Church at the Cove

We were able to enjoy the company of our trek friends we met in North Platte for another few days. They came through Casper on June 30. I was able to pull with her for a couple of miles on Wednesday evening and Randy pulled with Clive for about 10 miles on Thursday morning early. It was a cool experience. I pulled through town and there were several people who honked and waved. When Randy pulled it was way to early in the morning for any activity (5:30 A.M.) but enjoyed great conversation with Clive. On Wednesday evening, we got pizzas for the group for dinner and we sure did make some young men very happy. Then I fixed them breakfast the next morning of sausage and eggs. They were so happy to not have oatmeal AGAIN. It was fun to have this small moment of time with them and their adventure.

Upon departure to continue their trek, we made arrangements to meet up with them again on Saturday at Martin's Cove. The Corbin boy's mom and uncle were going to be there to visit and we were invited to meet them. So, on Saturday, Sylvia, Addy, Randy and I went to Martin's Cove to find them. When we arrived, the missionaries mentioned that they were there but had continued on. A bit disappointed we still enjoyed being at the Cove and seeing most of the sites. We weren't up to trekking to the actual cove (about 2 1/2 miles one way) at this time but vowed to return soon. There are a couple campgrounds along with a Missionary Village where the missionaries stay in RVs which we explored to see if the Haydons were there. We did find what we thought was their Cruise America RV but weren't totally sure as we forgot what state it was licensed. So after enjoying a picnic dinner, we headed back to Casper. Oh, I failed to say their wasn't any phone service out on the prairie. Once we got within 15 miles of Casper, we received a call from Clive saying they were there and they were up in the Cove when we were exploring the other parts of the visitor's area. After expressing our disappointment of not getting to see each other, they mentioned that they were going to ordain their 12-year-old after church the next day. Randy was invited to stand in the circle. So, we headed back to Martin's Cove the next morning early to attend church.

What an awesome experience!! To sit on the banks of the Sweetwater River at a very sacred site and learn more of our loving Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ. Oh, and to top it off, it was the 4th of July. There were over 300 people in attendance for this small branch. After church meetings, one of the Haydon's Bishopric member arrived and we all gathered on the banks in the open air to ordain young Sam. I am getting goose bumps right now just remembering how outrageously awesome it was and how much the spirit was felt. We then enjoyed lunch with the missionaries and some valued time with the Haydons. Brett Corbin's shoes were in seriously poor shape, so thru a series of events and before we left, Randy gave his missionary church shoes to him to help him finish the trek. My hero! How I love him and the example he sets.

We hope to see the Haydons while we are visiting Utah friends during August.

Find A Grave

One thing Randy and I committed to when making the transition to become vagabonds was to not let church attendance nor responsibilities decline. We were both concerned as we wouldn’t have a calling so how could we serve but with Randy’s experience in the Bishopric we knew there would be some way we could help if we just volunteered. Again, the Lord is providing and we are partaking. The ward we are attending in Casper has a huge super cool project going on this summer. There is a fairly new internet site called Findagrave.com which is a database of graves from cemeteries all over the US. The data is input by family members, various clubs or groups, churches and even the cemetery staff itself. This is very helpful when doing some family research; especially when someone is unable to travel to personally gather the cemetery information. Back to the ward, they have committed to inputting the information from all the cemeteries in Casper. Big, big undertaking as there are several, big and little to do. The family history librarians obtained the burial information from the sexton at the main cemetery and input this into the website during the winter. Then the young women and young men did their part last fall by going and taking pictures of each of the headstones. Next step, several people worked on cataloging the photos alphabetically and dividing them up into various folders for individuals to work on either at the church or at home. This is where we were/are able to participate and give service. Last Friday evening, we went to the Find A Grave activity and were able to attached a folder of photos to the data already on the website. It was sort of a race (one of accuracy though) to see which Team (husband and wife made up a team) could get the most done. Randy and I had a late start but held in with the pack. All the teams were able to get through the Es before calling it a night and then we enjoyed various pies as our reward. We are going to return to the family history center on Tuesday evenings to try to finish our folder while we are here this summer.

