Friday, July 5, 2013

Day 4 - Ups and downs

The 4th of July was a day of ups and downs.

First, we woke up amid incredible scenery.

But, I (Katrina) wasn't feeling too well (headache, probably from the altitude).

Eventually the ibuprofen kicked in, and we headed out on a hike. Beautiful woodlands at first (so many wildflowers!), then an awesome climb up the rocks. So much fun!

About lunchtime we headed into Laramie. They have a big 4th of July celebration in their Washington Park. So much free stuff! Free watermelon, free cookies, free mini-Jimmy John's sandwich, free ice cream, plus a lot of kid stuff (balloons, candy, stickers, tattoos). Plus free music on three stages.

We all tried stilt walking. I figured it out! Now I need stilts for Christmas.

After we had gotten enough free stuff (well, the watermelon had run out), we headed to Wedding Central - i.e., Mark and Christina's house (Mark is Paul's brother). There was still a lot of construction/carpentry work to accomplish before driving up to the wedding site the next day, so I left Paul there to help out. Meanwhile, the kids and I went swimming at a hotel pool with Paul's uncle, cousin, and cousin's kids.

Then back to Wedding Central for burgers on the grill. Unfortunately, A. apparently overdid it, as he got totally sick, and fell asleep on the couch even before he had a chance to eat a single hamburger!

Finally, late fireworks for those not asleep on a couch, then a very late night drive back to our campground.

Addendum: This part of the journey is NOT sponsored by our cell phone carrier. Sprint has zero presence in this part of the country (around Laramie). This makes it difficult to coordinate, as neither Paul nor my phones work. To contact people, our best (but not great) solution has been to fire up the Verizon mifi, and use Google Voice on A's ipod touch. It lets us call out, but not receive calls.

Don't expect any updates for a couple of days. Apparently there is NO cell coverage or internet access at the Wedding Destination lodge. We'll catch up on Sunday.

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