Friday, July 10, 2009 - On the rocks

We started off the morning with a visit to Cabela's. This is the original location (Sidney, Nebraska), I believe. Ethan enjoyed looking at the diorama of wild animals and wanted to look at knives. He selected a beginner knife to try some carving in the campsite.

The original plan [o.k., Kathy's original timetable!] had been to arrive in the Laramie area on Thursday night. So we were already behind schedule. But it's a vacation, right?

We arrived over the Wyoming border in Pine Bluff. The guys, Chris and Ethan, also followed a trail leaving the rest area. This trail ended at an archaelogical site of a pioneer trash midden dated from 1880-1910. The underlying layers go back to 15,000 years before Christ.

Kathy read at the rest area and watched a family taping the son (grandson?) jumping on a pogo stick while they provided commentary. They are videotaping him pogoing in every state they travel through.

During the afternoon we finally arrived at one of our "featured" stops that Kathy considered a "must see" for Ethan. He is now the fifth generation of the Reid family (Kathy's family) that have enjoyed climbing on the rock formations at Vedauwoo, near Laramie. For some other nice photos and information about the recreational area, try these websites:

• www.wallpaperdave.com/vedauwoo.htm
• www.wyomingtourism.org/overview/Vedauwoo-Recreation/32151

Ethan demonstrated that he does have excellent balance and other athletic skills as he climbed, jumped, and slid his way up and down some of the formations. Although both Grandma and Grandpa did climb a short (I emphasize "short") way up at some places, their usual role was to monitor as our family mountain goat proceeded to make us feel old!

You might think the day was about over, but after driving into Laramie and obtaining a campsite at the KOA, we still had time to attend the carnival downtown (part of the Jubilee Days celebration) and then go to the movie! We picked Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.