Our Last Goodbye

To end my summer trip, one of my younger sisters asked me to take her to a One Direction concert. We planed on attending one in Chicago because it is not only close to where my grandparents live but it is also on the way to Indiana. Therefore, I figured I would be able to use my sister as woman-power and have her help me move. Our last night in Colorado my family went to dinner with my Grandma and Grandpa (Step-grandpa technically) in order to say our goodbyes. My Grandpa hadn't been doing well for some time before that. He found out a few years before that he had cancer in his bones, and by this time it had spread throughout his whole body for the most part. Plus, he was in his late 80's if not his early 90's; so he had definitely seen some stuff in his long lifetime.

That night at dinner he seemed to be feeling better than I had seen him in a long time. He was joking and laughing quite a bit, calling my Grandma cute, the whole sha-bang. I always took it upon myself to help my grandparents walk (for balance issues). We went to leave the restaurant, walked out with them, and went to say our goodbyes. Tim and I said that we would be seeing them both when I came home and when Tim came up for Thanksgiving. The night ended and we were supposed to be off for Chicago and the concert the next morning.

The next morning, my brother was sitting upstairs and woke me up. He told me that my Grandfather had died in his sleep that night. My Grandma had called my mom and dad, and they were down there to be with her while the Sheriff and the Coroner did their jobs and help her with the initial shock.

Finally, Cowtown USA

After spending some time with Tim up in Wyoming, it was time to head home for a bit. I needed to get my car fixed and decided I could spend some time helping my Dad with his business and my Mother with errands. I remember when I was younger and there were times that I absolutely did not want to help my parents, I suppose mainly out of defiance. Now that I am older and only am only able to go home for a few weeks out of the year, I find myself offering my assistance to my parents whenever I notice something that needs to be done.

Sometimes it's kind of weird. I sitting there thinking "Why did I ever complain about doing this, it takes 5 minutes." However, I'm pretty sure this wisdom came from doing things for myself for the last 4 years. When you are younger, it is easy to complain about doing chores or things that you know if they aren't done, there are other people that will do them for you (in some cases). However, in the case of my family, if you didn't get your stuff done you were not only reminded by my parents to do what you were told or you missed out on something that you wanted to do. Looking back, I regret complaining, however I am glad that I have been on my own to learn to not only do things for my self, but also have a more motivated outlook on simple tasks and chores.

A little exploration never hurt anyone

For Tim and I's last trip while I was in Bairoil, we decided to do a little site seeing. After seeing Independence Rock, I was itching to do a little more site seeing. The next place on the list was Sinks Canyon. The canyon has a river of water that disappears into the mountain.

At the beginning of the year, when the snow is melting, the water fills up the cavern completely. Only at the end of the summer and in the winter is the water low enough to see the details of the cave opening. The water level is still to high and fast even during the later months of the year, that the caverns are still too dangerous to explore. 

 

No one knows where all that water goes. All they know is where it goes into the mountain, and in later years figured out where the water surfaces. They placed markers in the water, and found that at least part of it resurfaces only a few hundred feet down the road. However, it takes 4 hours for the water to go into the cave and then surface; the path it takes remains to be a mystery.

At the resurfacing spot, we found the largest Rainbow Trout I have ever seen. The water literally leaks out of the sides of the mountain as well as springs up from the rock. Fresh, clear, and a ton of fish.

The fish of course eat well thanks to all the visitors. 

These are the kinds of things I love to explore the most.

1 Year Down

On my last weekend in Bairoil before heading back to Colorado and on to other adventures, Tim and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. For our date, we got some sparkling cider ( I know ....kid like, but it tastes so good) and went for a cruise. Tim had said earlier in the summer that he found this heart shaped pond that he would save to take me to for our anniversary date, and so that is where we went.

Sadly the pond has a lower water level than it had when Tim saw it causing it to no longer look too much like a heart. However, the though still counted and the drive was great. Once we got back from the drive we made one of those frozen Chinese meals and attempted a movie marathon. A simple yet great date. It was a good and relaxing way to end the Wyoming part of my summer, and great that I was able to spend our anniversary with my guy rather then celebrating 1200 miles apart.

