Dinosaurs and A Rodeo

7-18-2016

DAY 30

In the morning, we headed to the Dinosaur Center of Wyoming. Since it was in such a small town in the middle of nowhere our expectations were not high. The outside of the building looked kind of like a warehouse, so that didn't help. However, once we were inside, our opinions changed quickly. It was all about the fossil record from the beginning of life all the way up through dinosaurs. There were amazing fossils from all over the world. They even had an archaeopteryx. The center explained that fossils are nature's "written" record of the history of the Earth.

You eventually get to the part that was about dinosaurs. There were so many and they were of varying sizes. Of course, it's hard to not be totally wowed by the huge ones. There was even a supersaurus rib which we decided would be perfect to have for Papa's 40th instead of regular pig ribs. A few of the dinosaurs were replicas, but most of them were the actual fossils, several of which were found right in the area. There was also a lab where you could see experts working on newly found fossils. They have to use tools like toothbrushes to uncover the fossils - it must take forever!

Although we probably could have spent much more time there, we had a rodeo to get to in Gillette, WY which was several hours away and it started at 7pm. So, we hit the road again, leaving Thermopolis for Gillette. The drive was interesting as the landscape changed a bunch. It went through the Big Horn National Forest and we went over the Continental Divide again. We stopped for ice cream in Buffalo, WY and then kept on driving.

Gillette, WY is actually a pretty big town (30,000ish people). We went to see the High School National Rodeo Championships which is a really big deal (especially in Wyoming). As soon as we arrived, it became very apparent that we were not dressed like everyone else (jeans and a cowboy hat seemed to be the minimum). Boy, did we look out of place. There were two main rings for the performance we attended. Wow, were we impressed with what the competitorscould do (and they are just about my age). We saw several events that got our blood pumping like bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, goat roping, calf roping, breakaway roping, pole bending, etc. There were even a few moments where our hearts were in our throats for the safety of the contestants. Luckily, there weren't any major injuries that we saw, but one guy's hand got stuck on the bareback bronc so he kind of got dragged around by this crazy bucking horse for a while. Unfortunately, we had to leave before it was over to drive a few more hours to Custer, SD where we were spending the night. We all felt lucky to have been able to see a rodeo and especially this one - what an experience!