Wyoming has Record Amount of Water this Year

During all the years of living in Wyoming, I only remember it being very dry and brown most of the summer. Well, not this year! Due to the amount of snow (which is just starting to melt in the mountains) and then spring rainstorms there are actually several parts of Wyoming flooding. Now the state has pretty good control of its water flow but nature can still baffle the best. As I mentioned in an earlier post, our campground monitors the flow of the Platte River very closely. The river is about ½ a block from us and is seeping its way closer. The river is about double its size in width and running very fast causing unusual force and turbulent. Casper is built right along the river and several parts of downtown and riverfront property have been sandbagged to contain the river where they can. One afternoon last week, Jason took us out to the reservoir which holds the snow melt for Casper water during the year. It was absolutely amazing. The water is coming around the dam and cascading down to the river because it is too full for the dam to hold it. This hasn’t happened for 35 years and is really attracting lots of people to view it. I knew there was lots of water coming across Nebraska and then up to Casper as the lakes and Platte River were very, very full but it is amazing to see where it starts and the force of the water cascading down the overflow. Sure wish some of the power could be captured for electricity or such.
Two years ago when Paul and family and Randy and I were here visiting, the guys went fishing at this very reservoir. Here is a picture of Paul fishing that day and then the next picture is the exact same spot, only it is under about 15’ of water. Just wild!This is Paul fishing two years ago. This is as close as we could get. That is the top of the trees that were behind Paul when he was fishing.

Midsummer’s Eve Celebration

Branch, Root and Twig -- spirits of the trees on the mountain.
Lavender Witch handing out treasure.
Topaz Witch standing guard at the gate of the celebration.


One afternoon of exploring with our GPS (Kathryn), we went to the top of Casper Mtn to a place called Crimson Dawn. While visiting the museum, we found out that the next Monday was going to be the Midsummer’s Eve Celebration at Crimson Dawn. Immediately it was put on the calendar to attend.

In 1929, a young woman and her two small children moved to a very small cabin on Casper Mtn and lived there for several years. The mother’s desire was to be an artist. To entertain her children, she told stories of witches which lived on the mountain. Most of the witches were good, fun witches but there were a couple trouble makers in the group. On June 21 of every year, a group sponsors a live walk through the woods by the cabin with a storyteller sharing about Crimson Dawn and the witches. There were various shrines created by this lady and her children throughout the walk and at each of the shrines was an actor dressed up as the character and sharing gifts with all those whom attended. There are seven different witches which have very unique parts in taking care of nature on the mountain. Sylvia and the children were able to attend with us. Randy and I purchased the book which has all the stories in it and are spending our evenings reading it to each other. It was just a cool way to learn of a delightful approach for a mother to entertain her children when they were so isolated.

Wild, Wild West

The west is just not the west without a rodeo or two to experience. Our first week in the new campground was the College National Finals Rodeo held here in Casper which we attended on Thursday, June 17. This rodeo featured qualifiers from colleges and universities across the country in events of saddle bronc riding, bull riding, barrel racing, calf roping and others. Of course, we cheered for the Wyoming competitors whom did very well. What's more, there was a calf roper from the University of Arkansas. I had to straighten out the announcer though because he said they called the hogs by saying “Whooie, whooie” and I yelled saying it was “Whoo Pig Sooie”. We took all three grandchildren with us and I think I embarrassed Kathryn and Patrick by being so verbal. Addy loved the horseys and clowns. A good time was had by all I believe.

We also went to watch my cousin’s son, Dalton, ride (saddle bronc) in the Wyoming High School Rodeo finals in Douglas last Friday. We got there just in time to get seated before he came out of the shoot. He had an anxious bronc which was giving them difficulty even in the shoot. When the bronc came out of the shoot, he bucked a couple strong times and then stumbled; almost going down on Dalton. Dalton did a great job of holding on until he lost his stirrup and then just couldn’t keep in the saddle. Kathryn and Patrick went with us and enjoyed meeting more cousins and having the experience of actually cheering for someone they knew. We enjoyed having lunch with Sally and the boys and which we could have stayed for the evening go around. Again, a good time was had by all.
Dalton holding on tight.