We found ourselves in hot water up to our necks!

We left Gillette this morning with about 800 other RVS and we headed west to Buffalo and then southwest to Thermopolis. This was the first real mountain driving this trip with the motor home. We got as high as 9700 ft above sea level and had grades of 6-7 percent with hair pin turns where speeds of 25 mph or less were required. Took a lot of engine braking to keep from having white knuckle descents but we made it OK and our brakes never got too hot! We should be able to handle the Rockies later this month.

Highway 16 from Buffalo to Thermopolis is spectacular. We had great vistas and saw lots of animals: deer, buffalo, antelope and a Stegosaurus (we have pictures). We saw rocks from many different eras: Cambrian, Pre-Cambrian, Pennsylvanian, Mississippian, Ordovician, Paleozoic, Jurassic, Triassic and Permian. There may have been others but my memory was taxed to remember this many. Wyoming is certainly a geologist's laboratory, there is so much rock history to see and study.

Thermopolis is home to the world's largest mineral hot spring. We had a 20 minute soak and really enjoyed it. The water comes up about 127 degrees but it is cooled in the public pools to 104 degrees. The Wyoming Dinosaur Center is here and we are going to try and visit there tomorrow morning before we leave for Cody.

After getting set up in the RV park we drove out of town through the Wind River Canyon. What a beautiful place. A deep rugged canyon with the Wind River raging northward, appearing to flow uphill as we descended through the canyon to the south. There are Big Horn sheep in the area and we were fortunate to see a group of seven, three ewes and four lambs. They are extremely agile. We watched a lamb run at a rock wall about six feet high. The lamb jumped at the rock face and struck it about half way up and then bounded over the top making it look very easy.

The Wind River is unusual. It is also called the Big Horn River until you come to a place named "Wedding of the Waters". There the Big Horn becomes the Wind River. Don't believe many rivers change their name mid stream.