Dinosaurs and dog washes

We all slept so well last night...warm and dry! Continental breakfast was not the greatest. We spent some time at the dinosaur museum this morning. What an interesting exhibit and well worth the entrance fee. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in paleontology, or ancient history.

Drove north to Ten Sleep and the canyon drive north of there. Another gem and highly recommended. It takes you over the Big Horn mountains to Buffalo. A lot of streams, picnic areas, and campgrounds along the way. We stopped at Meadowlark Lake picnic area to dry out our tent and mattress. Maggie was thrilled to be just a dog again and run free. With all the bear warnings in the higher elevations, she always had to be at the end of a leash. Well, if there's water, Maggie's in it. She went swimming and found a dead fish to roll in. Tried to wash her off and rub some sage into her fur, but she still smelled like dead fish. Great...fun driving with stinky dog.

There's a smell in the air out west that carries the scent of sagebrush. I wish I could bottle it. Glad we decided to take this trip now as the windflowers are in full bloom. The purple flowers that sweep over the meadows and along the roadside look like lupine. Yellow sunflowers, Indian paintbrush, and many I wish I could identify.

We decided to spend the night in Gillette and continue on to Custer State Park tomorrow. Gillette has a coal mine and there are a lot of oil wells around this area, some working, some not. It's rolling grassland again with warmer temps. Feels good.

We found a car wash with a self serve dog wash attached and shampooed Maggie. She wasn't to thrilled with that whole idea...