Day 15. Morning. June 14th.

Trip miles 1615. Curt Gowdy SP, WY

I awoke to a blackbird serenade at 5:30 this morning; temperature is 36 and there are a few wispy clouds. The park is halfway between Laramie and Cheyenne, altitude 7600’. It’s a huge park containing three small reservoirs surrounded by rolling grassland hills, sporadic wooded areas, and a few rock formations. It’s quite an attractive spot. Our camp site has a water hookup but no electricity or wifi. It’s just a few steps from the edge of one of the reservoirs. See pix.

Except for a brief sunny period in the early AM, it rained nearly all day yesterday, making for a not so pleasant drive out of the mountains. Today, we’ll head north and overnight in the Gillette area. The lower elevation and improving weather – think warm - will be most welcome. Why Gillette? Cuz we want to see Devil’s Tower NM and the town of Sundance, both a bit NE of there.

Devil’s Tower has been on my hit list for some time, even before the movie, Close Encounters…… with Richard Dreyfus sculpting it in mashed potatoes and sundry other ‘mediums’. I thought that was one great flick.

Blackbirds, like wrens, take me back to my youth in MN. Also, some of you old farts may remember one of the first LP records to use the Moog Synthesizer in the early 70s: it included a synthesized version of the Beatles’ song Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night. Dated, yes, but at the time it was totally awesome! Was that on Switched on Bach, or a different album?

We’ve completed our first two weeks on the road and1/10 of our estimated 15000 total trip miles, so far, so good, with no major complaints or problems. We’re enjoying the scenery and pretty much everything else except the chilly weather, which should end today.

FYI for the younger crowd: Curt Gowdy was a well known sportscaster with a long career, a household word for any baseball fan for many years. I don’t know his connection to southeast WY, the park brochure didn’t say. Google and ye shall find.