Tofurkey Day Vacay - Day 3

We took a day trip on Friday after Tofurkey Day...headed west of Casper.

Castle Gardens (not a park or anything, just BLM land)

 There were a bunch of petroglyphs carved into the formations.

 And cool scenery...

 (only picture Dad willingly let me take of him...and it was him taking a picture of me)

Wyoming's highpoint, Gannett Peak (13,809 ft) - check!  This is one of those states where just seeing it counts...because it's a four day backpacking trip just to get to the hike to the top.

 And more scenery...

 Saw an eagle's nest.

  But no real eagles, only this one.

 And of course antelope!  Scared a big herd driving out of Castle Gardens, they crossed the road in front of us and ran up the hill.

Next stop, Thermopolis...the world's largest mineral hot springs (as you'll soon see painted on the side of a hill...so it's gotta be true)

But first, we drove by Boysen Dam on the Wind River, to add to my dam tour of Wyoming.

 Wind River, with mineral deposits from the hot springs in background.

 The water was so hot (imagine that) you could see it steaming.

 Close-up of mineral deposits, with some ice.

 Dad telling me I should see the overhang I was standing on...but he was one to talk.

 Wildlife!

 In case you didn't believe them...it was painted on the hill.

 The deer even liked the warm pools of mineral water.

 Newer modern Park Service bath house...versus tacky looking older domed bathhouse. 

 The park also has a state maintained bison herd.

 And while we were in the park, we wondered why there was so much "evidence" of deer (aka poop). But at dusk we found out why, tons of deer descended on the park and the town of Thermopolis.

 Pretty sunset over Boysen Reservoir on the drive back to Casper.

Interesting to note, and put things in perspective - Thermopolis is the largest town in Hot Springs County, at a whopping 3,009 people! And just misses making the top 20 largest cities in Wyoming by 289 people.

Tofurkey Day Vacay - Day 2

 Tofurkey Day morning - we headed out for the traditional pre-meal exercise, this year a hike (which at 5,000 to 7,000 ft elevation was harder than any run I would have done!)

Here's the typical Wyoming scenery along the way.

 It was a beautiful day!

 We first hiked at the Audubon Center at Garden Creek, and fed the birds when we got back.

 Then found the elusive Garden Creek waterfall at Rotary Park (yes, Eeyore went along)

 Here's a view of Casper from the top of the waterfall.

 We then drove around Casper Mountain looking for evidence of the recent wildfire.

 And saw even more wildlife...common theme for this trip...well, any trip to WY really

While it was a bit chilly in Casper on this day (40's)...it surprised us how cold it got on top of the mountain!

Tofurkey Day Vacay - Day 1

I decided to visit my Dad for Tofurkey Day this year. Flew into Denver and he picked me up there, so we stopped a Rocky Mountain National Park on the way to Casper.  It was so picturesque.  Too bad half the park was closed already for winter (even though there isn't much snow yet...)

We saw a huge herd of elk in the park...

There must have been 50 or 60 of them!

It was dark by the time we got to Casper, but here's a pic of my Dad's house.

And here is the very cool looking Dick Cheney High School across the street (it's actually called Natrona County High School...but it is where Dick Cheney, along with pretty much any other famous Wyomingite, went to school)

Here's my Dad's roomie, LouieDog:

And one of his outdoor friends...

3 Generation Roadtrip - Day 4

The last day of our road trip. We stayed the night in Winchester, KY - home of the famous KY ginger ale Ale8One (otherwise known as A Late One). We were not able to go on a factory tour, but we did stop at the company store:

Before leaving town, we stopped at Fort Boonesborough, but didn't go in.  Instead, we found more butterflies and flowers outside:

Continuing on our way home, we were back in WV:

Even though I had been before, my mom and niece had not, so we visited the state capitol. I'm sure I already have lots of photos, but I took some more anyway:

Liberty bell:

My niece running through the halls (just kidding bro...she was very well behaved):

Looking up into the dome:

Oh, Eeyore and Willy were joined by another friend, Ali, who we picked up at the Ale8One company store:

And this, my favorite picture from the trip...look closely between the two tree trunks: