Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
On Tuesday we departed Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and began our journey home. This was the beginning of the end, and I was sad, leaving all those gorgeous mountains behind!
We left without breakfast, winding our way through the mountains, past the remains of the fire, a cattle roundup, and a "Bridge For Sale!" (That's just what it was. A metal bridge sitting in a front pasture, nothing beneath it but grass, For Sale.)
We stopped in Pinedale, WY for a quick oil change and breakfast. Sadly, we didn't take any pictures of that pretty town. We came in on this wide four-lane road, nary a car in sight! All the buildings on either side of the road were old, with wide porches and false fronts.
We ate in a small restaurant next door to the auto shop, feasting on hot chocolate, coffee, pancakes, hashbrowns, and bacon.
The Pinedale welcome center was our next stop. (That welcome center had a positively ENORMOUS stuffed grizzly bear! I was a little afraid to stand by it, it was so huge!) The lady there gave us very good instructions on how to find a well-preserved spot on the
Oregon Trail, so off we went.
We stood by the Big Sandy Crossing sign for a while, looking around and taking pictures. Across the street and the "Big Sandy" (which was actually rather small by my standards) was this cliff and the actual, honest-to-goodness Oregon Trail.
See the trail?
I spent my childhood reading about the Oregon Trail. Playing Oregon Trail with my sister in the pasture across the street. Playing not one, but TWO versions of Oregon Trail on the computer. Imagining the Oregon Trail. I probably even started a few stories about living
on the Oregon Trail!
And here I am. Walking on the Oregon Trail!!
We can cross this off my bucket list!
There were no signs on the fence on this side of the road, so we ducked through the
barbed wire to explore.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the Big Sandy River.
I considered losing my hiking boots and going wading, but Mother discouraged that.
Here you can see the trail snaking away through the sagebrush (which made me sneeze quite violently, by the way) and off into the hazy distance.
The terrain was most interesting.
Don't worry, Oregon Trail, I'll be back!
~Kiwi~
