Varieties of Wyoming

2019-08-30 Friday (lots of photos, but having trouble with internet, so will upload scenery photos later)

We woke up this morning with an agenda to leave our campground early, so we'd have no trouble getting to tonight's campground with plenty of time to set up our TV connections for the MSU football game. Despite a nice morning with showers and shmoozing with Beth on FaceTime, we left by 10:00, which was right on time.

We started driving west from Casper toward Lander, Wyoming, and as soon as we got out of the city, I started in with the wow wow wows again over the scenery. Wyoming really is a spectacular state-- no matter what route we've taken (and this one was new for us), it's been so beautifyl. Unfortunately, most of my photos are on my iPad, and the iPad is refusing to connect to the internet, which is not good here (more on that later.) I hope I can get the photos into the blog tomorrow, because that is what most of the blog is about!

At a little before noon, I noticed on my map that we were just about to pass a historical interpretation site called the Devil's Gap and Mormon Hand Cart site. We pulled into the area and immediately saw the Devil's Gap in the near distance--a distinct break in the rock walls ahead of us. But just as I took a few photos of that, Joe said, "Look on the side of the road!" and there were 3 antelope just looking at us! When we got too close, they started to depart, but I was able to get some photos of them.

Hand-cart replicas. Mom pulled one handle, Father pulled the other.

We ate some lunch, then got out to explore the interpretive site. There was no one there but us, although it seemed like some kind of ranch or something like that--there were quite a few buildings and several parking areas, including a large one for "trekkers" (we were not sure what that meant.) But as we wandered down the steps toward the area saying "visitor's center", a man came out to greet us. The site is run by the Church of Latter Day Saints, and he was a Mormon who was there to give information to visitors. He told us about the history of the site, and when we went into the small museum, it made everything even clearer to us.

Example of loaded handcart

In the 1850s, there were a lot of Mormons moving west to Salt Lake City. The church set up a fund to help finance this immigration, but the funds ran low because so many were coming to America to join the church out west. So Brigham Young came up with the idea that instead of having to pay for expensive large wagons and teams of animals to pull them, the people could move their belongings in small hand-carts which they pulled themselves. Small settlements were then set up along the trail, and the Mormons in Utah would send out regular supplies to the settlements, so the immigrants could have their supplies replenished every few months as they ran out.

The Martin Company set out in 1856, but unfortunately were delayed in their departure due to a lack of hand-carts-- the builders could not keep up with the demand. As a result, they left late, and missed the window of opportunity to safely complete their journey. When they arrived at the settlements, there were no supplies for them. Many of them died along the trail, and this site where we were was the area where many of them died, before finally being rescued by members of the church coming from Utah after hearing that there were two companies (there was another one 2 weeks ahead of the Martin Company) who had run out of supplies and were stranded. As our guide/host said, "This really marks the site of a disaster rather than a triumph." He said he himself was descended from survivors of this migration.

It seems that this location is a place where members of the church come to re-experience the travails of their ancestors. "Trekkers" come and head off into the surrounding hills, pulling handcarts for several days to understand better the ordeal it must have been for those in 1856. Our guide told us that 20,000 people had come during the past summer, although it is winding down now. It was all very interesting. I told Joey that this reminded me a lot of the concept of the March of the Living, that Jewish kids go on to visit the concentration camps in Europe. As our guide said, it's important not to forget your own history.

We wandered around the site for perhaps an hour before finally getting back on the road. Not long afterwards, as I was looking down, suddenly the RV swerved violently back and forth! As I looked up, I caught a glimpse of SOMETHING. I made some kind of exclamation (you can imagine what kind) and Joey said an antelope had just run across the road RIGHT in front of our RV, and he had both braked and swerved to miss it. If it had hit us and come through our windshield, we'd have been in big trouble! It was VERY scary for both of us.

After that, there were no more incidents, and we arrived in Lander at 4pm. We went into the center of town to see if there seemed to be strong wifi, because we were willing to go elsewhere if necessary. Then Joe called the campground, where they insisted that the wifi was usually pretty good at our assigned site, but if not, it was very strong at the office and we could sit there to watch our game. So we went to the campsite and checked in, but as soon as we got to our space, we didn't have any wifi or any decent internet connection.