Off On a Cruise

One thing that Tim and I love to do is go for a cruise, also known as a drive for those that are unfamiliar. A short ways behind Bairoil is Green Mountain. For one of my last few nights in Bairoil, Tim and I went for a cruise all the way up the mountain. On the way up we spotted some wild horses. They were beautiful. It is strange to see an animal seen normally domesticated out in the wild.

As we continued to climb, to Tim's enjoyment we had to go through a bit of mud. 

 

From the start of the cruise till the reaching the top of the mountain, the view only got better.

At the top you can see up to 60 plus miles away. An amazing view that is only possible in the west, and one of the things I miss the most when living in the Mid-west for now.

A Little Spontaneous History Lesson

On the drive back from camping at Pathfinder Reservoir, Tim and I stumbled upon the historic landmark Independence Rock. It was one of the progress land marks for the pioneers as they traveled along the Oregon Trail. The rock is absolutely spectacular.

Once arriving at the rock, the travelers would carve their names in the stone. The rock is covered in names of families and the date they arrived at the rock. It was known throughout the groups of travelers that if you didn't arrive at the rock by the 4th of July, that you wouldn't make it over the pass through the mountains before winter came. If you didn't make it the pass would be blocked by the snow and traveling would lead to death. The oldest name and date we we found was from the early 1830's which is in line with the start of the Oregon Trail time line.

From looking at the pictures it is hard to see, but the rock is smooth and sloped at a low enough angle that you can walk all the way up to the top. Tim and I walked on the trail surrounding the rock and then attempted our climb. On the lower parts of the rock there were many names, but at the top there were many more. Not all the names were from the time of the Oregon Trail, many were from throughout the years adding to the history of the rock.

I love visiting historic landmarks and am putting a few more on the agenda while I will be in Wyoming.

Camping - If it can go wrong it will

Only about an hour from Bairoil, lies Pathfinder Reservoir. For one weekend Tim's family and sister's family in law planned a camping trip out on the lake. Tim's sister Shenah, her husband's family are big into camping, 4 wheeling, boating, and all of the above. Therefore, Tim and I headed up to the lake in the Jeep only to be met by 3 other campers among other outdoor toys. On that note, we were the only ones sleeping in a tent on the ground (the only ones ACTUALLY camping, haha kidding).

From the beginning of the trip, things started to go wrong. When we arrived one of the campers had been visited by a family of mice, and needed to be cleaned out before the family could get settled. A little while later, the little girl fell off of the bunk bed and broke her leg. The poor girl. We weren't sure if it was broken at first, so she was upset for awhile. A little while later one of the dogs ( a boxer) was acting strange. She kept eating grass, hacking stuff up, and rubbing her face in the weeds. This was all in the first night.

Day 2 started a little better off. Most of the family headed to Casper for a relatives birthday party and decided to get the little girls leg checked out on the way. While they were gone most of the day, Tim and I went with his parents to explore the other lakes connected to Pathfinder and the Dam. It was fun to not only explore the Dam, but it was amazing to see something built almost 100 years ago that is still standing and functioning as if it was build yesterday. Thus, the nerdy engineering side of me came out a little while looking at the structure. As we were heading back to the camp site, Tim was picking on his mother and pretending that he was going to drive through the lake with his Jeep.

Once we got back, a few more things went wrong. Everyone that had been gone was one their way back. When Shenah and her husband arrived the dog jumped on the side of a newly painted truck and left a lovely scratch. Her husband was not happy. Later on the family of the little girl arrived after sitting in the ER for hours and hours. Her entire leg was in a temporary cast; nor t fun for a 4 year old. To top everything off the dog was still acting a little weird. That night they looked at her neck and found bite marks. Later on they figured out that she had been bitten by a rattlesnake due to her face swelling (boxers faces usually sag). That night one of the little dogs also became sick. He was having a hard time with his digestive system causing a lot of worry considering his older age. Altogether it was quite a night. One of the more fun parts was celebrating Shenah's birthday and making a cobbler in the dutch oven. Most of the meals were made in the dutch over the weekend and therefore very very yummy.

To finish up the weekend, on the 3rd day Tim and I went for a cruise in the Jeep, hung out a bit with everyone, and packed up to head back to Bairoil. Through everything that happened, it was still a great weekend at a very beautiful place.