Massacre Rock State Park

Snake River from Massacre Rock State Park

Geyser in Soda Springs Idaho

Aug 18^th (Wed)

Trip reader at 2412, so we traveled 127 miles today. Still hot.  Reached 95 degrees today.  We stopped at Soda Springs Idaho where there is a geyser that goes off every hour on the hour.  It is carbon dioxide that mixes with water and sprays into the air.  They have it on a timer so it is controlled.  We stopped at Lava Hot Springs but the construction around the city was so bad we kept going.  We are now at Massacre Rocks State Park near American Falls Idaho.  We saw Register Rock where the emigrant camped and wrote their names on basalt boulders.  Bill, Carol and Ellen are visiting the Lander Road Ruts but they had to walk 1.6 miles so I stayed in the motorhome.

Bear Lake

Breakfast at the Truck Stop.  Larry & Dottie

Mormon Church in Paris

Bill, Carol and Ellen with big milkshake

Aug 17th (Tues)

Another warm day.  Around 90 degrees.  Glad we brought warm clothes.  We went to a truck stop and ate the largest pancakes that I have ever seen for breakfast.  Then we drove to Bear Lake which is south of town.  We went thru Paris Idaho and toured a Mormon Church that was build about 1890.  Then we drove around Bear Lake which was about a 100 miles.  We stopped in Garden City Utah for a raspberry milkshake which stood about two inches above the glass.  Good day.

Montpeiler, Idaho

They don't waste anything here.  This is a chair

This is the Trail Center that we visited

Sign on the street in Montpelier where the bank is that was robbed

Aug 16th (Mon)
We traveled 115 miles today thru some very barren but beautiful country.  The camping spot tonight will be Montpelier Creek KOA.  The temp was cooler but still got close to 90 after we arrived in the park.  We went to the Oregon/California Trail Center which was three floors. First floor was the journey from Independence Missouri to the Oregon Territory.  The second floor was quilts and a lot of history reading and the basement was about trains and the old way to travel.  Most folks liked it but I am getting tired of reading.  We then drove into Montpelier and saw the Montpelier Bank that Butch Cassidy robbed and never got caught.

Fort Bridger

Home of Jim Bridger and later a hotel

ll

Officers Quarters at Fort Bridger

Sign at the entrance

Aug 15th (Sun)

Trip reading is 2170 so we traveled 172 miles today and stopped at the Lyman KOA for the night. Temp is back in the 80s but the humidity is lower so it is great. We drove about 50 miles up hill heading for the Continental Divide. The elevation at the Continental Divide is 7550 feet. The land is very barren but the formation of the rocks is beautiful. We saw deer and antelope along the road. This must be where the deer and the antelope play. This afternoon we visited the Fort Bridger Historic Site. This fort was established by Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez in 1843 as an emigrant supply stop alone the Oregon Trail. It was obtained by the Mormons in the 1850s and then became a military outpost in 1858.

South Pass & Atlantic City

Big city. Population 5 but the Oregon Trail went thru here and later there was a gold mine

Atlantic City between Lander and the Continental Divide

Big city of South Pass.  I think the population is 7

This is the first Masonic Lodge in Wyoming.  Located in South Pass.

This restaurant is in Atlantic City.  We are there and they had an interesting menu.  Bill got a haircut here by the Crazy Lady.

Aug 14^th (Sat)

The temp got below 50 last night and only got in the 70s today.  Spent the day traveling around Lander.  We went to South Pass in Sink Canyon and saw an old town and a gold mine.  They have the first Masonic Lodge in Wyoming which was in the jurisdiction of Nebraska.  From there, we traveled to Atlantic City which is another town that the emigrants traveled thru.  We ate dinner in Atlantic City and they had bull balls on the menu.  Interesting towns but there is nothing on the land.  No trees or grass.  In Atlantic City, we saw three deer run across the street.  There are a lot of Pronghorn Antelope in these hills.

Independence Rock & Devil's Pass

The Mormons took seven houses and built the Visitor's Center

Devil's Gate

Independence Rock

Aug 13^th (Fri)

Trip reading is 1998 so we traveled 158 miles today.  Did you know that Wyoming is the state that produces the most coal of all the states?  That is true.  Also we saw snow on the mountains today as we drove.  Last evening in Casper Wyoming, we ate at the Poor Boy Restaurant and they served Bull Fries.  We asked the waiter what they were and he said they were like Mountain Oysters.  During the drive today, we visited Independence Rock.  This was a favorite stop for the emigrants and they carved their names in the granite.  The story goes that if they made Independence Rock by the fourth of July, they could make it over the mountains before the winter hit.  Ellen & Dottie walked to the top but the rest of us just walked the 1.25 miles around the base.  We also stopped at Devil’s Gate which is a deep cleft cut through a rock ridge by the Sweetwater River.  We also saw Rattlesnake Pass where all emigrants must pass going west.  This Pass goes around Devil’s Gate.  After that we stopped at Mormon Handcart Historic Site and Tom Sun Ranch.  This is operated by the Mormons who used handcarts instead of wagons to carry their belongings while going west.  It was cheaper for the emigrants.  We had a good day and stopped at the Sleeping Bear RV Park in Lander Wyoming.

Casper Wyoming

Mormon wagon being ferried across the Platte River

Interesting painting of a buffalo

Officer's Quarters at Fort Caspar

Aug 12th (Thurs)

Trip reading is 1840 so we traveled 117 miles today. Staying at Bar Nunn KOA Camp Ground which is very nice. Full hookups. Temp only got to 88 degrees today. That is great and it is going down into the 40s tonight. We are in Casper Wyoming. We visited the Interpretive Center which had a nice display but to much to read. We then went to Fort Caspar Museum which is an old fort. They had a small display and then we walked thru the fort. Very nice.