Showing posts with label WYOMING. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WYOMING. Show all posts

CURT GOWDY STATE PARK (WY) ★

FRIDAY - We have a short, less than 100-mile travel day today, so we hung out on our campsite until just before check-out time at 11:30AM.

We drove west through the rest of the Pawneee National Grassland along CO-14 until we reached the town of Ault (pop. 1887).

I don't know? This part of Colorado looks just like Nebraska did.

In the town of Ault we stopped at a McDonalds for lunch. It was the only place in town that had parking for truck drivers and therefore our little 50' rig.

After lunch we were back on the road, this time heading north on US-85, back into Wyoming. We skirted around the capitol city of Cheyenne, WT (pop. 65,132) before heading west 24-miles outside of town to Curt Gowdy State Park.

CURT GOWDY STATE PARK

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Now that's how you make a GRAND entrance.
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This is the view from up on the hill at the Visitor Center.
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There are 10-campgrounds located all around the shoreline of Granite Springs Reservoir.
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This is our view through both the screen and outside doors.
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This is our view with both doors open.
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The campsites are staggered and tiered, so no one has an obstructed view of the water.
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We are on the top level with an awesome overview of the surroundings.
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The sites are a bit unlevel, but nothing we couldn't adjust for.

The State Park is of course named after the legendary sportscaster Curt Gowdy (1919-2006), born in Green River, WY and moved to Cheyenne, WY at age of six.

He excelled in basketball during his high school years, and then went on to attend the University of Wyoming in Laramie where he started and lettered in basketball and tennis 3 straight years.

In 1943, while recovering from back surgery, his sportscasting debut occurred when we was asked to radio broadcast a 6-man football game in Cheyenne. Let's just say the rest is history!

Curt Gowdy's radio and television sportscasting career spanned from the 1950s into the 1980s, and included covering Pro Football, Major League Baseball, 13 World Series, 16 Baseball All-Star Games, 14 Rose Bowls, 9 Super Bowls, 8 Olympic Games and 24 NCAA Final Fours.

With a résumé like that he deserves to have this beautiful Wyoming State Park named after him.

SATURDAY - Well it's officially the weekend. We arrived early yesterday afternoon and the park was barely half full, but it's a whole different story now that it's Saturday morning. This campground is full!

That means when Tricia goes for her early morning walk today she's going to head straight out of the campground and head for the Visitor Center, far away from the campers so she doesn't disturb their sleep with her phone conversation.

TRICIA'S MORNING WALK AND TALK

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A 6:15AM sunrise over the Granite Springs Reservoir outside of Cheyenne, WY.
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Just 15-minutes later the place is starting to come alive.
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That bridge down there gives access to the opposite shore of the reservoir.
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Tricia wasn't the only one awake early this morning.
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This handsome young buck will have his choice of mates later this season.
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Hey! The sidewalks are reserved for humans only.
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That's right! I'm talking about you.
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It looks like the word is out...
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...there's a human among us with a camera.

The temperatures got down into the upper 30°Fs last night and I'm sure glad we had electricity to run our small space heater. It's forecast to be a full 10°F warmer tonight which will be much appreciated.

After lunch today we'll be driving around the park and checking out the other 9 campgrounds, just in case we have a return visit here in the future.

MONDAY - Today, like yesterday, we're going to keep it chill. Only today we have a few errands to take care of before we can chill.

We need to be out of THE POD by 9:00AM in order for me to have time to drop Tricia off at the laundromat and I make it back to FORD by 10:00AM to get ROVER's oil changed.

Then if I have time I'll get our 30-lb. propane bottle filled before retrieving Tricia. Then we can both go grocery shopping for two weeks worth of food, because tomorrow we head up into the Rocky Mountains and I don't think we'll have as many grocery options up there.

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BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST (WY)

WEDNESDAY - We woke up early today, around 6:00AM, but stayed in bed under the covers until closer to 7:00AM.

It was cold outside, around 50°F, and since it usually stays 10°F warmer inside THE POD it was around 60°F. We've not been running the furnace at night to save on battery power. We still haven't been able to determine why the battery charge controller is saying the batteries are all charged up when they are actually below 30%. You don't want to take a lithium battery below 20% charged or you risk damaging it. Guess it's time to seek professional help!

