Monday 9-29-25 Buffalo Bill Dam, Wapiti Campground & Walking

 

Buffalo Bill Dam reservoir

 

We woke up to 54 degrees. We didn't even put on the heater because it was a very comfortable 66 degrees inside the Minnie. By the end of the day the temperature was 77 in Cody Wyoming (the closest weather station to us).

I got up at 7:15 and got dressed. We had a quick breakfast of a Hostess Coffee Cake and a half of a banana. We weren't in any hurry to leave because we only had 30 miles to go. We put everything away and secured. Then we walked over to Walmart to get some toe spacers. Larry's little toe has been bugging him. We left Walmart about 9:00.

On the way to Wapiti Campground in the Shoshone National Forest we stopped by the Buffalo Bill Dam and visitor center. The drive there was beautiful and we went through three tunnels. We parked the Minnie at the dam and walked around. It was a gorgeous reservoir and dam. The reservoir went for miles. While walking to the visitor center we saw some of the equipment that use to be used at the dam. We saw a huge upstream cableway winch, a balanced plunger valve and a hugh wooden sphere. The visitor center was very nice with displays on how the dam was built and it also showed a movie about the dam. They ran a shuttle from the visitor center to the parking area and back to the visitor center free of charge. There was a lot of drift wood by the dam and they say every fall they clean the drift wood away. Every spring the drift wood floats down the reservoir and collects at the dam. In the fall they use a crane to load the drift wood on a barge and they get rid of it. It was very nice to walk around and check out the dam.

 

 

Balanced plunger valve

 

Upstream cableway winch

 

Buffalo Bill Reservoir

 

One of the tunnels we drove through

 

Before getting to Buffalo Bill Dam we saw a couple of herds of elk. There was a big bull looking over his harem. There was no place to pull over to take a picture of them.    

 After walking around the visitor center and dam we went back to the Minnie. We were back on the road. There was a little road construction right at the dam, they were working on the side of the road. We didn't have to wait too long probably a couple of minutes. 

We arrived at Wapiti Campground around 10:00 and found a site with no problem. We decided to take a power site for $30 a night but because we have a senior pass it was $15. It's a beautiful pull-through site with a lot of trees and a view of the mountains. 

There is no internet so Larry setup the Starlink. Yesterday, Larry did some research on the Starlink because ours is cutting out now and then. A gentleman suggested it could be power related, when the dish is partially blocked from the sky by trees it uses more power. So today because we had power Larry experimented with that suggestion. It was stable all day, it didn't matter if we ran it on AC power or battery, it was stable. We are again camped within some trees so Larry has no idea what the problem was.

After lunch we did a 2 mile walk around the campground and to the next campground from us, about a half mile up the road. We wanted to check out the trail there. While looking for the trailhead we said hi to a horse in one of the corral. It was very friendly and wanted to be petted but the master wasn't there so we just said hi. We weren't sure if it would bite or not. The trail is a horse trail and looked pretty rough. A section of the campground was fenced off for an outfitter. We figured they take people horseback riding in the mountains. When we got back to our side of the rode we walked to the river. We walked on a beautiful bridge that goes over the river. While standing on the bridge we saw a white speck on top of a ridge. I took a picture it was a bald eagle. As we were trying to figure it out another eagle flew overhead. While on the bridge we talked with another camper and her dog. We had a great walk.

 

 

The river

 

The horse we met

 

 

Out of focus because the eagle was too far away

A little rain storm came through about 4:00 and only lasted about a half hour. It cooled things off.

After dinner we went for a half hour walk around the campground. 

 

 

Camping at Wapiti Campground

 

 

 

I ended up doing 14,000 steps. 

   

         

Sunday 9/28/25 Theromopolis Hot Springs & Productive Day

 

Driving to Cody Wyoming

 

We kept busy all day.

We woke up with the temperatures in the 30's at Sitting Bull Campground in Bighorn National Forest. In Ten Sleep WY it was in the low 50's. It's the closest town to Sitting Bull and it's located off the mountain. When we called it a day in Cody WY it was 80 degrees.

I slept in until 8:00. I got dressed and made biscuits. After breakfast we got ready to go. We had to wait a little while so the oven could cool down. 

For years we have been using a pizza stone in the oven to equalize the temperature. I was having problems baking cookies before using one. I either over cooked them or under-cooked them. I learned in the years I need to bake items at a lower temperature and for the longest time. For example: when I bake biscuits I bake them at 350 instead of 400 and for the 13 minutes which is the longer time. It all depends on the elevation and I still have to check the items out.

