Roaring Mama Syndrome

I have adventures to catch up on blogging about, as well as their pictures.  The plan had been to take care of that this afternoon while the kids were resting....but the kids haven't been following any directions today (well, FirstBorn did clean the bathroom somewhat this morning, and SecondBorn removed his now-dried clothes from the floor of the landing this morning...but that's about it).  It has been such a frustratingly aggrevating day that I think my head is going to pop off with such force that it will be orbiting Jupiter within an hour.

Guernsey State Park, Register Cliffs, Oregon Trail ruts

[placeholder for the post that needs to be done one of these days]

It's Yer Birfday

Yesterday was my dear husband's birthday.  He's been very good natured about our teasing about him getting old--I think it helps that a few weeks ago when he was talking about the stray whites in his facial hair I commented that they were sexy.  ;-)  He's only five years older than me, but I figure it's fair game to tease him about being an old sexy man when he's been teasing me for YEARS about things that are 'before my time.'

Second-born stated that DH was turning 63yrs.  DH commented that it was close enough to count (though for the record I believe it's his father's age...I'd have to verify with the genealogy records boxed up at home; I can never remember his birth year).

Adventures in Nebraska

We headed out to Cabela's in Sidney, Nebraska.  There aren't any within easy distance of our home (though we do enjoy Bass Pro Shop) so we decided to go adventuring there.

DH, Grandma, and the kids found sunglasses that worked for them, I found some little travel binoculars with a compass for the boys (since I left their binoculars, compasses, and leaf presses at home unintentionally), and I picked up a hip pack that has removeable shoulder straps to replace my purse while we're here--to better enable my functionality on our adventures.

The top of a massive taxidermy display in the store.

After grabbing some lunch on the go we headed back towards the Wyoming border--only to be stopped towards the end of a construction zone by a dark blue pick-up truck parked sideways across the only lane of traffic.  As we came to a stop behind the traffic ahead of us we noticed some similar pick-ups with flashing blue lights coming up the on-ramp, escorting a massive truck with a long string of fully-armed humvees behind it....and two very low-flying helicopters flying back and forth across the interstate surveying the surroundings.  Once the convoy was on the interstate our line of traffic was allowed to continue forward.  They all stayed in the right lane, and even waved us around when we got to the transporter.

Our deductions?  Once they got that truck moving they weren't stopping or slowing down for anything.  The blue pick-ups blocked subsequent on-ramps until the convoy passed so there wasn't any merging concerns--same reason for the interstate traffic being stopped when the convoy was merging on.  It was really interesting to observe it all, and I'm really grateful that they didn't block the interstate until they arrived at their destination---that would have been a really inconvenient pain.

DH, ever the comedian, joked that it must be Obama's teleprompter.  He also suggested I take pics of the entourage, etc.  I explained that if they had that much firepower escorting it, I didn't need to be getting anybody's goat up by snapping pictures for the kids' scrapbook.  They'll just have to engrave it on their brain instead.

Things to do in Cheyenne

We only had the afternoon and evening with Grandma.  The original plan was to head to the State Museum, but there were a couple of errands to run first.  After errands, we swung past the Tree House that Urban Forestry runs to find out the hours.  We also found out that they have an exploratory room in their office that we are welcome to venture into and observe at our own pace and interest.

Next, we headed to the Children's Garden to get their hours and their calendar of events.  What an AWESOME facility!!

We finished off our afternoon out with a stop at the library.  They moved to a new location since we were last here and it is FABULOUS!  The entire second floor is the kids and teens section, with the teen nook quarantined from the younger crowd.  A homeschooling open house was just finishing up when we arrived so we snuck in and signed the kids up for a couple of book club events that are happening during our visit.  The library also has a weekly chess club for Eldest's age range, and an oversized chess game with hollow plastic pieces that are about knee-high on me.  Oh, and their selection of pioneer related materials is fantastic (as one would hope given that some four trails pass through Wyoming).

Ft. Laramie--Part 1

The plan was to head out to Ft. Laramie, Register Cliffs, and the Oregon Trail ruts in Guernsey, WY.  As always, life is what happens while making plans...

We traveled from Cheyenne to Torrington, where we spied the Cold Springs marker.

We also stopped at a Rock Shop on the outskirts of Torrington, WY where we picked up some petrified Wyoming Palm Wood (if I heard him correctly it was found around Rock Springs, WY), and a small chunk of fossilized snails and shellfish.

Our error was in not also stopping for an early lunch....

As we approached Ft. Laramie we also spied markers for Ft. Platte:

and "The Greatest Ride in History" during the Red Cloud War:

Can you imagine trying to pack your prized earthly possessions AND several months worth of supplies in this cramped little space??





Ft. Laramie played a major role in diplomatic and military operations, as well as resupplying pioneers heading west.  The building behind the prairie schooner could house two regiments of cavalry.  And in the field to the right (and slightly behind) this display of mobility is what is left of the canon:

There's a stream or two that meander near the site of the storeowner's home and the cavalry barracks; it also meanders along the path the picture of the canon was taken from.  While strolling, DH spied a fish swimming in the too-shallow water (at least one third of its back was exposed and that branch of the creek ended in a mushy bit of grass), so he caught it to transport it to the deeper section of the creek.



We poked about the Visitor Center a bit, asked about the Junior Rangers program, and watched their overview movie about the fort and its many incarnations.  Then we realized it was 2pm, we were all famished and what was left of their Junior Ranger booklets was going to take awhile.  We decided we would come back to Ft. Laramie at another time, and instead continue on to Guernsey for lunch and the sites we were going to visit there.  To our dismay, we didn't locate anything viable to eat so we cut our field trip short and hightailed it back to Cheyenne for an early dinner.

So, at some point in the next few weeks the boys and I will be heading back--better prepared.  In the meantime, I leave you with a picture of the map of Ft. Laramie.