I'll spare the details, but we spent an hour, both trying to connect via internet, and by using an app on my phone to connect to the radio network in East Lansing that broadcasts the Spartan games. Just before 5pm local (7pm EDT), we got everything working, both radio and tv. We were able to watch or listen to maybe 90% of the game, I'd say-- but the internet did keep cutting out. When the picture was lost, I'd turn on the radio. It was a little crazy, I guess, but football fans ARE a little crazy.

Joey made us dinner while we were watching, and at halftime we did give up and go sit in the patio area near the campsite office. Luckily it was an absolutely lovely, mild evening, and very nice to sit out. The game ended at 8:30 (MSU won, 28-7), and after we put our electronic paraphernalia back into the RV, we went out for ice cream in the Jeep. Then Joey went to bed, while I did the dishes and then wrote this blog. I just hope I can upload it-- the internet is really NOT what I'd prefer, that is for sure!! And I suspect it will get worse from here on, so we are probably lucky we at least saw the first game of the season. And that was the evening-- I will try to upload this, and then I am going to bed. We have a long drive tomorrow, to Idaho.

Great Day in East Lansing

Deb & Joe at Spartan Stadium

Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 [Note: I am missing a couple of photos]

Friday was just a great day for us! We started out with showers in the excellent shower house at the campground, and then drove about 90 minutes to East Lansing-- or to be precise, to Okemos, the town adjacent to E.L.Our reasoning was that we knew that the game-day parking lot would not open before 3:30 (and they DO stick to that!), but we wanted to get into town early for a particular reason--we needed white MSU shirts to wear to the game. They had decided to "stripe the stadium", meaning that depending what section you are in, you are supposed to wear either green or white. We only owned green shirts, which is what we had with us, but we were in a white section. So of course, we headed to Walmart. We knew we'd be able to park, and also that they would have a healthy selection of Spartan swag, including t-shirts.

We went inside, and the store did not disappoint us, having their entire "sports" section set up behind a Spartan sun tent. They didn't have as much fun "stuff" as I remembered from last time, but we did both find white MSU t-shirts that we liked. Then, resisting the impulse to buy new folding chairs in green and white, we went back to the RV and had lunch.

Walmart's Spartan Section

It was only about 1:30 by that time, however, and I was hoping to see just a little of downtown EL and maybe figure out how to get into the Student Book Store, where I just KNEW that I'd be able to furnish and entire house, if desired, with the MSU-themed items they would have. So we drove slowly into town, noticing all the new buildings, and the absolute mobs of people (not a big surprise on game day). We even caught a glimpse of our first apartment building, although we didn't drive past it for logistical reasons. Joe drove, and with me directing, we were lucky enough to find a large space on the curb a few blocks away from Grand River Avenue (the main drag through town) where we could slide the RV in and just fit!

At that point, Joe made the wise decision to stay in the RV and relax. I had a little over an hour to go shopping. I headed down the street, noticing all the students on their porches (so many of the houses are obviously rentals--I wonder why Joe and I ended up in a single apartment instead of a fun house?)  They were just starting to set up for their pre-game parties.

The town was simply MOBBED, and I noticed an awful lot of people closer to my age than to college age! There was hardly a soul who was not wearing and MSU t-shirt, if not a complete green and white outfit. DEFINITELY game day in the Big Ten! I went to the Student Book Store, and as expected, there were about three rooms devoted to Spartan swag-- I have no idea where the BOOKS might have been, because I did not see ANY! But I spent well over 30 minutes browsing through EVERYTHING (I WANTED everything, too, but I knew I truly did not need a deck of MSU playing cards, or any more MSU coffee mugs, or a Vera Bradly MSU-pattern tote bag, or ANYTHING else... and Cassie did not need a new MSU leash, and the car did not need another MSU magnet. The RV, however, DID need an MSU license plate frame , and Joe did need to replace his horribly faded Block-S green hat with a new one (identical). And I needed just one (ok, two) new magnets for my refrigerator. I *almost* needed an MSU garden stake, but then I decided against that too.

By the time I left the store, it was time to start heading back to the RV so we could continue with the main event of the day. We carefully drove back through the residential streets, dodging large groups of students who were gathering on porches everywhere, and found our way to the RV parking lot at the very fringes of the campus. I didn't mind driving down there, because the route took us past Holmes Hall and Akers Hall, our freshman year residences. The trees seem a lot taller on the East Campus than they were 40 years ago!!

