Did a morning walk today. Then breakfast was a chicken soup plus a sweet roll or two.

The day was, for me, sort of slow and that felt good. I only left the house for one trip to the IGA for sour cream and cottage cheese.

I spent a lot of time on the puzzle. But in the end I just couldn’t get’er done. Once again I was the last person standing (sitting), but I was too tired to see well.

The World Cup Women’s Final between USA and Netherlands was today. USA won 2-0. We got to watch it – not sure if our broadcast was real time or delayed, but it was exciting.

Many Puppies went on an ATV trip and they had a great time. I really didn’t feel like an ATV trip, so I stayed with the puzzle. There were storms sweeping the area, but apparently they were not a problem, and just made the ride a bit more interesting.

No lunch today, but there was a supply of food of all kinds. I remember that I ate a few – really, a Few – potato chips, and I warmed up a blueberry muffin at some point.

Dinner by Jane and Orie was really good – grilled chicken, baked beans, macaroni and cheese and a salad. I stuffed in one really big serving of each thing.

And the rest of the evening I fought with the puzzle. I lost.

‘Twas a good laid back day.

This morning Julie and I went to Regis for breakfast. We hoped others would join us, but it was just us. It was a beautiful cool morning – we sat inside and had a very nice meal. I think this is only our second meal at Regis – we just discovered in last year, but it has been there for a long time. It’s good food, and all home grown, with good recycling and tipping practices. It’s a new age place, environmentally conscious and friendly.

From there we filled up on gas in case our car went on today’s trip, and stopped by to see in Julie’s Conundrum T-shirts. They were not done yet.

Back at the house the usual scramble was in progress getting ready for the trip. Today we are going to one of Lyle’s favorite fishing spots on the Bighorn River and leave some of his ashes there. And we’re going to take a somewhat surreptitious route to get there. First Bearcreek, then Belfry (bar closed), Bridger (bar open), Edgar (bar open), Chief Plenty Coups State Park, Saint Xavier on the Bighorn River in the Crow Reservation.

We did an impromptu ceremony and all spread ashes into the river. Buddy Girl added an interesting sideshow by getting into the river, which was quite high and running hard. Fortunately we were able to retrieve her before she was swept away.

The drive back was just the reverse, and we stopped at Edgar for dinner. We’ve eaten there before, and the bar turns into a great restaurant – the prime rib was excellent. Julie and I shared a special which included two very large shrimp (aka prawn).

I hadn’t driven – we rode with Kaui and Luigi – but after dinner it was my turn, and the ride back to town was uneventful. Everyone crashed fairly early – I was the last to head for bed (I’m usually the first).

A good day, and a nice send-off for Lyle. There will be more.

Goodnight.

Here it is Saturday morning, and I’ll try to recap yesterday.

Breakfast was another serving of the Julie special breakfast concoction which is still good and will probably last quite a long time.

I think it was stormy when I woke up, and that was my excuse for not walking. Again. There have been several storms, at least one per day, and temperatures are much lower than in recent years.

This morning we went to Sheep Mountain. It was nostalgic, and it is beautiful. We saw the red fox – what a beauty. And we pretty much just sat on the porch and enjoyed the place, the view, each other, and a bit of wine. There may be another visit, but this one is the farewell to both a friend and his home.

Julie and I shopped on the way back – tonight is our (her) night to make dinner, and it’s going to be Chief’s Special with roasted corn on the cob and special sauce.

I worked on the puzzle while Julie worked in the kitchen, occasionally doing whatever she asked me to do. We all know I’m a hinderance in the kitchen, and I was pretty much assigned to grill the corn when the time came. Which I managed to do with a little help from Gary.

There as a lot of conversation and drinking and just having fun in general. We made progress on the puzzle, but it’s going to tough to get it finished.

The meal was great, of course. And we learned that the recipe needs adjusting to our current taste for hotter dishes – the old back east recipe just doesn’t have the zing it once did. But it was really good, just needed more heat.

It was just before 10 and getting dark outside when Bill and Gary disappeared and Chuck was given instructions to keep us inside until 10. All very mysterious. And when we went out front at 10 it still wasn’t clear what was about to happen. But then the fireworks started, and it was spectacular. We had the fireworks show of the holiday, right there in front (overhead) of us. And the quality of the fireworks that you can buy now is really incredible. It’s not just Cherry Bombs anymore!

Then there was the fire in the backyard, which refused to burn without considerable help. All the wood was wet. But with enough oil to pour on it did get hot enough to keep going. Then the spent fireworks containers came in for burning, and that caused the crowd to disperse- we weren’t quite sure what may be left over in those boxes!

