We turned south back into Wyoming and drove along the beautiful Clarks Fork Yellowstone River valley before climbing over Dead Indian Pass. The view from the top was spectacular.

We headed into Cody to do laundry and were greeted by the owner who knew everything there is to know about doing laundry correctly and a lot of other interesting facts on the various people visiting his place of business. Who said laundromats can’t be fun.

We dropped out of Cody into Thermopolis, WY. It’s known for two things: hot springs and dinosaurs. We got a camping spot in town at the Fountain of Youth CG, where they had their own hot springs right at the campground. I’m not sure it worked since we both got more wrinkles the longer we stayed in – lol.

The hot springs in town is part of a state park that is very interesting to see.

The other major attraction is the dinosaur museum that has an incredible collection of dinosaurs and fossils from all over the world.

We also visited the new local brewery in town – the One Eyed Buffalo. The beers and food there were good after soaking in the hot springs.

A few of the hot springs within the park charge entrance fees and have slides and other attractions. Pam and I enjoy the simple Bath House with just the pools. It’s also free, or $1.00 if you want to rent a towel. Which we do so that our own towels don’t smell like sulfur from the hot springs.

From Thermopolis we made our way to Bert and Leigh’s place along the Wind River. Their pet longhorns are still there and based on their age will be there for another decade or more.

I helped Bert load up some firewood that was way up in the mountains northwest of Dubois, WY. We hauled three full loads off the mountain so they are set for wood for awhile.

We also took a drive up into the Absaroka mountains north of their place to see the beautiful scenery.

Their jeep got a flat and while Bert and I changed the tire, their Blue Heeler, Shamrock, found a “stick” in the woods for Pam to throw. It was now his new, best chew toy.

After a few days on the Wind River we headed south again due to scheduled service on our rig at the Earthroamer plant in Dacono, Co. We stopped to camp at one of our favorite places, Sugarloaf CG in the Medicine Bow National Forest west of Laramie, WY. The place is just gorgeous and our campsite had an awesome view.

We hiked around the next day with the beautiful mountains and many alpine lakes. The elevation there is over 10,000 feet.

While warning signs are up for the bears in the area, the only wildlife we saw during our hike was a couple of marmots, a western version of the groundhog.

We also ran into two women with five Bernese Mountain dogs and a Golden Retriever. On the way out we came across three moose in the clearing.

This area is high on the campsite list for a reason. What a great place.