We started planning our trip to Yellowstone a few years ago - we knew it would be wonderful with so many things to see! Our initial thought was to meet Matt's parents & brother (from Oregon) and tour through the National Parks last summer (2017). There were some date conflicts so we pushed the vacation to 2018.
We planned and planned (so much to see out west!!) until we were blue in the face...and then planned some more. We were so excited to visit our National Parks and to see them with Ken, Connie & John!
We left our house around 2:00 am on June 30th. We had a full 14 hours of driving ahead of us. Our first big stop was for lunch in North Platte, NE. We stopped at the Fort Cody Trading Post to stretch our legs and take some photos.
We loved the miniature display of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. We were excited to see the Canadian Mounties - they were on our photo scavenger hunt. Sadly, these miniature Mounties would be the only Mounties we would see during our vacation.
In the fenced in courtyard area, we found a Muffler Man and a few Face-in-Hole boards.
The girls made the mistake of going in to the Fort Cody Jail...we contemplated leaving them, but decided to bail them out in the end. 😀
Well, maybe no bail for Kaitee! haha
After filling our bellies and the gas tank, we got back on I-80 until Ogallala, where we veered northwest on Hwy 26. I will say, as boring as Nebraska can be (to drive through), Hwy 26 has some breathtaking views - especially along McConaughy Lake.
We stopped to visit
Chimney Rock National Historic Site (north of Bayard). The skies were starting to look a bit ominous and we didn't end up spending too much time here.
We had fun (under Matt's direction/idea) putting together our "Oregon Trail" Headstone. Anyone who has played Oregon Trail, knows that most will die during their trek. Our creative juices flowed as we came up with ways to die while on the trail.
A sad looking "dead" group...
The mosquitoes were REALLY bad! I was standing there taking the pictures and one of the kids told me that I had a bunch on my leg (I hadn't even felt them!). I looked down on my ankle and found 15-20 on my lower leg!! Crazy. Notice Will doing the leg-hop dance as he's swatting the blood suckers away!
Matt with a few graphics from the Oregon Trail computer game.
We ran in to the visitor center to use their restrooms and do a quick tour of the museum. On our way out, we found this little fellow. Kaitee aptly named him Sheldon...
Getting back on the road, we had a few more stops ahead of us and we were certain we would be getting wet. We did notice
Courthouse & Jail Rocks off to the south of Hwy 26. All of these rock formations were prominent landmarks for the pioneers as they headed west.
Unfortunately, it started to pour while we drove to
Scott's Bluff National Monument. We stopped at Scott's Bluff to drive through the park (up to the bluff). This wasn't on our initial agenda, but after Matt saw a photo at Chimney Rock, we made it a priority. When we got to the park, the storm had let up quite a bit. We were informed that the rainstorm had caused some rock slides on the bluff and we couldn't go in to the park. Major bummer...
The picture below shows the end of the storm - we were praying that the sunshine was on the Nebraska/Wyoming border. Our next stop was our first state sign picture of the trip (the first Nebraska sign was overhead, on a bridge). We were thankful for no rain during this quick stop! Sadly, no "Welcome to Wyoming" sign! 😒
Fort Laramie, WY was our next stop - not necessarily on our agenda either. We stopped at a cemetery to find a letterbox and saw
Fort Laramie National Historic Site just south of the cemetery. We drove to the site to explore for a few minutes. It was a great place to get out and stretch our legs, grab a snack and use the restrooms. A very peaceful setting. Weren't the clouds amazing?!
Heading back to Hwy 26, we stopped at the Fort Laramie Bridge (1875).
Back on the road, we headed toward our last stop on the day,
Guernsey Ruts State Park near Guernsey, WY. The sun came out!!!
From the NPS Website -
"At this site, where the trail was forced away from the river and crossed a ridge of soft sandstone, the track is worn to a depth of five feet, creating some of the most spectacular ruts remaining along the entire length of the Oregon-California Trail. The geography of the area dictated that practically every wagon that went west, crossed the ridge in exactly the same place, with impressive results."
Can you imagine pushing / pulling the wagons up these steep climbs?
Matt & Kaitee took a hike to hunt for a letterbox - they took the long way around but they were successful AND got some great pictures.
We continued on Hwy 26 to Interstate 25 which took us in to Casper - our first hotel night on the trip. We were hungry & tired (you will catch a recurring theme throughout this trip!) but really enjoyed our day of exploring the history of the Oregon Trail.