While waiting for the oven to cool off we put things away and secured. Once the pizza stone cooled down I wrapped it with a towel so it wouldn't bounce around while we went down the road. We were on the road by 9:00.

We had two wonderful days at Sitting Bull Campground. Today were going to Cody Wyoming but on the way we're going to stop in Theromopolis to visit the Hot Springs State Park. It doesn't open until 12:00 on Sundays.

Theromopolis is 80 miles away. The first 15 miles was through the Bighorn Mountain pass. It was a slow process because the road was fairly steep with tight turns. Some of the curves were 25 mph and others were 45. It was a beautiful drive through the mountain. When we got to Ten Sleep the scenery changed back to rolling hills and plains. We saw a lot of ranches and a few farms. When we got to Worland we stopped at a pretty park called City of Worland Pioneer Square. It was a park dedicated to Charles H. "Dad" Worland, who had made his stage stop here on the old Bridger Trail. The pioneer man and woman represents the spirit of Worland. We stopped and I took pictures. 

 

Driving through Bighorn Mountain

 

A pioneer man plowing his field

 

A pioneer woman

After taking pictures we continued our adventure to Thermopolis. We arrived at Thermopolis at 11:15. We found a place to park the Minnie. Then we had a sandwich for lunch. I walked around and took a couple of pictures. We have been here a few times so I didn't need too many pictures. It a gorgeous park with a boardwalk that goes around the hot springs, playground, picnic areas, there are a couple of private swimming houses and an expansion bridge. They have Wyoming's bison herd. We didn't drive to see the herd because it's too hard to turn the Minnie around in the area. We used the state park hot springs and bathhouse, it is free but they do accept donations. They have two hot springs pools (one indoor and one outdoor). We used the outdoor one. Before you go in the pool you have to shower and you have to shower afterwards to get the smell (sulfur) of the spring off you. The showers were great. You can adjust the temperature of the water while showering. You're allowed to soak in the pools for 20 minutes and then you can come back in a couple of hours to soak again. We soaked in the pool for 15 minutes. It felt good. We had a super time.

Entrance to the state park

 

  

The building where the hot springs pools are

 

   

Outdoor pool

 

Indoor pool

 

After getting back to the Minnie Larry programmed the GPS to get us to Cody. The drive to Cody was 80 miles down a two lane highway through rolling hills and plains. We got to Cody around 3:00 and did a few errands. First stop was at City of Cody RV Dump. It's a free dump but they do take donations. There is fresh drinking water at the dump station, it cost one quarter and after a time limit it turns off. We ended up paying $1.00. Across the parking lot there was a very nice Veterans memorial. The memorial had a number of statues including one of a soldier and a dog, it was to thank the dogs and trainers for their services. Next stop was the Tractor Supply to get propane. It was located across the street from Walmart. It was a big store and the lady, who helped us was very nice and fast. Larry didn't have to go back inside to pay, you can pay right there. Last stop was at a Mobile station to fill up the Minnie with gas. It was on the other side of the road by Walmart. After filling the Minnie with gas we went to Walmart and parked it for the night. We were finished doing our errands by 3:30.

At dinner time we walked to Little Caesar to buy a pizza for dinner. By the time we got back to the Minnie the pizza wasn't hot so I turned on the generator and heated it up in the microwave.

 

Dinner

 

After dinner we went to Walmart and did grocery shopping.

By the end of the night I had done 5,000 steps. We had a great day.     

 

 
              

Saturday 9/27/25 Hiking, Camping & Walking

 

It's cold 

Before I went to bed last night I turned off the Wave3 because we wanted to conserve propane. This morning when Larry woke up it was freezing. The cab temperature was 37 degrees and the house was 42. Larry went outside to setup the Starlink to do his morning routine. I slept in until 8:00, it was very comfortable in bed under all the covers. But tonight I think we'll be sleeping with the Wave3 running.

For breakfast we had maple brown sugar oatmeal with raisins and shared an Meal Replacement Shake. Then we got read to go on a morning hike.