And so it was to bed – a really nice day.

I’m still writing in catch-up mode. It’s still Friday morning.

Bright and sunny this morning to start the day, and I got a walk in before things change, because they are going to change. It was a good walk, down to the ski turnoff and back, about an hour.

Breakfast was Julie’s cereal again – staying healthy and away from the many sweets that are easily available.

The impetus is to get all the party materials to the office for the parade party. And everything did get done, and we had a great time at the parade.

Julie and I got coffees and sat on Main Street for quite a while – we were very early.

I had one hotdog for lunch. There was a lot of traffic in the office, especially to the food, booze and potty. Some folks I knew, most I didn’t. It was great fun seeing some old friends.

Julie and I watched the whole parade. That’s unusual. She usually walks Main Street, and I usually go in and out of the office. Also we weren’t drinking that early today.

After the parade the bars were full. The Cavalry Band was hitting all the bars, and it was all great. I went to the Snow Creek, and after about 20 minutes I just had to leave – the noise was incredible!

And then it was off to the Rodeo. We were a bit late getting our act together, and there was none of the usual good parking available. And it was cooling down.

The rodeo was good – we stayed for the whole thing, and it was enjoyable. A little cool, but not too bad.

After the rodeo we decided NOT to tailgate, since all our vehicles were scattered hither and yon, so we all got in line to exit the parking lot. About 30 minutes later our car actually moved forward – tailgating is a much better choice, but you gotta prepare early! Guess that was one of Lyle’s jobs.

The evening was fairly quiet. There were lots of local fireworks, and in fact, while we were outside waiting for the town’s show a neighbor did their own show, and it was incredible. I mean we were literally underneath the fireworks, and they were really cool. Turns out we had several such displays tonight, the the first one was right on top of us and it was great.

We couldn’t see the town’s display very well. We are on higher ground, making it seem that we should get a good look, but the local trees blocked most of the display. There were a few that went really high and gave us a complete view, but most of the display was hidden by trees. But it was fun.

I think we were all pretty tired, and not even the continued fireworks could keep me awake.

Goodnight.

I didn’t write this Wednesday, or Thursday. It’s Friday morning, and I’m going to try to write about Wednesday and Thursday.

Let’s see. Wednesday morning was stormy as I recall, so no hike this morning. Breakfast was the leftover of the new concoction that Julie made. Everyone says they really like it, and I really do, but it’s disappearing very slowly. I hope there’s a piece left when I get down there today.

There was a significant amount of time spent working on a 1000 piece puzzle. We (Gary, Luigi and me) made a good dent in it but there’s a long way to go.

Julie and I were doing to do dinner Wednesday night, but we swapped with Carolyn who was concerned that her salmon wouldn’t make it to Friday.

I believe Julie and I went into town just to walk Main Street. It was a bit chilly and breezy, but not bad. Occasional drizzle. I don’t recall if we bought anything or not – perhaps something at the IGA? Oh, I did buy eyewash and eye-wipes. My contacts have been an off and on situation, often feeling like there may be a grain of sand between the eye and the contact. I’m hoping that more thorough cleaning will help.

This evening we had the first BB tournament. I’ve forgotten who won, because it just doesn’t matter, but it was fun and I actually hit my target a few times. Hard to believe – I know.

Dinner was great. The salmon and the steak. Yummy. And good conversation. Luigi and I did most of the cleanup.

Bron has the reins on the music, and is doing a great job. I know it’s not easy when everyone is throwing suggestions at you.

It was a good evening together, and a good day.

I started the morning with a 50 minute walk. And my body explained to me how important it is to do something every day. This was the first exercise in a week, and towards the end I really knew it. But it was a good walk, relatively flat and mostly paved.

Breakfast was a scone.

Got a shower this morning, and put on some fresh clothes. I had to wait until the electrical storm passed – nice little rain.

Most of the morning was reading and playing games, some on the computer, some ‘real’ games. I didn’t leave the house all day.

It was mostly a gray day. There were some periods of clear, but mostly gray, some electrical activity and some rain.

I had a leftover pork chop for lunch. And Julie tells me I ate pork chops last night, but I still can’t remember doing that.

Nap.

And this afternoon/evening was pretty much the same.

The group assembled and played some trivia. It was fun, and Julie demonstrated just why she is called SHAK. I even got a couple of answers.

We had a great dinner by Luigi. Nicely flavored pasta and a nice Caesar salad. Good wine, and topped it off with an ice cream sandwich. Lotsa conversation at the table, I mostly listened.

And that is pretty much it. It was a good laid back day.

Goodnight.