At 3:36, we were already the 6th RV into the lot, meaning we didn't get a place along the curb (and grass) at the edge of the lot. But that was okay, because we wanted to be as near as possible to where the shuttle would pick us up. All in all, there were about 15-16 RVs in the lot by 6:00pm. Most of them had tailgate parties going on, or at least dinner-- but at MY RV, my husband decided to put on the new license plate holder. Of course, it turned out not to be the 10 minute job he expected (something about "locking bolts" holding the license in place, which had to be removed and replaced with something more manageable.) I, otoh, was not stupid-- I sat in a lounge chair in the shade cast by the RV, eating chips and dip and drinking a vodka and tonic.

In the end, we did NOT make any dinner-- at 6pm, Joe had finished the license frame renovation, and it was time to start heading for the station. We had to walk a short distance to catch the shuttle bus. On the ride, we chatted with other passengers, one of whom happened to come from..... Metuchen, NJ!  I mean, how CRAZY is that?

So we got to the stadium, and wending our way through the huge crowds of tailgaters at the foot of the Sacred Building (and past a couple of idiots waving placards and begging us to come to Jesus), we found our way inside, trudged up the zig-zag ramp to the very highest reaches of the stadium, treated ourselves to some stadium food in lieu of a healthier dinner, and finally looked down on the Kingdom of the Spartans from a very fine birds-eye view (our favorite vantage point.) We were in time to see the Spartan Marching Band's pre-game show, enjoy the gentle breeze cooling the warm eveing, and just drink in the atmosphere.

The game was much closer than we expected (or hoped!), which made it exciting, since in the end the Spartans narrowly avoided being upset by a supposedly much inferior team (which was, in truth, quite a good team!) All in all, it was a marvelous evening, and we totally loved it. Joe was so pleased that physically he was in good shape, despite all the walking the event entailed. The game ended sometime around 10:30, and we went DOWN the endless ramp, found our way back to our shuttle point, and rode back to the RV lot again. We waited for a little while, so that some of the massive traffic could clear out of the campus, had a snack, and finally just before midnight, we pulled out of the parking lot and returned to the Walmart. According to our "parking app", it was legal to spend the night there, and we have done it before... but just in case, we waited until the store closed at midnight so there was nobody to ask permission from, in case they would have refused it!

And finally we went to sleep-- it was very quiet, the temperature was low enough to be quite comfortable, and we felt completely happy with the way our day had gone. YAY! V-4-MSU!

Michigan State 45, Jacksonville State 7

August 29, 2014

What a great way to celebrate our anniversary! After I wrote the last blog, we had a very quick dinner and then caught a shuttle bus from our parking lot to Spartan Stadium. As we got closer, the crowds were getting bigger, and it became clear that we were on the very fringes of the tailgate celebrations. The area around the stadium was just PACKED with people and tailgating set-ups, as well as students coming from the dorms and others getting off the parking lot shuttles from other lots. So much energy, it was just electric.

It has been a long time since we’ve been in Spartan Stadium, and it has changed so much. The electronic scoreboard is only two years old, and it’s the biggest in the state of Michigan—5,300 square feet. Completely massive. We asked someone to take our photo with the scoreboard in the background before we crossed the street and joined the throngs heading into the stadium. I was afraid it would take a while to get in, but they instituted a “no bags” policy a few years ago—meaning no pocketbooks or any other kind of bag. As a result, everyone moved in smoothly… but also, my only camera was my phone. All these photos were taken with my phone, but it died before the game got going, so I have no action shots.

Once inside, we encountered a Spartan Spirit store which was packed with green clothing and people who were buying it as if there were no tomorrow. I squished into the store and discovered they had the kind of decals we wanted for the RV, but the lines were simply not moving at all, and I wanted to go up to our seats. In fact, we really should have left about 30 minutes earlier, because I forgot about the pre-game show with the band. We got there just in time to hear them play the MSU Fight Song, and then they waited in formation for the team to come out and take the field.