We started our hike from the Minnie about 8:45. We hiked the ATV trail that goes to the lake. Yesterday Larry had seen a few vehicles park in the meadow, we wondered what they were looking at. So today we got off the trail to check it out. The walk through the meadow was very difficult because there was a lot of holes and rocks covered by the grass. When we got to the trees we walked around to see if there was a trail. We weren't successful. We walked back to the ATV trail. We hiked it to the gate and rested. After our rest we head back to the Minnie. By the time we got back we had hiked 2.5 miles for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

 

ATV trail through the meadow

 

When we go back we sat in our chairs and reading. When it was time for lunch we went inside and had soup. 

After lunch we decided to go for another hike. Last night when we were walking around the closed loop we noticed a sign that said trail. Larry was very excited because nobody ever said there was a trail in the campground. We started the hike from the Minnie and picked up the trail in the closed loop. The trail took us up the hill and through the forest. The trail was very nice. The trail Yd off a couple of times. The first time we went to the right. The trail continued up the hill until it leveled out. Then we went up and down a long the rim of the hill. The trail took us around a few mountain ponds. Everywhere you look there was a pond. We hiked in between some of them. They weren't the prettiest ponds but it was nice to see. The loop was about .75 miles long. Where it Yd off this time we went to the right. We ended back at the restroom. But we hadn't gone too far about 1 mile so we took a small trail through the trees. This trail took us by the campground. When it ended we took another trail, that looked like a ski trail. We stopped when we had done 1.50 miles and headed back to the Minnie. By the ended of the hike we had done 2 miles for 1.5 hours. 

 

One of the ponds

 

When we were almost back we were greeted by two big dogs. The master tried to get the bigger one back but he was determined to say hi. We told her it was ok we loved dogs. She kept apologizing. The dogs were celebrating their third birthday. By looking at them you wouldn't know they were from the same litter. 

When we got home Larry put out the Starlink. The solar panels were out since this morning but he just changed them so they were getting more sun. 

In the afternoon we were sitting outside in our chairs reading when a gentleman stopped by asking if the water was on in the campground (it is not). He also wanted to know if we had any access to the internet. He wanted to let someone know where he was going to be camped for the night. Larry gave him the password for our Starlink and he was able to text someone and let them know his location. He is a tent camper. Later when we were walking around we saw him camped near the end of the campground.

In the evening we walked around the campground for an hour. Larry walked for a half hour with me and I walked around the closed loop for another half hour. We saw the deer that we saw last night in the closed loop, six of them. I ended up doing 2 miles.

 

One of the deer

 

We spent the rest of the night reading. I ended up doing 18,000 steps for the day.      

 

Friday 9-26-25 New Campground, Hiking & Relaxing

 

Sitting Bull Campground

 

We woke up to a brisk morning with the temperature in the high 30's. We slept with the Wave3 going.

I crawled out of bed about 7:00, I thought it was later. I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We weren't in any hurry because we were only going 35 miles down the mountain pass to Sitting Bull Campground. But out of habit when we finished breakfast we started to put things away and making sure everything was secured. Larry turned on the Minnie so it could warm up.

By 8:30 we were on the road. The scenery was very beautiful because of the fall colors. Everyday it seems like the fall colors on the aspens are getting brighter and more beautiful. Larry doesn't drive fast, he only drove 45mph. We drove through some road construction and we didn't have to slow down because we were already going 45mph. As we were driving the mountain pass we saw a few mule deer grazing on the side of the highway. We drove by a campground before Sitting Bull, that Larry thought about going to but we would have had to go down 6 miles of dirt road to get to it.

The entrance to Sitting Bull Campground was dirt but it was about .25 mile and it was very nice. We arrived there at 9:30, there were a few people there. We had no problem finding a site. It's right next to the bathroom. The facilities aren't getting serviced but both sides of the bathroom are open. The bathrooms had toilet paper and didn't smell bad. It's a vault toilet. Larry backed the Minnie into it's home for a couple of nights. He didn't have to use any blocks.

It's a gorgeous campground and some of the sites backup to a huge meadow. One of the loops is closed. Behind our site there is a hugh meadow. The sites have a picnic table, hook to hang your trash, grill and fire ring. There is a lot of trees on the sites. The site we got we could get solar and Larry can use the Starlink. Once again we have no internet so we're glad we bought the Starlink.