Today we move to the rental house. That’s pretty much the focus of the whole morning – there are a ton of things to move. I had a half of a scone for breakfast.

We got everything loaded up and left around 11. We were supposed to check in around 1 I think. And when we first got to the house it was only 11:30 and the cleaners were still working. We left Bron’s truck full of booze in the garage and went into town.

Julie and I had lunch at the Boxcar, and that was good as usual. We split a BLT and each had curly fries. I had a milkshake.

Julie and I went back to the house – the cleaners had gone. I got the remote code from Orie, but it didn’t work. This was the beginning of a long story. Everyone got their shot at trying to make that thing work. No one succeeded. It turned into quite a long wait, and finally the cleaning person came by and had access to a key. About 10 minutes later we were loading into the house. Whew.

This afternoon there was a lot of sitting around the dining room table. I was very bad – there were potato chips and I ate and ate and ate. And then the mini-candy bars came out, and I ate and ate and ate again. All of this time I was downing large quantities of wine.

The evening became a bit of a blur. I remember playing some corn hole with Chuck as my partner. That was fun. But after that I’m really not sure about much. I remember saying goodnight as I left the table. I don’t remember the evening meal. I may have left before that was served.

In any case I think I flossed and brushed, and I did plug in the iPad and iPhone.

Then it must have been crashville.

It was a good day.

Today was a fairly laid back day. The weather was great – even the heavy rain at the end of the day.

This morning we mostly hung out, reading or whatever. Julie fixed me some toast and sausage, which was really just something to eat.

Middle of the day we loaded stuff into the cars and went into town. First to dump the stuff at the office, and second to have a Blue Burger at The Blue Ribbon Bar.

There were several logistical things to take care of in town and we soon headed back to Sheep Mountain.

And back here we just had a good time. Conversation, Rummy Cube, Cribbage, cooking, cleaning. It’s all good. The meal this time was a fantastic salad by Gary and Jane, and I really enjoyed it.

And then it’s off to bed. Which is where I am now.

Goodnight.

Today is the final leg of the trip. It was great. I didn’t take any pictures.

The first stop is Starbucks. That’s a Mocha Lotta and a scone. Then on I-90 at 80 miles/hour.

And the interstate miles just rolled along – even when we went through a very long construction zone. No traffic.

We left the interstate and drove across Big Horn Mountain Range. What a beautiful drive.

We stopped in Lovell at Brandin’ Iron Restaurant and Lounge. Good food. I had a Reuben with sweet potato fries.

And then it was on to Red Lodge. We got gas and headed out to Sheep Mountain.

When we got there Billy and Cindy and Bryan the maintenance guy were in the driveway to greet us. It was cool.

We drew the basement room we’ve used several times in the past, and we dumped the car out into the room.

After that it was just chatting and having a great time with each other.

We went to the Grizzly for dinner – went the back way which was fun. We observed that we had seen zero deer or other animals. We usually see quite a few.

The Grizzly was fun and the food and drinks were top notch.

We drove home to find a surprise. Bron was there! We did not know he was coming. And Jake was with him, so Jake and Punkey and Buddy Girl had a great time chasing each other around the house.

I was beat – so Julie and I bid goodnight, and I wrote this. Love.

Goodnight.

Today the primary goal is Devil’s Tower – the centerpiece of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Our AirBnB served us well in Cheyenne, and we were on the road just a little later than planned. And thanks to me there were a few extra short stops this morning. But the drive was good – I can only say that there’s a lot of nothing on the east coast of Wyoming. We did go through some nice natural beauty, but there’s an awful lot of wide open spaces that are very flat.

And then there is this. It’s what we came all this way to see, and it did not disappoint. We went in to the National Monument, drove around to the visitors center. And we hiked the paved trail around the tower. The trail involves a lot of steep up and down, and even with temps in the 70’s we got quite warm and stopped often primarily to just look up in awe, but also to catch our breath. It is worth the trip.

And from there it was a quick hour to Gillette, where we checked into the La Quinta. It’s a brand new building! Let’s take a nap! And we did.

We went to the Rib and Chophouse for dinner, and dinner was great. Our waitress, Sierra, was nice with a great smile and we had fun. For my part I decided to have a margarita- it’s happy hour, what the hay. Out came a 18 ounce frosted beer mug filled to the brim. And it was good. So good that I ordered another one.

Then we dove into the short ribs. Everything was great. And the place became quite busy while we were there. When we left Mr. Sun was still a factor, and Gary did a great job of getting us back to the room.

I quickly ran totally out of gas. Don’t know if two tequilas did it or what, but I crashed.

So that’s the story for today. We’re having a great time.