Close Encounters in Wyoming

While hiking at Devil’s Tower, we didn’t see any aliens (we rented “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” the evening before our visit), but we did encounter a number of prairie dogs.

We “circumnavigated” the tower base (about 1½ miles around) and the boys did a bit of boulder climbing to get closer to the monument itself. Jake, who has always had a thing for climbing, described this activity as the coolest thing he’s ever done... so far!

We took a lot of photos. Here they are with a few from Sturgis too. It’s amazing how many different perspectives you can get of what is basically just one big rock... actually, crystalized rock - the core of an ancient underground volcano.

Jake made Pat promise he’d bring him back on his 18th birthday... either to climb it or parachute onto the top! Pat happily agreed to do either.

Wild West Weekend

We spent the weekend in Cody, Wyoming. If you haven’t had the opportunity to do any real Western camping, here’s a photo album that will give you a sense of just what an adventure it is.

Okay, so that wasn’t really us. Those photos were borrowed from an exhibit we saw at the Buffalo Bill Historic Center, “the Smithsonian of the West”. We happened to visit the Center on a holiday of sorts... National Day of the American Cowboy. As a result, the kids got to participate in some special mock-rodeo activities and won free tickets to the Cody Nite Rodeo.

Cody Nite Rodeo takes place every day for 90 consecutive each summer, providing a forum for cowpersons of all ages and skill levels to practice their sport. It wasn’t exactly a professional-level competition, but it was definitely entertaining. We weren’t keeping score, but we’re pretty sure the cows won!

Here’s the real photo album from our time in Cody.

Stay tuned for some pictures and blogging on our time in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons . . .