Tuesday, April 26/2011

Although we kept the smaller heater on in the back of the bus during the night, it was quite chilly in here this morning!!  Hogan was curled in his chair in a tight little ball with his nose buried.  I got up and (seeing my breath), started the big front heater and crawled back into the warm haven of the bed until the chill was out of the air.
When I finally did get up, I found Hogan sleeping directly in front of the heater (he is no fool) and the sun is shining through the windows.  All, is once again fine, in my world.  Again, I can't help but think that this is just getting my self acclimated to the cooler weather back home!!
With the coffee on (I love the smell of my percolated coffee in the morning), I settle into my routine of email/facebook/blog and wait for John to get up.
Once back on the road again we continue our journey home.  These Wyoming back roads hold such treasures.  It is truly a beautiful state and hold some incredible scenery.  We travelled from Shoshoni to Thermopolis through the Wind River Canyon.
This 34 mile canyon was carved by the wind river and is full of natural structures, one being Chimney Rock (which I failed to get a pic of!!) . So, what else is new!!!  The canyon is as much as 2500 feet deep and the road at times is level with the canyon floor.  These rocks are some of the oldest in the world dating back to the Precambrian Age (more than 2.9 billion years ago).  The geology of this area is marked with signs along the route to tell of the various ages of the formations.  Not only did we see some spectacular scenery, we got a geology lesson as well!!  Totally Awesome!!

Heading into Wind River Canyon

Our spot for a couple days along Coon Creek

The canyon also has the Burlington National Railroad tracks running along the other side of the river occasionally traveling through rock tunnels (as does the highway). On May 12/2010 a Burlington Northern Santa Fe trail derailed after hitting a rock slide.  The train hit a boulder the size of a pick up truck sending two engines and a rail car down a 50 foot embankment and into the Wind River.  No fatalities were recorded as the engineers were able to crawl out of the engineer's window in both locomotives.  Head off ice apparently was informed of the rock slide however did not have enough time to inform the train before the crash!!   Hmmm.
Once through the canyon, it was time to start looking for a place to park for the night.  We found a quiet little spot beside Coon Creek and settled in to watch the hockey games.  Since we had been traveling in the wind most of the day (I now know why it is called the wind river!), it was nice to stop in an area with absolutely no wind and a quiet peaceful creek flowing by.