Yellowstone - Day 13

July 4, 2013…Oh my gosh, what a day!  Things started out quite smoothly.  The campground was quiet after the excitement of last night!  We did see green shirt walking around but there was no sign of red shirt or orange shirt or even blue.  Wonder what happened there.   We ate a camp breakfast and loaded up the church van and headed off to see some more of the Flaming Gorge area.  We were looking for Chimney Rock and knew approximately where to find it.  We enjoyed the colorful scenery of rocks and sagebrush and finally saw the beautiful formation named Chimney Rock.

This area is so desolate I can’t imagine what the early settlers must have thought.  We are near the point in the Oregon Trail where settlers of the west either went one way to California or another route to Oregon.  As a mother how scary it would have been to look at the sight that lay before them.  They had already experienced months of hardships and sacrifice and knew that there was only more of it ahead.  This part of Wyoming is void of trees, water, black dirt, and people.  But still, it is very beautiful in its own way.

We stopped at a historical sight that was a stagecoach stop from the mid 1800’s.  The ruins of the stable is still there and some plaques explaining all about it have recently been erected.  We also viewed the restored station but up the hill I spied, what I declared looked like a cemetery because of the white fence surrounding it.  The guys poo-pooed us but the girls insisted and we headed up the hill.  As it turned out, it was indeed a cemetery.  Seven people had been murdered near here in a stagecoach robbery and had been buried here.  At this sight I saw and smelled babies breath.  There was so much of it growing wild that I could smell it coming in through the windows of the van.  Gin had read to me earlier in the trip that gypsophellia (babies breath) is an invasive weed to WY and they are working to eradicate it.  We pondered why that might be and came up with perhaps nothing eats is and it is crowding out the growth that the animals can eat.  Our theory anyway.

Our next stop was in Rawlins at the Montana State Penitentiary.  It is now a historical building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Built in 1901, it originally had no heating and with Wyoming winters often coming down to 40 degrees below zero, it had to have been a miserable place.  We took an official tour of the facility and our tour guide did a great job of keeping us entertained as we went through the facility.  We got to tour the cell blocks, the cafeteria, the shower rooms, and even saw the gas chamber.   This place is officially haunted according to our guide and has been featured on several television shows about hauntings.  It was a yucky place that’s for sure but everyone was fascinated by this gruesome part of old west history.  The cemetery for the prisoners was just over the hill and we made a stop by there to take a peek too.

Driving east on 80 we laughed and snacked the drive away.  That is until early afternoon between Laramie and Cheyenne when the church van started jumping around.  Again it was tire issues, this time in the front.  Dan and Tim changed it out for the spare at a beautiful WY rest area that had a huge monument of Abe Lincoln.  Why Abe Lincoln?  Well, I will tell you.  The Lincoln Monument was commissioned be the state of WY in 1959 to honor the 150^th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.  The monument marks the highest point on the old Lincoln Highway.  It was moved to its present location in 1969 when interstate 80 was completed.  Now, how’s that for a history lesson?  Thank you, Laramie visitor’s guide for the explanation.

Back on the road we were still uncomfortable with the van.  We could feel the other front tire was not feeling right.  West on 80 we went.  We passed through Cheyenne and BOOM!  The driver’s side front tire shredded.  Tim expertly guided it to the side of the road.  We girls were a little shook but the guys were calm and put the bad tire they had previously removed back on the van.  We turned around and slowly made our way to a truck service center.

The guys at the truck service center only had tires for semis but told us to go to Wal-Mart only seven or so miles down the road.  We were glad we were not on the interstate but on a smaller road and head back to Cheyenne.  The Wal-Mart people were great and replaced two front tires for us within the 45 minutes they promised us.  Now, normally I detest Wal-Mart but today they were wonderful!

Back on the road east we headed.  I phoned the van rental place, MVP in Milan and left them a message.  I was very nice yet firm in my disappointment, but believe you me, when I get home they are getting a stern talking to.  Not only will I insist they pay for the replacement tires, I will be asking for a weeks rental refund.  That isn’t too much to ask for is it?  I don’t think so.  We were so lucky that things didn’t go more horribly wrong.  We have seven people’s lives that were depending on their renting us a van in good working order…including good dependable tires.  They knew where we were going and we were dang lucky that we were not on some mountaintop headed down a 8% grade like we were this morning!  Thank you, St. Christopher  for taking care of these travelers as we head toward Illinois.

We completed the day with a few fireworks in a small town in rural Nebraska.  Happy 4th America!