 

Camping at Sitting Bull Campground

After lunch we went on a 2.75 mile hike for two hours. We started from the campground and hiked the road to Meadowlark Lark North Cove, which was a half mile. While hiking the road we scared a deer that was drinking from the creek. It ran to the trees. There's a trail, that runs along the shore of Meadowlark Lake but it doesn't go completely around it. We hiked the trail for a mile, where it ended which was almost to the picnic area. As we hiked the trail we saw a fisherman fishing on the lake and few more fishing off the banks. One couple said hi to us because we hiked right by them. The trail was out in the open. When we started the hike we wore our jacket because it was chilly. But once we got out of the trees it started to get warm. We took our jackets off at the boat ramp. The restroom was open at the ramp, which surprised me. When we got back to the boat ramp there were more people checking out the lake. There is a small snow ski resort on the other side of the lake. 

 

Meadowlark Lake

 

One of the ski runs at the ski resort

 

Meadowlark Lake where we turned around at

 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing in our chairs looking over the meadow. I finished reading A Death in Vienna by Frank Tallis. It's a detective series about a inspector who works with Max, who is a doctor in psychoanalysis. The series, Vienna Blood on PBS is based on this book. It was a good book I will start the second one tomorrow.

 

Enjoying a good book 

 

In the evening we walked around the campground. I walked for an hour for 2.6 miles. Larry walked the first half hour with me. We saw three mule deer in the trees. They were a gray color so they blended in with the trees. 

Doe eating while the fawn looks at us

 

By the end of the day I did 16,000 steps. 

       

Thursday 9-25-25 My Birthday, Hiking & Bighorn National Forest

 

Happy Birthday to me

 

It's my birthday. I turned 69 years old. It's amazing how times fly. I'm glad I can still square dance, hike and camp. I get some aches and pain now and then but not bad. I can still sit on the floor but it takes me longer to get up. I also glad I'm healthy. I had a super birthday.

First I crawled out of bed at 7:15 and made french toast sticks for breakfast. 

Afterwards we got ready to go on a hike. There's a forest trail right at the entrance of the campground and it goes for 1.5 miles one way to the dispersed area. The trail number was 117. It's open to everyone. We started our hike at 8:00 and finished by 10:00. The trail starts after you cross a cattle guard. It's open range in the national forest. The trail started in the trees and then went in the open. We started out wearing our jackets because the temperature was in the high 30's. But when we hike in the open after a little bit the jackets came off. We also were going up hill. We hiked up over 500ft in elevation. We started this direction so we could hike up the elevation at the beginning of the hike and come down at the end. We didn't see any wildlife but we did see beautiful fall colors in the aspens. The trail offered gorgeous views of the Bighorn Mountains and forest. By the end of the hike we had hiked a total of 3.4 miles.

 

View of the Bighorn Mountains and forest in the fall

 

Camping in the dispersed area

 

Another view of fall in the Bighorn Mountains 

When we got back to the Minnie Larry's watch gave him a gold trophy because he set a new record for himself in his workout. Larry keeps informed about what his watch and my band can do through Reddit. My band under workout doesn't have a hiking workout so I use steps. Larry found out his watch has a hiking workout. He started using this workout for the last two days. At the end of each hike the watch tells him how far he hiked, how fast and elevation change. Yesterday, he got a gold trophy for doing a 2.25 mile hike. Today he got another gold trophy for 3.5 mile hike. His watch lets him know verbally everytime he hikes a mile. It also tells you at every mile how fast you hiked. Larry's watch told him great job now you need to rest for 30h. We figured it meant 30 hours. My band will vibrate each mile and show you have walked one mile, you have walked two miles, etc. After each workout you do each device can give you a lot of information such as heart beat per minute during the workout, calories you burn, how fast you workout, how long, charts on elevation, chart on stress and a lot more. It's amazing all the information you can get.  

In the afternoon we relaxed with a book. 

About 2:30 we went on a 2 mile hike to Hettinger Picnic/Group Area. We started by hiking trail #117 but when it Yd off to trail K we started hiking it. All of a sudden it disappeared. It looked like it use to go from Middle Fork Campground to Hettinger Picnic Area but it wasn't kept up. We hiked through a meadow to get back on trail #117. Once on trail #117 we walked to the closed gate to Hettinger. Then we walked around the gate and walked the road about .33 of a mile to the picnic area. It was a gorgeous area with the picnic tables in the trees. There was only one giant grill and a lot of huge picnic tables. I guess that's why it was consider a group area. There are also restrooms. They were open and had toilet paper. They smelled better then the one we have in our area. They were clean. Once we rested we headed back. We took trail #117 all the way back. This part of the trail was in the open for about a half mile. There were a lot of small grasshoppers all over the trail. We had a super hike.

