This Move Didn't Go As Planned . . .

We woke up in our campground with a view of Devil's Tower, so of course we had to take just one more picture. We pulled out of our camp site and hooked up the pickup, and the tower was right above us. It has a commanding view of the prairie below it! Then we were ready to head on down the road, and we had a plan for the day.

We were about an hour's drive from Gillette, Wyoming. This little city has nick-named itself "The Energy Capitol of the Nation" because it produces 35% of coal in the U.S., plus oil, and methane gas. As we approached Gillette, we were met by more than one train full of railroad cars filled with coal.

We had planned a tour of the largest coal-producing plant in Wyoming. But this move didn't go as planned. Because of all the rain in the area, the roads to the coal mine were too muddy for the tour bus to traverse. So instead of a stop in Gillette, we drove right on past Gillette.

Every state has their unique ways of doing things, and we learned a little about Wyoming as we drove a couple hours today. For a first-time Wyoming driver, these signs are unnerving. What?!? I-90 is closed and we must return to Gillette?!? This move really didn't go as planned! But when we read to the bottom of the sign, we saw that all this panic only applies when the lights are flashing. It seems like that information should be at the top of the sign instead of the bottom.

We also encountered speed limit signs that can change the maximum speed allowed. We assume the limit changes based on weather conditions, and we don't remember seeing that changeable signage before.

We had gotten used to the South Dakota "Think!" signs that were placed at the site of car crashes with fatalities. Wyoming has the same roadside memorials, but theirs are a little more subtle.

As we drove across this section of the Wyoming plains, we admired the beautiful green sweeping hills. We have another cloudy day with more rain expected. All the locals have told us that they were enjoying an unusually large amount of rain this spring and summer, that followed an unusual accumulation of snow this winter. So we were seeing Wyoming greener than usual.

As we drove closer to the town of Buffalo, we could see a row of mountain peaks peeking over the green hill and ducking below the row of clouds. We were approaching the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains!

We drove eight miles north of Buffalo, to get to a public campground on Lake DeSmet. We were arriving early in the day during the week because that's our strategy to get one of the eight electric sites at the lake. But this move didn't go as planned. The camp host said that it was unusual for all eight of those sites to be filled--but they were all taken when we arrived. The good news is that we got a beautifully level spot right next to the lake. The bad news is that we will have an unexpected boondocking camp site without any hookups. 

While we were still in coal country, the rocks around the lake are a combination of shades of red.

We could see the red rocks that line the lake through the clear water of Lake DeSmet. We learned that this lake was formed when a seam of underground coal caught fire. With no way to put out such a fire with a continuous source of fuel, the fire burned until all the coal was consumed, leaving this big indention in the surface of the earth. Lake DeSmett is six miles long, and is 120 feet deep. Who knew that a burned out coal pit could make such a nice lake?

Two days after we arrived, we drove the entire six-mile length of the lake, and found the memorial marker to Father DeSmet. The Wyoming skies were as blue as the lake water on that day.

But the day of our arrival was cloudy, and those clouds grew angry by evening. We hunkered down for the storm in our camp site beside the water. The hail that fell at Lake DeSmet was small, but we found out that a tornado destroyed one of the coal mines south of Gillette. We weren't planning on severe weather. This move certainly didn't go as planned!