Thorofare Trip Day 1

It was unfortunately a night of little sleep, but I had loaded up Heidi's car the night before and was able to be at her place by 6am. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed; at least in pictures.

Very little traffic but lots of animals. Just past Canyon, there was a little black bear digging just off the road. Not even a bear jam yet! Heidi didn't even blink. But when we got to the end of Hayden, we had to pull over. Pelicans, blue herons, and little floating ducks made for a good reason to stop.

We got to Bridge Bay by 7:30 and then hung around. And hung around... Apparently we were supposed to call not only the person who schedules the boats, but the driver as well! It was okay, we amused ourselves.

 And then, we were off! A short hour and 15 minute trip across a fairly smooth lake later we were unloading ourselves at Terrace Point and helping to load up Julianne and Diane who had been kayaking and doing campsite checks.

Yes, I had to try Tree on the boat (see my trip from August 2013)

And talked Heidi into doing it too.

First stream crossing

I love the river!

Lunch at the Cabin Creek Cabin

Pausing for a mid-afternoon break

 We made it to the campsite right around 7ish. 8 miles for the day. My feet were already starting to hurt. But I knocked it out of the park and got the carabiner/rope over the Bear Pole on the 8th or 9th try. Yay me!

 Then we settled in for a 15 minute session of my surprise, Yoga! Started boiling up some water for dinner. Jane had her Jet Boil going. Jeff started his up, but had brought a homemade wind guard. Somehow, it created enough heat that his stove, with the small propane tank attached, caught fire. That got put out, but Heidi kept hearing noise. I wasn't close by and didn't hear anything, but they finally figured out that the little camping tank was leaking! So it got chucked far into the field, well away from us and the fire. Luckily, Heidi had packed in a small Nalgene of Whiskey Manhattans so we could settle down a little.

 And Heidi made the first radio check-in of the trip.

 And she broke out her surprise, S'mores! We had already visited the creek and filtered water, so we were able to sit down and enjoy the graham, marshmallows, and chili (!) chocolate until the sun went down.

Work Park Tour

Always a long but fun day.

Bike ride up Mount Washburn

Yeah. I walked, like half the way up. But me and my bike made it.

WYLD Conference in Casper

On our way, Jackie and I hit a wicked storm. It was lightening all around us. There was hail. And we were screaming at each other because we were too stubborn to stop talking just because it was a little noisy outside. Even the semis were slowing down. You'd think when we saw this cloud we might have been warned...

We also took pictures of the Tobin dining hall and sent them back to work since it reminded us of Yellowstone

I have to say that six hours there and six hours back was a LONG time for a day and a half conference. But some of the food along the way made it all worth the effort.

Lifetime Achievement Goal -- Unlocked (Ride to Mark's)

Two years ago, Heidi and I attempted to ride to Mark's in Livingston. My tire went flat around mile 15 and, after a 45 minute attempt at patching, died for sure 3 miles later.
We talked about it all last year but never quite made it onto the road. This year, we decided to get our attempt in early. The first weekend we set ended up being the last weekend for my 200RYT certification. The second weekend was cold and wet. No, thank you, we've tried that before. Then, came June 7. I was nervous because I had spent over 20 hours in the car over the past week and my back was bothering me something fierce. But the wind looked good (supposedly going to be a headwind, but not more than 4 until we were slated to have arrived) and the weather was perfect. I pulled the trigger and told Becky (who also is a sick, sick person and thought it would be fun) and Heidi that we should try. Which is why, at 5:30 in the morning, I ran out of the house, still eating my fried egg sandwich. We were off! I forgot to set both my heart rate monitor and my "MapMyRun" app so I didn't capture it perfectly, but I do have portions, and, of course, my picures.

First longer stop at the turn off to East River Road

Check out Becky trying to beat the camera

Heidi and Becky were both on road bikes so, I on my hybrid, often lingered behind

Out for a Sunday ride

Sandhill crane!  Other animals seen by at least one of us (in varying degrees of aliveness) were a coyote, elk, wolves, mule deer, whitetail deer, ground squirrels, a weasel, bison, skunks, osprey, and various song birds

Another long stop, this time about 45 miles in, near the Pine Creek Restaurant

   The predicted headwind turned out to be a gentle tail wind which didn't turn until we were over halfway through. Also halfway through, my left pedal started making the most godawful clicking noises. Did NOT add to the enjoyment of the day. I felt really good for most of the ride. Every time I started getting a little tired, I either focused on the scenery or a serendipitous tailwind would come up or something would happen to make me remember this was a life-goal that I was about to accomplish. There were four miles toward the end of East River Road that were gorgeous. Not only was it mostly downhill, the tailwind was back and I maxed out my gears and just sailed. Add "Paradise City" coming on and me belting out "Take me down to the Paradise Valley where the grass is green and the birds are pretty.." and it was pretty euphoric. Plus, we got to a rest stop. With toilet paper (!)  and, oddly, a container of raspberries. And a group of people from the Fire Cache who knew Becky.

No peeing on the road for us! Carter's Bridge, the fishing access just before East River meets 89 again

We're here!

We actually beat our estimated time. We thought it was maybe 54 miles and would be about 10 miles/hour getting us there around 11 at the VERY earliest. Time of arrival? Just about 10:45. Pretty damn awesome.

Unfortunately, I forgot to turn my HR monitor on until 5 miles out and then accidentally paused it for awhile, but still not a bad day!

Deb biked over to meet us for lunch

Had thought to have a shake but ended up with a double cheeseburger and tots. Still the best tots in Park County.

 Rounded out the evening with some cribbage with Heidi, Emily, and Carrie. A really great day!

Saturday mornings

Some days are definitely more productive than others.