Return to Greybull, Wyoming

(Frank) The last time I was in Greybull (1976) the town was about 6 blocks long and there was a line of old cars dating from the ‘30’s and ‘40’s lined up in a lot on Main Street. They weren’t for sale; it was just a vacant lot with about 20 rusting cars on it. I took a couple of photos. I’ll have to see if I can find them in my old albums. The town has grown since then. It’s at least seven blocks long now but I can’t figure out where that lot is/was.

(Cheryl) We’re in Shady Grove campground, a small place with 14 RV sites. Last evening I walked down the alley about a block and a half to a local grocery. Along the way there were red Hollyhocks in bloom. After snagging some meat and other stuff the Big K where we shopped earlier didn’t have, I lugged my plastic bags back to the RV. It brought back memories of walking on the rails down to the tiny Standard Grocery when I was a kid in Kokomo.

It was almost 7:00 p.m. when I got started on supper, so I knew we wouldn’t eat until after 8:00 p.m. However, there were thawed pork chops that had to be cooked and a left over chicken breast that wouldn’t fit in the pot from the night before. I had marinated it thinking we would do the chops and the chicken breast on the grill. Frank looked bushed, so I thought I’d just cook everything inside. Believe it or not, I had our George Foreman roaster, the oven, the stove top, and the microwave all going at once! It was quite a feat in Ali-the-Gator’s small kitchen, but we won’t have to cook again for a couple of days at least!

(Frank) We left Sturgis at about 9 this morning and arrived here in Greybull at 6 PM. We drove west on I-90 to Sheridan, Wyoming and then turned left onto Rt. 14. The drive was scenic beyond belief as we crossed over 9033 foot high Granite Pass. Cheryl’s word for the day is “awesome!” I’ll let her add some more poetic prose to describe this day and yesterday.

(Cheryl) The highlight of the trip today was seeing Shell Falls in the Big Horn National Forest. Here the water is at work building a new Grand Canyon of the West. There was an interpretive path and a wooden deck to view the falls. I took tons of pictures and videos. The sound of the falls and the rushing water really gets inside me!

(Frank) Yesterday we drove about 70 miles to the east to visit Wall Drug. I sure hope you’ve heard about it as everyone else in the world has. Wall Drug is HUGE! Where it used to be an interesting place to stop while driving cross country, it is now a destination stop unto itself, witness our driving 70 miles just so Cheryl could see it. We spent the requisite hour or so there, and we spent the requisite couple of hundred bucks or so there, and we then headed directly south into the Badlands.

(Cheryl) Wall Drug provided the new boots I’d been searching for in Sturgis, a new cowgirl hat, and wonderful thick socks with the most fun artwork. My feet are happy, I’m happy. Wall’s turned itself into an indoor mall, and I’d be surprised if you get a prescription filled there today. They still serve free ice water to all comers and the newly married and veterans get free coffee and a doughnut. There is a chapel alongside leather stores, jewelry shops, and you name it they’ve got it stores. The merchandise compels you to buy something, anything just to say you got it at Walls. Really, the items I bought are good quality.

(Frank) The Badlands were appropriately named. This is not a place you want to be in a Conestoga wagon. Pity the poor pioneer who ended up here because they probably ended up here. The Badlands are Baaaaaaaadddd! I don’t even see how they cut the scenic road through for us wimpy-assed tourists. It must have been a Herculean effort. Once again I’ll let Cheryl add some more descriptive prose.

(Cheryl) I went crazy with the video in the Badlands using up all my camera card memory and moving right on to disk space on the camera itself. The Badlands must be what the astronauts saw on the moon back in 1969. Frank and I both agreed that it can’t be described. You must see it someday to appreciate it. Pictures just won’t do it justice. It is magnificent with its stark moonscape monoliths and canyons. I didn’t expect to love it so much.

(Frank) On the way back to Sturgis we stopped at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Elgin AFB. It’s not big, but it is impressive. They have F84, F86, F100, F101, F105 fighters on static display outside along with a B25, B29, B52 and B1B. Those among a dozen or so other cargo and special use aircraft. Inside the museum they have several large rooms full of memorabilia detailing the history of the Air Force from it beginning as the Army Air Corp to its future as the preeminent Space Command. It was fun.

We got back to camp about 5PM and dark clouds started to gather. Someone yelled “There’s hail down in Sturgis!” and we all scrambled to get our bikes inside our trailers. I got mine in, but got soaked in the process. The hail didn’t hit our camp, but did major damage to other camps, downtown Sturgis, and cars and bikes on I-90. When we went into town about 7PM we saw several cars with both windshield and rear windows completely smashed out, and several campers with their awnings torn completely off. Main Street Sturgis looked like a wet and bedraggled cat. We stayed long enough to eat some tasteless “pork on a stick” and pick up my “Used To Be Bad” patch. Then we caught “Da Bus” back to camp and crashed into dreamland. It thundered and rained all night. Peanut is a nervous wreck.

Later,
Soaking Wet Frank, Cheryl and Peanut (under the couch)