Back Home and a Look toward the Future

-

We left Cat Creek at 9:00 AM. We had left Colorado about 9:40, passed through the Oklahoma Panhandle, and then, by 10:30, 11:30 allowing for the time zone change. we were in Texas. We drove another three hours and were home. Traffic was relatively light and we had as uneventful a drive over the past few days as one could hope for.

By 4:30 the trailer and truck bed were empty. The we will be putting things away into their proper places over the next two days, but the heavy lifting is done.

We had thought about going to a favorite restaurant for dinner, but elected to just buy a couple of plate dinners from a local supermarket. It is so nice having something like that a mile and a half away, instead of 34 miles as in Lander. That said, I recognize the difference between a convenience and a need. 

We saw a red-tailed hawk, several prairie dogs, and just after we crossed the state border into Texas, we saw about six pronghorn antelope. 

One-thousand twenty-two miles completed. 

I started this blog as a work space and then started keeping daily notes and commentaries as a possible resource for future volunteers and seasonal workers at South Pass City State Historic Site to see what a summer here might be like. We volunteered and had a three-day work week. Seasonal workers are paid and have a five-day work week. Their experience will obviously be a bit different.

I do not plan to post "daily" observations as I have in the past. If I do continue posting regularly, it will be on my progress with the Lovejoy Journals and other projects I am working on.

I plan to rest up a bit, put things away, etc. tomorrow and then write an over all assessment of the experience in the next couple of days. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About

-
 I volunteered at South Pass City (SPC) in May-October 2023. During that season, I read the journals written by Doctor Walter Lovejoy and his brother Fred, which had been obtained by SPC in 2007. These journals were written between 1886 and 1904, intermittently, were interesting and painted a vivid picture of life in South Pass City and early Wyoming.  The journals had served as background information for a number of interpretive writings, but I thought they warranted a more thorough presentation. So, I began thinking about publishing the journals in some format. Much of my volunteer time was spent in the recently opened Smith Sherlock Company Store exhibit- greeting visitors and telling them about the store. When I had time on my hands, I would examine the labels on canned (and other) goods in the exhibit. Later, at home, I would research the labels and learned a lot of interesting history, which I incorporated into my presentations in the store. I had the idea of presenting ...
Read more

Arrival and Week 1

-
Image
I arrived in South Pass City mid-morning on Thursday May 21 after a 1020 mile, four-day drive. I could have made it in three days, but decided to spend the night in Lander to fuel up, buy a few groceries, and relax. I checked in at the office, no one was there, but ran into Ashley, a site employee and caught up for a few minutes. Wonderful spring weather in South Pass City. As I was backing up the trailer, getting in and out of the truck to check placement in my camping pad, checking level, etc., it began to sleet, then snow. The temperature was in the 30s and the wind was blowing pretty hard. I got some assistance with backing up from Jesse, one of the seasonal employees, and Curtis, a site employee. This save a number of extra in and outs from the truck. I unhitched the trailer, hooked up the water hose, power, and sewer line and hunkered down in the trailer and set up the inside from travel mode. A little later, warmed a bit, I set up the Starlink, and eventually put the landing g...
Read more

A Day of Routine Household Activities

-
Image
  Our Clamshell shelter on the bank of Willow Creek It started off cool today, the morning low was 32, but it warmed up nicely. I did a little computer work this morning and then we took advantage of the nice weather to drag the last of our stuff out of the truck and finish setting up "camp." First, I set up our propane (Coleman Roadtrip) grill. Next, Connie and I set up our Quickset Clamshell shelter for use as a workout area. I secured the shelter with ground anchors. We'll see how it stands up to Wyoming winds. Finally, we set up a folding table that we place near our outdoor shower. We use this table and the shower spigot to wash dishes, prepare food, and clean fish. After spending $250 on fishing licenses, I hope there is a fair bit of fish cleaning this summer. We have access to a nearby garage that is owned by SPC, so we stowed a few items there, including our dumbbells. Once we get a tote to store the dumbbells in, we'll move them to the Clamshell, which is wh...
Read more