Wyoming Day 2

We still aren’t getting the best cell signal up here.  I’m a little surprised by that, because last year it was relatively strong.  Unfortunately, this means that we have to play catch as catch can when it comes to uploading.  Right now, my cell phone is dead.  When it has recharged sufficiently, I’ll plug it in to the computer and see if we can’t get connected.

This morning, I awoke to a glorious sunrise streaming through our back window.  One of the selling points for this trailer was that the back of the trailer is a big picture window.  Saturday night we forgot to close the curtains, and so this morning, every shade of orange from bright fire orange down through cantaloupe, and numerous beams of light pink burst through the trailer to our bedroom at the front of the trailer… and into my eyes.  It is mornings like this that are the reason why Scott and I love camping up here… well, why I love camping up here.  Scott slept until well after the sun had hauled itself into the sky and put away it’s dawn blankets of orange.

We drove down to Laramie today to fill up our five 6 gallon water jugs and to buy groceries for our week.  It was a nice drive.  The mountains here had a lot more moisture than in years past, and the grass is still relatively green.  Herds of cattle grazed near the road… really near the road… we had to slow to 5 mph to creep through them, as some were napping on the verge.  We drove through gulches where in years past nary a drop of water was to be found, to find this year flowing streams burbling along.  Alas, the nasty pine beetles have killed upwards of 50% of the forests up here, and so the green canopy of pines that I always love to see are mottled dark, drab brown and green.  I guess it’s only a matter of time before they all die.

Arriving back in camp after our journey, we followed two pickups pulling the camp gear, so after running up to our trailer and putting our groceries away, Scott and I went back down to “Camp Central” and helped them put up the big canopies and stage tent.  Since Scott and I were new to this, we got to be the guinea pigs.  They handed us the instructions, and sat back and watched as we directed the younger guys in how to put the canopies together.  Amazingly simple!  The purpose of this test was to see if the new typed out instructions could be followed easily by someone who’d never done it before.

Setting up the stage tent was more complicated, and we merely assisted with that one.

We left after a couple of hours… I was feeling the strain of the higher altitude and the direct heat.  I’m sunburned now!

We’ve spent the rest of the day doing the other thing I really enjoy about up here… relaxing.  Dozing. Puttering.  We’ll finish up the evening with a rousing set of Cribbage, and call it a night, probably before the last rays of the sun leave the sky.