More Dinosaurs Than Buffalo

I'm afraid Casper, WY, was just a quickie this time through. No disrespect to this nice town with lots of museums and scenic drives and a cute downtown, but my routing only gave us two nights here.

We stay just south of town in Evansville at River's Edge RV Park. With just one full day I want a place on the water so Bill can spend it fishing if he wants. He does so he did :-)

This is a very clean and open park with decent spacing, level hard sites, 50 amp FHUs, immaculate showers and laundry, playground, clubhouse, and the North Platte River just feet away. Sites 70-73 have the nicest water front views. Each site has a nice picnic table and faux turf with small trees for shade that won't block a satellite dish. We will definitely stay here when we return.

Site 44

From the front of our site, the river is just beyond the teepee

Bill fishes in between rain storms, and I clean house and pick up groceries. Our one day flies by.

Breaking one of my routing "rules", we travel on the Friday of a holiday weekend. But we get out before 9 AM and have zero traffic the whole trip. Good thing as Hwy 20 is a two-lane road with no pull-outs and only two passing lane sections in 90+ miles. It takes us through rolling hills and not much else until the small town of Shoshone, WY. We stay entertained looking for Prong Horn, and finally see several of them. Prior to Casper there were surprisingly few.

We pass Boysen Reservoir which is huge, and the entrance to Wind River Canyon. Even more incredible than the other incredible canyons we've driven this summer! I want to come back up in the Jeep before we leave the area.

Eagle RV Park, Thermopolis, WY, is on the west side of Hwy 20, the Bighorn River is on the east side. It is a small park with less than 40 RV sites, four small cabins, and a couple tent sites. There are large cottonwood trees, and it is the shadiest park we've stayed at this year. With temps expected in the low 90's we're happy to use their cable and enjoy the shade.

The sites are very tight, where the large tree, our picnic table, small fire ring, and our neighbor's sewer hookup are all crammed in a very small area between us and the trailer next door. The whole park could use a good weed eater, and there are plastic cups in our fire ring, but otherwise it's pretty nice.

Sewer hookup under our picnic table bench (and neighbor's stuff on the table because it's so convenient being that close)

Bill told me this afternoon that there's a family reunion here for the weekend. Another one? I swear I don't plan our routes on some reunion web site! 

We celebrate July 1st as our "last first kiss", and today is our eighth anniversary. The local brewery, One Eyed Buffalo, looks like the perfect spot for the occasion. With 18 brews on tap there is a very good selection. I start with a Boom! Choc-o-late Ale and follow up with a Peach Wheat. Bill sticks with All In Amber. They are very good.

Very tasty local brews

A couple musicians from Portland, OR, are also very good, and we enjoy our first live music in way too long.

Saturday morning Bill is out fishing the river while I make a pasta salad, do a load of laundry, and take Tessa for a walk. When he returns it is already getting hot outside. 

Let's go see some dinosaurs! 

For the next couple hours we enjoy an amazing collection of fossils and skeletons at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. Most of the bones are from the local Thermopolis Dig Site which is still very active. For $150 you can spend an entire day "working" the dig site - it looks like a great experience, but not in this heat.

Using a 12-month calendar for scale - the Big Bang was on January 1 and dinosaurs reached extinction on December 31

There are large 

individual fossils

as well as detailed groupings of smaller ones (most of these are ancient sea lillies)

Some finds remain as a conglomeration of bones

while others have it all together.

A few seem less science

and more art

The variety of specimens is huge, many of them from Madagascar, China, Germany and several North America locations. The amount of information provided is staggering. 

The large dinosaur room holds at least 35 replicated and real skeletons. Most of them I've never heard of, and they range from tiny bird-like specimens to the 106-foot-long "Jimbo". 

The most famous is the Archaeopteryx which they call the Thermopolis Specimen although it was discovered in Germany. The contradiction is not clarified in any of the information provided. It is special because it is believed to be the transition from reptile to bird.

Archaeopteryx, known as the Thermopolis Specimen 

Animated hologram changes the bones into a dino-bird. Very cool :-)

Impossible to get Jimbo in one photo

His neck and tail are over half his overall length

This (real skull) relative of the triceratops is a favorite

as are these two much smaller Othnielia Rex

In addition to the active dig site, they have a state-of-the-art preservation lab

This is a must-see if you have any interest in fossils and dinosaurs - you don't have to be full-blown geeks like us :-)

Of course it's even hotter now so we decide to drive through Hot Springs State Park. So far the Jeep is cooperating with the AC on. 

There is no fee to enter the park, there are two commercial hotels, two large hot pools, a large picnic area, and several trails both along the river and in the surrounding prairie. The parking lots are full, as are the pools, but the bison viewing area drive is nearly empty. We see three of the 24-27 member herd in the distance although we never get close enough to get a photo. It's okay because the colors here are beautiful. 

Hot Springs with Thermopolis in the background

A varied palette 

White Sulfur Springs

Unusual antique car dump site in the state park

Wyoming beauty

Evidence of the herd

Ledges break off as the dirt erodes making interesting patterns

Tree? Sign? Buffalo?

Tree this time :-)

We are not public pool folks so after exploring all the accessible roads in the little park we return home.

The perfect movie to end our dino-day

There's still more to see in this interesting place, and I'm so glad we have a couple more days to enjoy it.