The game was wonderful, even though it was not exactly full of tension. The Spartans scored in 4 plays on their first possession, and they scored in two plays on their second possession. By halftime the score was 38-0. We just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful evening—although it had been overcast, there was no rain, a nice breeze was blowing, and we just loved the entire experience. When the game was over, we found that the Spartan Spirit store was still open, with almost no one there anymore, and we bought a bunch of decals and magnets for our RV (yes of COURSE we did!). We caught one of the last shuttles back to the parking lot (there were still a few RVs there), and went to the Walmart in Okemos to spend the night. All in all, it was so much fun and we loved the whole experience. I just keep thinking we should go back for a whole weekend sometime, because there is so much new stuff to see on the campus since we went to school there. We will have to find some time.

Meanwhile: GO GREEN!!!! Next week against the Oregon Ducks will be a very different game…. Details to follow.

Meet-Up With Spartan Nation

August 29, 2014

Happy 43^rd Anniversary to us! We are off on our annual RV adventure, and have had a lot of fun already. We left Highland Park a little before noon yesterday with our first destination East Lansing, MI, and the Spartans’ football season opening game against Jacksonville (Alabama) State tonight. The weather was just glorious and we made great time on I-80 through Pennsylvania. We didn’t stop too much, but we did make one stop in the late afternoon and spent a little bit of time enjoying the fresh air and thick lawn.  Cassie was so happy, she was rolling in the grass, and Joe decided to join her. 

We stopped at about 8:00 at a Flying J to fill up our gas tank and make a quick dinner of hot dogs and broccoli, before continuing on. As usual when heading west, we like to get to Ohio before stopping for the night, and we made it to the first rest stop on the Ohio Turnpike at about 11:15 pm. We hooked up in their special RV parking area and went right to sleep—we’d been on the road for 12 hours.

This morning we woke up and didn’t rush, because we were only 4 hours from East Lansing. The parking lots for game parking did not open until 3:30, so we figured if we were early, we’d go browsing for MSU “stuff” in town. But as it happened, we made one quick stop soon after crossing into Michigan—we saw a sign for the Beef Jerkey Warehouse, and we could not resist THAT (Joe has a special love for beef jerky.) The place was wonderful, with several dozen kinds of beef jerky, plus pork, venison, and a few other types I don’t even remember. They gave us a taste of anything we were interested in, and we walked out with over a pound of beef jerky at about ½ the price it usually costs in those small packages you find in gas station convenience stores (they sell it by the pound.)

We got to East Lansing at 2:30. Sure enough, they would not let us into the parking lot, so we used the hour to fill up the gas tank (the gas was $.30/gallon more in Michigan than in Pennsylvania—ouch!) and have some late lunch. Then we came back to the parking lot. It is a wonderful tailgating experience, I have to say, except we feel very “left out” because we don’t have any MSU decals, flags, lawn chairs, blow-up Sparty figures, tablecloths, or bean-bag gameswith green and white Spartan insignia on them. One guy across from us has a huge flat-screen TV set up under his canopy; I wonder if he’s going to the game at all! Anyway, now that we can expect to tailgate at an MSU game at least once/year (vs. Maryland or vs. Rutgers), we have got some serious shopping to do, LOL!  Seriously, there is an old RV at least 25 years old near us; the lady who owns it says it is basically a “rolling potty” and they only use it for tailgating—it is white with green stripes, decals everywhere, and “SpartyMobile” painted on the front overhang. I don’t think we want to go THAT far, but I appreciate the sentiment.

 The football game starts at 7:30, so we still have more than 2 hours to hang out. Joe is napping while I blog; then we’ll through a steak on our grill and have some dinner. There is a shuttle bus which stops right outside our parking lot to take us to the stadium, which is a good thing, because we are at least a mile away. The campus has gotten even larger since we left here 41 (!) years ago. The amount of suburban spread makes us remember how the area all around us used to be countryside with farm houses; now it’s filled with super-ugly apartments and the usual fast food restaurants. Joey points out that the population of the world has more than doubled in the time since we graduated. Really, it’s a little bit scary.

I am happy to discover that there is a campus-wide wifi system. I told them I am an “affiliated” guest—I figured that for a $40 parking lot, I have just affiliated! I hope it works for my blog upload. Meanwhile—GO SPARTANS!!!!!!