 

Hettinger Picnic/Group Area

 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing. I ended up doing 16,500 steps.

For my birthday dinner we had sausages and chips. My birthday cake was a carrot cake. I had a super birthday.

 

My birthday cake

 We have been on the road for 5 weeks and have hiked 130 miles.

 

  

 

    

Wednesday 9-24-25 New Campground, Hiking & Motorcycle Ride

 

Camping in Middle Fork Campground

 

We had two great days at Mikesell-Potts Recreation Area. It was fantastic having power. Today we moved 25 miles up onto the mountain. We are at Middle Fork Campground in The Bighorn National Forest.

We woke up to the temperatures in the 40's. I crawled out of bed at 7:20 and got dressed. Then I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. 

After breakfast we got ready to leave. We put everything away and secure. Then I took the trash to the dumpster. While I did this Larry unplugged us from the power. We have been without power for so long he almost forgot to unplug. We were back on the road by 8:15.

The drive took us about an hour because Larry had to drive through a mountain pass. It was a beautiful drive. We saw a lot of aspens turning their fall colors. We saw mountains in the distance and a couple of places on the mountain had snow. We saw Pronghorns on the rolling hills before the mountain pass. 

Many of the campgrounds are closed for the season. Some have been left open so you can camp in them but there is no water or trash service. They have also stopped cleaning the bathrooms. The first campground we wanted to check out was Hunter. We didn't get too far down the dirt road before turning around. The road was getting rougher the further you went. Larry had turned us around when a gentleman stopped to see if we needed help. Larry explained he didn't want to go any further. The guy said that was the right decision because it got rougher. He also said he was the host and recommended to go to South Fork Campground. We thanked him and he went on his way. We drove another mile down the road to Middle Fork. The road getting to the sites was not very long nor was it in bad conditions. 

The campground is very nice. Each site has a lot of trees, a creek runs behind the sites, picnic table and a campfire ring. 

 

The creek behind our site

There were a few campers in the campground but a couple of them left. We had no problem finding a site. We are on site #2, it is by the bathroom. We parked the Minnie and set it up for our stay.

Afterwards we went on a hike. Larry knew there were a couple of trails from the campground. We decided to hike the service road, which is one mile one way before it stops. We hiked for about an hour for 2.5 miles. The road is an access road for people who have cabins in the forest. As we hiked the road we saw a lot of beautiful cabins. A few were big cabins but most of them were very small. Most were empty, we only saw two cabins with cars in front of them. It was a nice easy hike. 

 

Rock Formation in the campground

 

The first cabin we saw 

 

Living in the forest

 

When we got back Larry setup the Starlink because neither phone had internet. He wasn't sure if we could get Starlink because of all the trees. It took Larry a little bit to set it up but it works great. He also setup the solar panels.

After lunch we went for an hour and a half motorcycle ride. We drove to Hunter Campground to check it out. The road was very rough and we were glad we turned around where we did. Hunter is a horse campground with horse trails all over the place. There were a few horse trailers and the campground didn't have many trees. The scenery was pretty of the mountains and aspen and pine trees. After driving around the campground we went back on the highway. We drove to the next campground, which was Circle Park. We didn't get to it because the road was way too rough and had a lot of potholes. We got to the sign that said two miles to Circle Park and turned around. We saw a few people camping in the dispersed area. Then we rode to Tie Hack Campground the gate was closed. We turned around and continued to the next campground, which was South Fork Campground. We couldn't even get inside the campground because the gate was locked. We had a great motorcycle ride. 

When we got back Larry put the motorcycle back on it's carrier. Once it cooled off he put the cover on it.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing with a book. I ended up doing 9,000 steps for the day.

 

Relaxing with a good book

   

 

Tuesday 9-23-25 Mikesell-Potts Recreation Area on Lake De Smet

 

Lake De Smet this morning

We woke up to gorgeous morning with the temperature of 48 degrees. It got up to 75. We were going to move on but where we are going it was going to be in the 30's and not out of the 50's. We decided to stay put for the day.

 

I got up at 7:30 and got dressed. We finished the Hostess Donettes Fritter Rings and the rest of the Martha White's Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins for breakfast. 

 

There's no hiking trail here at Mikesell-Potts Recreation Area so we spent the day reading. I finished reading The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe. It was a great book. Throughout the book you kept wondering how it would end. The story took place back in the 1800's during the Wild West era. Then I asked Larry to pick another book for me. He picked A Death in Vienna by Frank Tallis. I had to charge my Kindle so I did some Sudoku puzzles while I waited.

