Divermarv

A day off that is. Due to the logistics I mentioned in my previous article, I checked everything off my list yesterday. So today is relaxing and doing some laundry. I’ve been wearing either dirty clothes or new clothes so far on this trip. Such a dirty boy.

Also I’ll be writing about some things that I’ve missed due to the big rocks of my adventures. Also I may hop around both chronologically and geographically.

Cheyenne is one place. While there I visited the Wyoming State Museum. It was a lovely visit. Here are a few pics. I did learn that Wyoming is the equality state.

The museum was a good introduction to Wyoming history. The sheep farming was something I was aware of, but not at how big it was. Also the sheep wagon was interesting. If I remember correctly sheep versus cattle ranching was a key element to the movie Tom Horn with Steve McQueen. Good movie, and better book, by the way.

In Lead, near Deadwood, I stopped at the Chubby Chipmunk Chocolates. Here’s a funny pic I snapped there.

What’s wrong with your leg?

Leg of the trip that is. And there is nothing wrong with it at all. This is the return home leg. Which I am cutting short. Hmmm. That didn’t sound good. I shall resort to a manner of speech similar to my forebears. I shall curtail this return journey and hasten forth to mine own abode.

I’m currently near Keystone South Dakota. Nice campground. Tons of amenities. If I had to critique, and I certainly shall, the tent spaces are pretty cramped. But there’s shade. I’m sitting at the edge of a creek. Planning to get a pulled pork sandwich in a few minutes. There are a lot of family gatherings here it seems like. Tons of kids. As a grumpy old man, it can goad me as annoying, but I remember when I was a kid (no, seriously) and the thought of of the fun they are having picking up sticks, riding their bikes, and generally just making noise… makes regret that we lose that when we grow up.

However there is one thing. I think the children of the corn are camping right next to me. As in a tent about four feet from me. All the women folk wear black skirts, and hair done up in buns. The men wear black pants. Except one. He’s wearing camo. This morning as the children were running amok one mom hollered “Ezekiel, you sit down now.” My head sprung up. Had his name been Malachi I’d have packed up and left.

It does make me sad that last night in that tent practically in my lap, the mom brought a very young child for discipline. I could hear the spanking. And the wailing. Kind of broke my heart.

How it started – – How it’s going

For the trip itself. I am learning lots of lessons on retirement camping. Car camping (sleeping in my car) isn’t as bad as it sounds. But then I have practice…

I sleep really well last night. I left the rear hatch open, and it was great. Very comfortable. The sleeping pad I bought is working great.

The first part of my trip was almost all overnighters. And as I passed through interesting places I asked my pal Siri to remind me to look things up for potential return visits.

Today is the 4th of July. This campground is going to be a zoo. They are having all sorts of activities today. At 3:15 there is a duck race. You know those little plastic ducks. Racing in the creek here in the camp.

There are going to be hundreds of those little plastic ducks. In Vegas I think the over/under of ducks completing the race is hovering around two.

And to cap it off there’s going to be a parade around the campground. Honking horns. Please pardon me, but I’m going to wax cynical here. None of these people (only a tiny bit of hyperbole) know what the holiday truly represents. Same with Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving. It’s just a day off work and a day to drink crappy beer. Sigh. Sorry to be a drag. Okay shaking off my cynic dust.

There’s a light rain today, and the weather is perfect. I’ll take the light rain over the heat of yesterday.

Okay going to get my sandwich and then do laundry.

Thanks for following along, Peace and love y’all. Marv