with the head and side winds we had today.Wyoming does things big, maybe because they have such wide open spaces. I have never seen a haystack this big before in my life!Near Como Bluff we stopped to see the Fossil Cabin Museum and were surprised to see it is being excavated to be moved! The cabin is about five miles east of Medicine Bow and was built in 1932. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places for being unique and being directly related to the nation’s first transcontinental highway. It is the only building in the US constructed from fossilized dinosaur bones.When we got into Medicine Bow, we stopped at the museum there. The railroad museum is located next to this brown building and was what we could actually tour. It is a small museum located in what was the ticket office and station master’s house. There were quite a few interesting pieces and they operate on a donation only system! The woman in charge told us that the Fossil Cabin is being relocated to this location in Medicine Bow and the Medicine Bow Museum should be opening soon. From Medicine Bow we headed north toward Casper then east to Hell’s Half Acre. Ann and Gary had never stopped here, so it was a nice break to see the interesting landscape.We arrived at Boysen State Park about 4 pm only to find several people in our campsites! They quickly moved all their stuff (boats, cars, trucks, and lots of people!) We got set up and planned to take the kayak out and the wind started to blow – and blew some of their kayaks down the shore! We waited. About 5, the sun came back out and Tobey and I jumped into action. We got the kayak inflated and were in the water. We paddled around a small island and back while Ann and Gary fixed dinner. After dinner, Ann and Gary took it out. Ann had never kayaked before. As they started off, the water was calm.Before they got to the island, the wind came blustering in and they headed back to shore in some pretty choppy waters!It even rained a little as they were coming in, but it passed quickly. We even got to see a rainbow!We had a lovely evening outside and were treated to a beautiful sunset. We played dominos until it was almost too dark to see and I actually won! My first time!! I guess it is time to call it a night.