Off Road Training Wheels
The Minnie is officially an off the grid, dispersed camping, off road sorta vehicle! We’ve been winding our way through Wyoming—spent a few days in Lander, a night outside of Meeteetse, and arrived in Cody Friday morning. Cody was home base for me for a time—it’s where I did my student teaching and where I gravitated back to after college. I love this town, and I love this town’s people.
While we have dipped our toes into some off road type excursions, training wheels firmly attached, we have kept the drives relatively short, and we were certainly not getting in over our heads or further than the Minnie could carry us. She’s not a four wheel drive rig, after all. We pushed ourselves a little further on Thursday afternoon as we headed to the Upper Sunshine Reservoir outside of Meeteetse. Perhaps we were less fearful after our relaxing soak in the natural hot springs in Thermopolis; whatever it was, we found ourselves venturing down a bumpy gravel road toward a place the Lander BLM office had suggested. As we began the trek we were greeted by three Sandhill cranes snacking in a rancher’s field, so we were feeling pretty darn good about what might lie ahead.
We ended up at a lovely spot on the reservoir, with a few other folks camped on the other side. Peace and quiet, and white pelicans! Pronghorns were dining across the road and as evening set in, a familiar bugle drifted across the lake. An elk. Alanna had never heard an elk before, and she grinned from ear to ear. We woke up early on Friday, just prior to sunrise and when Alanna realized the colors that were starting to appear, she jumped out of bed, grabbed her camera and captured some of the most extraordinary pictures she has ever taken.
Friday morning, we headed to Cody early to run errands and then meet up with old friends, with a plan to camp together for the weekend. When I lived here, Kate and her kids, Yancy and Hallie, were like family to me. Kate taught at the middle school and Hallie was in one of my classes, and I eventually ended up coaching Yancy. Twenty-seven years later, the girls are now women with families of their own, and Kate remains one of the funniest and funnest and kindest women I have ever known. We picked right back up where we left off and had one of the best weekends camping ever.
Extraordinary camp food, majestic mountains, ample bear spray, one awesome kid, quiet, laughter and more laughter, a Minnie in the mud, a surprise arrival from Brad, thunder and lightening, hail, and snow up high, even though its July! More laughter, a roaring fire and s’mores, sound sleep, a short walk that turned into six miles because, “it’s just around the bend!”, fresh bear scat, and laughter and love and friendship. Oh, and an adorable puppy named Oscar. We’re getting one when the trip is over, promise.
This is the Wyoming I wanted Alanna to see and experience. This is my Wyoming, a place that still lives deep in me and shaped who I became in so many ways, even though back in the day I was a bit of a tornado roaring through these parts. This is where I find peace, especially in places like the Little Sunlight Valley where we spent the weekend. And while I don’t think this will be our final destination—winter is a bit too harsh for us—I know we are coming back, again and again with months in between instead of years. I love Wyoming, especially Cody.
And right now, I am loving that our laundry is done and we are freshly showered—thanks Yancy, Brad, Bliss and Kate!!
