Trip to Wyoming

We arrived in Wyoming on Thursday night in time for sunset. This is the view west from the ranch.


We went to see Seminoe Dam (I think) on our first full day. This dam holds over 1,000,000 feet/acres of water (I learned the definition of that!).

This is the view from over the top of the dam.
The reservoir that led into the dam.

Crack in the Mountain.
Dan in the garage with a cat. :)
Our 3-4 hour ride really took about 6 hours. Ouch.
Bracken on Joe.
It was really windy out there, so you really needed the hats tied on--that's part of why I look like such a geek (the other part is just because I am one)!

Ha ha! This is our cowboy/cowgirl picture.
Lunch break.
This was my horse, Steamboat. He was a big eater. :)
Bracken is holding this horse so Silke can apply sunblock to it's nose (who knew?).
The guys looking at the truck. . .Bracken explaining something.
One of the guest cabins.
The hills out behind the house. I did a little hike up to the top one day.
This was the Alcova spillway I think.
See the basketball down there? It wasn't going anywhere.
This spillway goes into the North Platte River I believe.
At the top of the Alcova Dam. North Platte again. Dan, Tom, and Bracken.
You could just climb up on the rocks surrounding the dam and make your way down to the next look out (or drive there if you wanted ).
Bracken and I climbed.
It wasn't the safest thing we've ever done and I bet at some point they will really block it off, but it was really cool. The views were amazing.
On the way down to the next lookout at the dam.
The dam is 200 feet tall, the water must have been splashing back up at least 100 feet.
Then we drove to another lookout bridge a couple of miles down stream. This is the view from the bridge.
A canyon even farther down stream.
Back at the ranch. :)
Typical of the drive--cattle in the road.
This was all there was to the rainbow when we initially saw it.




You can see the faint outline of the double rainbow to the right on this one.
Mia choosing her breakfast from the menu.
Nicco and I.
Jeff and Mia at Snack Time in Nevada, Ia.

Bracken converted his diesel truck to vegetable oil, spent time building a centrifuge to clean out the oil delivered or picked up from a couple of restaurants in town. After testing it out a bit in town, it was time to try driving it a big distance. We had decided to visit a high school buddy in Wyoming where he was helping to run a dude ranch. We stopped in Iowa to drop the girls off with my parents (where they are still visiting relatives until this weekend), picked up another friend from our hometown of Nevada, and then drove to Wyoming. The ranch was a good 40 minutes drive from a town and there was no cell phone service. It was full up with guests but we had brought along tents to sleep in--Tom's wasn't the best in the wind and rain! :) There was power though and we were able to tour a couple of the nearby dams that produced LOTS of power. Bracken and I also joined some of the guests on a horse ride out around the mountains. It was amazing, beautiful, and we knew we would be very sore by the time we even stopped for lunch. :) On the drive back to Iowa (back in cell phone service) we found out Bracken's sister Drew was driving to Iowa at the same time from her home in Colorado. She had her two children with her and we managed to meet up at a rest area in Nebraska so I could ride the rest of the way with her (and help drive). It was great because we were able to talk for hours and it was also the first time I met my 6 month old niece Mia. As we were within an hour of our hometown in Iowa, we saw an amazing rainbow. Bracken's parents also ended up in Iowa that day, so we all met for breakfast in Nevada and then visited Bracken's grandma at the nursing home (Bracken and I hadn't seen her since she'd moved in to the home). Then Bracken and I drove to Michigan. It was so nice not to have to stop for gas! It was probably the cheapest vacation we have ever taken but you'd never know it based on all the places we visited, people we saw, and experiences we packed it. :)

Bracken was pretty good with the lasso after a little practice. There is a basketball at the bottom of the spillway in the water--it's been there for weeks. This is probably a good reminder that you would not want to try taking a kayak, raft, barrel or whatever down the water!