Devil's Tower

...or if Jack were writing this post, "Double's Tire." That kiddo sure is perceptive. We didn't even tell him we were going to a place called "Devil's Tower" on Saturday. We only told him we were going for a hike and it would be a long car ride. But he must have heard me and Jared talking about it to each other because the whole drive there he kept asking about, "Double's Tire."

On Saturday we visited two places on our Casper Life bucket list: Devil's Tower and Keyhole Reservoir. It was a three-hour drive to get to them, which is actually a "short" drive in terms of attractions that are "near" Casper. We recently realized that we probably only have a handful of summer weekends left to explore this area before we move. Jared will spend most of the rest of his summer working in the hospital (which means an already miserable schedule topped off with several 24-hr weekend shifts), and there's a good chance that our house will be sold and we'll be out of here before the nice weather really hits next year. All that to say, we're making the long drives and seeing the cool things!

America's very first national monument, Devil's Tower was our first stop. We grabbed some Subway sandwiches in Moorcroft on our drive up and picnicked on a Tower trail. The park was packed, but we scored a good parking spot near the trails. We learned a valuable lesson about exploring with a toddler on this trip: Pick ONE trail (or site) that is most important to you, and then do that one first (probably that one only). Jack was rearing to go right out of the car after being stuck in his carseat for so long, but we made the mistake of picking a random side trail and trying to get him to sit still for a picnic lunch first thing. He was annoyed every time we tried to sit down, and he was going at a great pace (faster than us) otherwise. Luckily this was still a very pretty trail with some good views of the tower, because by the time we got to the trail we REALLY wanted to do (a 1.8-mile circle around Devil's Tower) Jack was DONE. Tired, whiny, wanting to be carried, sobbing to go back to the car, done. At least he was still happy enough to yell "hi" every time we passed someone (roughly every 10 seconds). We made it maybe a fourth of a mile in before giving up and leaving. Maybe if we'd remembered to bring Jack's hiking carrier we could have made it around, but we were glad that we'd at least had a voucher to get into the park for free, because we only lasted an hour.

Outside the park, we got some ice cream at the Devil's Tower trading post and enjoyed it in a quiet field with an even better view of the tower than we'd had inside the park. Ice cream is always a good idea. We let Jack run around the field afterward and ended the stop on a happy note. I think we'd maybe come back to see Devil's Tower if we were on our way somewhere else and it wasn't too much of a detour, but I doubt we'll visit it as a main attraction again. Glad we took advantage of living pretty close and went though. It's a cool landmark.

As we tried to load Jack back into the car to head to Keyhole Reservoir, he stuck his head out the window and clung tightly to the rim of the car, resisting our tugs to get him in and yelling "hi!" to everyone nearby in the parking lot, which they all loved. We eventually got him in, only to have to pull him back out 5 minutes later to change a stinky diaper. At least we had a nice scenic view. We had to cover Jack's head because it started raining, and homeboy does not tolerate rain.

I brought Jack's pack and play with hopes that he might take a nap at Keyhole Reservoir and Jared and I could get a quiet hour to ourselves to relax by the lake, but no such luck. I didn't even pull it out because I knew it wouldn't happen with all the excitement of being outside at a new place. We found a little beach by the water and spent an hour or two skipping rocks and loading toy trucks full of pebbles. It was a pretty lake, but maybe not something I'd go out of my way to visit in the future. Maybe it's spectacular to explore by boat. We still had a nice afternoon, and the highlight was when a little dog came to visit us. Jack was elated and kept calling it a "box" (fox). They were the cutest little duo. Jack followed it all up and down the beach, laughing and talking to it, and then up a mountainside (with me running up behind), before we eventually packed back into the car and the fox/dog left to find his "mama and dada and baby" (Jack's words).