Saturday, July 14, 2013

Cheryl:  We're all set at Deer Park RV Campground. We've walked all around this beautiful grassy and tree-shaded home-away-from-home and talked with a few Norton people who have arrived early for the motorcycle rally just as we have. The International Norton Owners Association/Wyoming Chapter set aside the entire place for the rally that officially begins on Monday.

When we arrived we were treated to the sight of a whole family of maybe eight wild turkeys strutting across a campsite. Wildlife is plentiful here, and I'm expecting to see some deer and other creatures when I walk the puppies each day.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Cheryl:  I crashed last night before finishing writing about our adventures on Saturday morning before leaving Rawlins, Wyoming. Turns out Rawlins has a penitentiary that opened in 1901 and closed in 1981. The tour of the large castle-like structure took an hour and a half, and I was ready to leave after 15 minutes. Prisons are not on my list of favorite places to visit and after being subjected to the Yuma, AZ prison, Alcatraz and then touring a torture chamber in London, you’d think I would have learned my lesson. These places are creepy and full of ghosts for me, and I’m uncomfortable the whole time I’m trapped inside like a canary in a cage. We’ll post pictures so you can decide for yourself if a prison tour might be in your future. Enough said.

Our campsite here in Buffalo, WY sits at the top of a grassy hill. A small forest of trees shades our spacious accommodations and a path runs through the fields behind us, emerging just across the street from the Winchester Steak House. Our host tells us this is the most requested site in the park. Lucky us!

This morning I found the walking trail and the puppies and I enjoyed our daily stroll before breakfast and coffee. On the way back to the site we spotted three white-tailed deer bounding across a wide lawn about 25 feet from where we were standing. What a great way to start the day.

Frank unloaded Starship Snoopy from the back of the toy-hauler today and opened up the back of the trailer, making a nice deck so we could sit outside under the trees. We’ve had quite a few visitors up our way already and expect plenty more when the rally gets officially underway tomorrow. I’m so glad to be grounded for the next 10 days or so, and we’ve put the table cloth out on the picnic table beside the trailer, a sure sign we intend to stick around awhile. I’ll let Frank round out this tale because I’m happily weary this evening, and we’ve got a big day tomorrow. Ride ‘em cowgirl and Yee Haw!

 

Frank:  I on the other hand thoroughly enjoyed the prison tour.  The place is obscenely and casually cruel.  In use for 80 years it didn’t have hot water or heat in the first section until 1978.  The tiny little cells in the A section were designed for one person but later they added a top bunk and put two men in each cell.  Eventually they added the B and C wings and each one got more modern.  By the time the prison closed in the 1980’s it was almost up to medieval standards.

Here’s a link to the history if you are interested: http://www.wyomingfrontierprison.org/pages/history.html

The tour included the hanging room with its water activated trap door in the floor.  It was designed so the prisoner’s weight caused a valve to open and let the water out of a tank which when empty caused a weight to drop and pull the support from under the trap door.  That way no executioner was needed.

Later they added a gas chamber but it didn’t have a triggering mechanism (I wonder why) and an executioner had to pull a lever causing the chemicals to mix together.

In any case I’ve decided to give up my life of crime and stick to the straight and narrow.

The rally starts tomorrow.  I will post more then.

Ride On!

Frank