Thursday, August 15
We head for Alcova and Fremont Canyon this morning, about a half hour drive, mostly following the North Platte River to Lake Shore Drive.
We soon begin to see interesting rock formations and stop to wander about a few times. The river feeds into Fremont Reservoir which is quite large. Fishing, camping, rock climbing and hiking are all on the plate here.
There is one small area of homes, with deer wandering around.
Free loaner life jackets - we like the "You don't float, wear a life jacket that does."
We hike high along the canyon. Pretty and pretty amazing! We see some boaters and kayakers, some interesting rocks, plants, birds and lizards. Gotta be tough to live here.
This shows where the canyon empties into the reservoir.
Not sure what is pictured below - looks like the outline of a tree, with rings, but it is very flat - and colorful. I show it to some rangers later but they are young (Summer interns) and haven't a clue.
From Fremont, we head back to Casper where we stop at an Arby's for lunch. And then we turn north on I25 towards Buffalo. Greg notes a real estate sign advertising 40 acres for $63,000.
It is dry, rocky land with sagebrush and other scrubby bushes. Very few trees. There are frequent unused barriers along the highway for closing the highway when needed due to snow.
Buffalo is a town of 4400 and is a throw back to "The Old West". We head to "downtown" which has a nice collection of murals, a park and some historical buildings, including the Occidental Hotel.
We check out the Occidental while it is still quiet.
Buffalo is very near the Bighorn mountains, which is where we are thinking of camping. However, we want to attend a music jam session at the Occidental - a regular Thursday night event - so we decide to just get a hotel room for tonight so we won't have to find a campsite in the dark. We choose the Buffalo Inn where we check in, relax, shower and catch up on phone calls, emails, downloading photos, etc.
We head to the Occidental around 6:00 and it is already packed for the 7:00 show. Greg manages to find a small table in an out-of-the-way corner where we will be able to see the band. We order stuffed mushrooms and then share a chicken-fried steak dinner. Food is nothing to write home about, but ok.
The band members trickle in and begin to play....mostly old time music like Red River Valley. Guitars, mandolin, base, piano and a fiddle. A few locals join in on some songs and the crowd eats it up. After about an hour of music, we give up our seats to some standing folks and make our way out. I imagine things get pretty rowdy by the end of the night as the alcohol is pretty freely flowing!
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