Thermopolis

Last weekend we decided to "escape" the cold and take a day trip to Thermopolis, WY. "Escape" is in quotes because it was still pretty cold and there was snow all over, but it was several degrees warmer than Casper, which was having record winds and felt freezing. Also I knew this might be our last chance at a family adventure until Jared gets home from his Evanston rotation. We're hoping to join him for some of that rotation and get a feel for Evanston, but it'll all depend on weather and road conditions and Jared's schedule. Like everything else in medical training, we'll take it as it comes.

Turns out there's not a ton to do in Thermopolis, especially in the winter, so I'm glad we didn't make this an overnight trip. It's about a 2-hr drive from Casper, and the best part of the drive is the last 15 minutes going through Wind River Canyon. Not quite as majestic as Provo Canyon, but it was still pretty and felt kind of like home. There were several people fly fishing in the freezing Wind River below. 

Once we got out of the canyon we found lunch straightaway. There's not a huge selection in Thermopolis (population 3,000), but we found a modern little pizza place where we were the only customers, so Jack could roll around on the floor to his heart's content. He wouldn't eat anything but a bottle of chocolate milk but whatever. I never expect too much from a toddler. (I swear he's the only kid on earth who loooves meat but won't touch pasta or bread if he can help it.)

After lunch we made our way to Hot Springs State Park. That's where pretty much everything you'd want to see in Thermopolis is. We were hoping to do a short hike up Bison Hill, but the bison weren't out and we couldn't find the trailhead with all the snow. Instead we stopped by a tiny old cemetery called Smoky Row.

Next we walked around a little pond filled with geese and koi fish. We bought a handful of fish food to feed them. Jack got a kick out of all of this. He's a big-time animal lover and kept asking to go back to the fish for the rest of the day. We even saw a huge Newfoundland dog playing fetch in the water. Jack was pumped when the dog's owner asked Jack if he wanted to pet him. Homeboy's going to get eaten by a bear someday. No fear, that one.

Next we walked across a suspension bridge to see some cool hot spring formations flowing into the river. Don't know what they were called. There were probably some signs I should have read, but you know, toddlers. Speaking of, this next picture is Jack throwing a tantrum because he wanted to run off the edge of the cliff that drops into the river. He knows how to have a gr8 time.

 There was a boardwalk meandering through some shallow hot springs that were all steamy and sulfery. 

And then we finished off our day with a soak in the Thermopolis Bath House. There are 3 hot spring pools in Thermopolis, all right next to each other and drawing from the largest mineral hot spring in the world (by volume). Two of them are little water parks with $12 entry fees. If we had older kids we probably would've picked one of those and spent the whole day. But the third pool is FREE, so we picked that one. It was actually pretty nice. Because it's free and so hot, there's a 20 minute limit on how long you can soak. That ended up being the perfect amount of time before I started to get really light headed and would've wanted to get out anyway. It was the perfect, relaxing finish to our adventure. We soaked in the outside pool, and it was really nice for being free. 5/5 stars, would recommend. Every once in a while a breeze would come through, which felt really nice. Jack did great, too. The water was a milky white color, with a bench/ledge for sitting going around the entire perimeter. He just stood on the bunch and held onto our necks being so sweet. He kept pointing at the water saying "hot" and "blue," and splashing in the water to make "bubbows." It was everyone's favorite part of the day. We all smelled pretty sulfery afterward, but it was worth it!

Here's my little hoo-rah for Jack fi-nal-ly reaching an age where a movie can hold his attention on long car rides! If only he had hit this milestone two months earlier, our plane rides to and from Washington could have been so much more pleasant. But I'm glad we've finally arrived at this stage! The next stage that will be game-changing for travel will be when Jack finally realizes that it's ok to just fall asleep without having to scream bloody murder for 20 minutes first. We have tried everything under the sun to establish routines and soothe him to try and avoid the pre-sleep scream-fest, but it just isn't meant to be yet. Fingers crossed that'll come as he learns to talk and communicate more over the next few months. We think he just has a bad case of the FOMO. He has literally never, not once in his entire life, even if he's exhausted beyond belief, asked to go to sleep on his own or fallen asleep somewhere besides his crib. Once again, homie knows how to have a gr8 time, but that gr8 time does not include sleeping. Oh well! Maybe our next child will be a happy lil' sleeper. Jack's more of a work hard, play hard, sleep never kind of guy. I can respect that.