MT and Beyond - Part 4

This is the last one and boy, is it a doozie! There are a lot of photos here to cover the last portion of this trip! This may just win the award for the longest blog post in all the land!

Saturday: 

Since Cowley, Wyoming was settled by Mormon pioneers, the town celebrates on July 24th (same as Utah!) by commemorating it's pioneer heritage. The town rapidly grows from a mere 600 people to a few thousand! It is a day full of activities, fun and heat! 

The morning always begins with a parade. More candy is handed out than on Halloween! It is a small parade but one with a lot of heart! 

The nephews and nieces stand in form waiting to get pounded with sweets! Emerson caught on pretty quickly! 

I wish you could enlarge this picture! It is of my brother-in-law standing next to a ladies rear end and her shorts read "Who Cut the Cheese?" Look how happy he is to be in this picture! HA!

The old fire engine comes roaring down the street blowing it's siren and spraying water. Don't you love how Wes is using our child as a shield! Let me just remind you what my husband does for a living.......

After the parade most people attend a program held in the LDS church about various pioneers and their trek out west. After the program there is a picnic in the park, games for the kids, volley ball tournaments, a rodeo and golf tournament. SO many choices!

Later in the evening, there is a talent show in the old log gym. I love going to hear the talent, but also just to be in the old log gym. It is such a cool building and I love to sit there and think of how exciting it must have been to attend a basketball game there, gym class and dances! 

The sound is never very good and it is always about 100 degrees in there, but I love it!  

Sunday:

We woke up and got ready for the part of the trip that I was most anxious for! The Big Horn Mountains! I love these mountains with every fiber of my being and have so many good memories of the countless days spent camping here! If there was one thing I could say about what I miss most about home, it would be this! 

Off the highway, there is a hidden spring that shoots fresh ice cold water out of it! We always fill up the coolers and water jugs here. I have never tasted such good water in all my life!

It has been a very wet year on the mountain so the wildflowers were out in all their glory and it was so lush and green everywhere! It was beautiful!

This guy came into our camp. He wasn't really invited and I think he was a little embarrassed, so he decided to leave! Thank goodness!

We went fishing not too long after setting up camp. We caught some of the tiniest fish you have ever seen! It was still a lot of fun and hey, it's not how big it is that matters, just that fact that you got something! This was my nephew Nick's first successful fishing trip!

It rained on us while fishing and it sure made for pretty scenery! I'm telling you, this place is magical!

Later in the evening, right at dusk, my sister, Nick and I went for an ATV ride. It was probably the highlight of my trip! To see the mountain in this fashion is incredible! We saw a lot of wildlife and even had a moose run along side of us down the road like it was playing with us! A little scary, but more just hilarious!

Monday:

We woke up nice and early and had a big breakfast with my 2 aunts and uncle. I love a big breakfast on the mountain! We had to eat a lot to build up the energy for our big hike!

Bucking Mule Falls! The sign said 2 miles, but I am pretty sure it was more like 6! We have all done it several times but none of us remembered it taking as long as it did! I think it was 2 miles the way the crow flies, not the way Amy walks! It was worth every step! The view is breathtaking! The drop is nearly 500 feet! 

Our little family! Emerson fell asleep as soon as we got there and Wes being the trooper of a dad that he is, carried him the whole way back to the car. 

When we got back to camp, the clouds have moved in and it was starting to snow! WHAT??? Yep snow! We would have liked to have stayed one more night but we were not prepared for snow and had to take our journey elsewhere! We drove into Sheridan, Wyoming where more of our relatives live and we stayed there for the night. Warm and dry!

Tuesday:

My uncle lives right outside of Sheridan and works for a peculiar and extremely wealthy man who raises Falcons. Why...who knows? My uncle's job is to raise quail and pigeons that are to be used as food for the falcons. By doing this, he gets a nice paycheck and a free home. A pretty nice set up if you ask me! 

My uncle lives on a beautiful piece of land! This old barn is right out his front door! It looks nice in a photo, but it smells something fierce inside!

This is my uncle's bunk house that Wes, Emerson and I stayed in. It was also where I got the best night's sleep on the whole vacation! 

My uncle took us to the barns where he works. It was really neat to see all the birds, but sad just the same knowing they would just grow up to become devoured by a hungry bird of prey! 

A tiny little quail in my palm! I wanted to take him home and save him!

Fattening up! 

When I say "raised" I literally mean it! He is with these birds from egg to falcon belly! 

We later strolled the Main Street of Sheridan. The women did a little shopping and the men toured the legendary Mint Bar and the Lariat Museum! 

This was the last of our trip. We had such a good time and I really didn't want it to be over. Every day was full of some amazing experiences and everlasting memories...ones that I will take with me for the rest of my life. It was a trip full of love, beauty, reminiscing and learning. I miss it already and would go back and do it all again in a heartbeat!