We were on the road by 9:30AM and didn't even make it 4-miles down the road before we pulled over at a scenic overlook to take one last photo of the Bighorn National Forest.

This overlook is called Hospital Hill Interpretive Site with some storyboards about it's history.

Just 10-miles later, after negotiating one more of those 8% downgrades in the road, we stopped in the town of Buffalo, WY (pop. 4415) to purchase gasoline at a Maverik Station for $3.09 a gallon. You know what else Maverik Stations sell, that's right Mountain Dew Honeydew flavored.

Mountain Dew Honeydew flavor was released in Canada for a limited time from August 2023 to October 2023. It has now been made available in the United States, starting in July 2025, as a Franchise Exclusive Flavor, sold only at Maverik and Kum﹠Go gas stations.

Just outside of Buffalo we hopped onto Interstate 90 East, which is what we'll be traveling on for the next 130-miles.

There were no towns on Interstate 90 for the first 68-miles of our travels. Actually, for over an hour there wasn't much of anything to see between the towns of Buffalo and Gillette.

Entering the Insterstate at 10:00AM. Not a lot to see, including the absence of traffic.

10:23AM: With no traffic it wasn't a problem for me to go 60MPH when the limit was 80MPH.

10:37AM: Finally some full grown trees, there must be a forest around here somewhere.

There are only 12 Walmart Supercenters in all of Wyoming and we just so happen to be passing by one today in Gillette, WY. We are going to make a stop to see if Tricia can find another pair of shorts to match the ones she purchased in Montana, she likes them that much!

This cowboy metal art sculpture was on the corner of the Interstate exit in Gillette.

Also she needs to by more yarn so she can complete her current knitting project. I hope to purchase a case of Dragonfruit flavored Mountain Dew, a Walmart exclusive flavor, but don't hold much hope of doing so.

Tricia found her yarn, but no shorts and no Mountain Dew. Next door was a Taco Bell so we enjoyed an early lunch while being off the boring Interstate.

While in Taco Bell I saw a new flavor of Mountain Dew in the fountain which I had to try. It's called Baja Midnight, which was just released on August 14th. It blends the flavors of passion fruit and tropical lime to create an interesting taste. It wasn't however my new favorite, Honeydew still holds the top spot for me.

After lunch it was time to get back on the road and travel another 60-miles of the boring Interstate driving until we reach the town of Sundance, WY.

That is Sundance Mountain up ahead, which looms over the town of Sundance.
It's where we will finally exit the Interstate and only have a short 3.5-mile drive to our campsite.

This is part of the 3.5-mile approach road to the campground.

The Black Hills National Forest in more often associated with nearby South Dakota,
but it does spill over into Wyoming where we are staying at the Reuter Campground.

Another spacious campsite here in the forest, but very little solar charging will happen here.

At least there is decent cell phone service, so I won't have to setup the Starlink dish.

THURSDAY - The skies looked pretty clear at 6:15AM, but we are forecast for some rain showers early this afternnon and then increasing to thunderstorms by bedtime, just great!

That means that our sightseeing plans will have to be moved forward so that we're not caught outside when the rain starts.

The sky at 6:15 AM this morning.

By 8:15AM we were headed up the road to Warren Peak Lookout Tower. When I say, up the road, I really mean "UP" the road. The lookout tower is only 4-miles from the campground, but it's a full 1200' higher in elevation and at least 5°F cooler up there.

Still a half mile away, but it's easy to spot the lookout tower.

At this point we left the paved road behind and started up a gravel road to the tower.

Even from ground level at the tower we could see cows on a nearby hill.

There's even a picnic table with a view up here, in addition to the vault toilet.

This 54' steel tower was built in 1960 to aid in early wildfire detection in the National Forest.

The room at the top was locked, but we could climb to just below the floor level of it.

That area over there is "off limits" to the public. It's the Sundance Air Force Station,
which in 1959 was the world’s first nuclear-powered radar station.

It is said that on a clear day you can see Devils Tower just 20-miles in that direction.
Today is not a clear day, with the clouds and smoke from the Canadian wildfires.

On the way back "down" to the campground, Tricia took another photo of Sundance Mountain.

Tommorow we head out for a "new to us" National Park. Any guesses?

Looking for our Visited States Map and Data?
How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List?
If so, click on the sign below to be taken to our other website.

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