Road Trip – Day 11, Saturday, July 26

Before we left the house on Saturday morning, Seamus hit the alcohol (again!). Guess he really didn’t want to be left alone with Penny.
Evan rode in the 111K Laramie Enduro on Saturday. Here he is helped by his Pit Crew. There were 5 aid stations and we were at each one with water, gatorade, etc. for Evan.
Evan taking a deserved break.
Evan temporarily repairing a broken spoke.
And, while waiting for Evan to show up at one of the aid stations, Kerry found this:
This is a baby pine cone. They were truly purple! Isn’t nature wonderful?

Road Trip – Day 10, Friday, July 25



We went to Cheyenne for Frontier Days. Since we had missed a lot of the “outside” stuff last year we decided to go check it out this year. We walked through Wild Horse Gulch where there was a chuckwagon cook off and the Indian Village where we saw some Native Americans dancing. But before that, we took the Behind the Chutes tour. There were lots of people so we weren’t able to hear all that the tour guide was saying. The best thing was being able to get down into the arena. The field in the arena is plowed everyday prior to the competition.
Julian and Sue treated us to dinner at the Cavalryman Supper Club. It was so good and the most food that I’ve eaten in about a year. Thanks Julian & Sue!

Road Trip – Day 9, Thursday, July 24

Tommy and Evan started putting insulation into the attic at about 6:30 a.m. They wanted to get it done before it got too warm. It took them about 2 hours to finish. I sure wish I’d gotten a picture of the 2 of them when they got down out of the attic.

The Whittens arrived in town. We had a BBQ at the house with Amanda, Evan, Julian, Sue, Kelli, Nancy, George and us. Nancy and George brought over some elk burger and we had burgers, potato casserole and baked beans.

No pictures were taken this day.

Road Trip – Day 8, Wednesday, July 23

We drove to Cheyenne to buy some insulation for Amanda’s and Evan’s attic. When we drove by the air force base, Amanda saw a sign stating that the Thunderbirds were going to be flying over Cheyenne for Frontier Days. We were able to see them–although not very well–from the Lowe’s parking lot. And, no I didn’t have my telephoto lens with me. Who would have thought that I should need all my camera gear for a trip to Lowe’s? Lesson Learned: While in Wyoming, always have your camera gear with you. But, here’s what I did get:


Road Trip – Day 7, Part 2, Tuesday, July 22

Amanda made it to the top of Medicine Beau Peak…….
and so did Seamus!
On our way back into Laramie that afternoon, we were greeted by these skies.
It’s a bit hard to see from this picture, but there is a second (or as someone told me, a “ghost”) rainbow above the more visible one. I have never seen this before.
Everyone was tired when we got home.

Road Trip – Day 6, Part 2, Monday, July 21

When I was 10 or 11 (really don’t remember) my dad and I went to Steamboat Springs. Being the “city” girl that I was, evidently I didn’t have the appropriate clothes for spending time on a ranch. So Dad and Aunt Ellie took me into town to buy me some jeans at the western store, F. M. Light.
Here’s Uncle Don’s house. Steamboat Springs is a beautiful town–except for all of the condos/apartments going up for the skiing crowd. It is no longer the old cow town that I so fondly remember. As I’ve said several times, another era is passing. Vikki told us that there are few family ranchers there now. So, I think I’ll just keep remembering it as it was when I was there at 10 or 11 years old.
On our way home from Steamboat, we stopped in Walden when Amanda saw this sign. Of course we had to have a picture of it.Also on our way home, Tommy wanted to stop at the beginning of the Rails to Trails to find some “souvenirs” from the old railbed. As we were walking and looking we heard this really loud “moo” on one side of the road. There were answering “moos” from the other side. This brown cow evidently was looking for the rest of the party. She came up on the road and stood and looked at us before going on her way.

Road Trip – Day 6, Monday, July 21

Tommy and I got up Monday morning and headed over to the old Mesa Schoolhouse. This school was built in 1916. Uncle Don attended school there in the 1930-1940 time frame. As I was walking around the school, this little guy came up to see what I was doing. Tommy said that cows are as curious as kids.
This schoolhouse is just about 1/4 mile from the old Lufkin homestead.
Vikki and Kerry with Vikki’s dogs. We’re sitting on the back porch of Uncle Don’s house. See the fishing pond in the background? Vikki said that Uncle Don positioned his house so he wouldn’t have to see the “monstrosities” being built behind him.

Vikki, Amanda and Kerry.

Road Trip – Day 5, Sunday, July 20

Steamboat Springs here we come! Evan started out on his bike about 5:45 a.m. He was going to meet us in Walden. The rest of us got a later start. We were packing Amanda and Evan’s car and Tommy realized that one of the tires was low so we switched over to the truck. Because Evan was making good time and we were later starting, we actually caught up with him at the intersection of Highways 14 and 40 in Colorado. He decided he wanted to go ahead and ride into Steamboat Springs–a total of 122 miles! The last few miles was coming down from Rabbit Ears Pass at speeds up to 45 mph–on a bike. This reminded me of a story that my Uncle Bob told about when our family, including Uncle Bob, moved to southern California. On our way we stopped in Steamboat Springs to visit with my Uncle Don and Aunt Ellie. Uncle Bob said, “…my brakes overheated and I came down the Mt. at 55-75 MPH. I finally rolled to a stop about a half mile from the ranch. I got all sorts of dirty looks from the people I passed on the way down. But you know what, I couldn’t have cared less, I was still alive!”

When we got into town I called my cousin Vikki as she was going to take us to Uncle Don’s house on the ranch to spend the night. We then went downtown for some lunch and shopping. I found this flower growing outside of a shop there. The thing I like about it is that it has a blue center.
It’s kind of hard to be serious about shopping when you have this following you:
This is Uncle Don’s fishing hut. This is just to the side of his house and sits just yards away from the fishing pond.

Road Trip – Day 4, Saturday, July 19

Tommy, along with Amanda and Evan, finally got to ride the Rails to Trails on Saturday. Tommy and Evan rode the complete 20 miles. Amanda stopped at the halfway point so she could spend some time with me.

This was along the road to pick the guys up.

Lake Owen was the stopping place. These old guys looked like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves fishing.
For those of you who don’t know, the Rails to Trails is an old abandoned railroad bed that has been made into a bike trail. It’s about 35 miles from Laramie to where they started the ride. Tommy enjoyed the first 10 miles immensely. He said that portion was very scenic with ponds and beaver lodges.

Before we left for the bike ride, Amanda and Kelli (her neighbor and former roommate) had a Garage Sale. They got rid of lots of stuff and made some good money. It’s amazing what people will buy. But, thank goodness they did that day!