 

 

  Relaxing with a good book

 

After going down and paying for another night Larry and I walked around the campground on our side of the lake. We walked around for about a half hour for a mile. There was no wind so the lake was flat and very clear, you could see the bottom. While walking we noticed there was a mowed pathway to the other side of the lake. We didn't walk it because Larry wasn't wearing hiking boots and hadn't taped his feet. He didn't want to hurt his feet.

 

While making dinner I noticed one of our biscuits packs had popped open. So I baked the pack for a snack after dinner. I saved 9 of the 10 biscuits. 

 

After dinner and our snack I went for a walk around the campground. I walked the path to the other side of the lake. I saw a few grouses, the swimming picnic beach area and more camping sites. There are at least 92 sites to camp on. Our side of the campground is nicer because all the sites are on gravel areas. A lot of the sites on the other side are in the grass. I walked to the stop sign to go to the dam and turned around and walked back. I saw a grouse on one of the picnic tables at a camp site on the other side of the lake. While walking around on our side of the campground I stopped and talked to a couple and said hi to their dog. She asked if it was ok for the dog to say. I said I loved dogs. Once I petted it, it went back to it's bed. I was almost back to Larry went I saw five deer walking to the lake through a little meadow. I walked for an hour for a total of 2.25 miles. I had a wonderful walk.

 

 

 

Lake De Smet on the other side

 

 

 

Swimming, beach and picnic area

 

 

 

Grouse on a picnic table

 

 

 

Mule deer in the meadow
     

   

Monday 9-22-25 Lake De Smet Campground

 

Dinosaur being walked by Sasquatch 

 

As we have been driving through Wyoming we have seen some figurines on the hillside. one was a dinosaur being captured by Sasquatch. I thought it was cute.

I woke up at 7:15 and we had a quick breakfast. Then we put things away and secured. We were on the road by 7:45. We slept well last night at Kaycee City Park. It cooled off to 50 degrees.  

Today we didn't go far. We drove from Kaycee WY to Lake De Smet, which is about 10 miles from Douglas WY. The distance was 54 miles. It was all four lane divided highway and interstate. As we drove we saw a lot of Pronghorns, horses and cattle. We did see a couple of deer. Larry drove in a lot of wind. When we got to Douglas we stopped at Sinclair and filled the Minnie with gas. The campground we wanted to stay at was 8 miles down the road on Lake De Smet.

As we were driving the road to the campground Larry said we were here last year. He was correct. Last year there were no electrical sites available but this year there were a few. We took site #3 and backed right in it. After setting the Minnie up for the night I went and paid for a night. It was $20.00 for electric and $15.00 for non-electric. We actually came here hoping to get electric. The forecast was for wind, rain and cold.

We decided to walk around the campground. This is a county park and they have been making improvements. They added more trees and it looked like they got rid of full-time campers in the electric sites. They have a nice playground, horseshoe pits, volleyball courts and a riverboat. It was windy but we had a nice walk.

While we were walking I dropped my phone. Later I noticed my exercise band stuff wasn't working. Hoping to fix it I rebooted the phone, when I did that Google updated the phone to  newer software. When the phone came back up lots of things looked different and my band still did not work. I asked Larry to look at it, he figured out my phone service (Boost, works via AT&T) was not working. He had no idea if it was because I dropped the phone, a problem with Boost or the new updated software. He spent a bunch of time working on it and could not get it to work. Finally he decided to sign me up for a new service provider. 

Our phones can use either a physical sim card or an e-sim. He picked a provider that uses e-sims, runs via AT&T and had a free trial for a month. It took a bit to signup, download and configure everything but the phone now works, I have cell service and my band stuff works. No idea what happened with Boost. If it doesn't magically start working Larry will try to figure it out. In the meantime we have a month of free service to work with.  

 

Camping at Lake De Smet

 

Lake De Smet

 

Riverboat

 

Horseshoe pits

 

Playground

 

We spent the day reading inside out of the wind. The wind was so strong it rocked the Minnie around a bit. 

While we were eating dinner I looked out the wind and saw these birds walking across the road and through our campsite. I asked Larry what were they. He took pictures and asked google about them. Google said they were grouses. For dessert we had Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins. But instead of putting the batter in a muffin pan I put it in a cast iron skillet. They came out very moist and tasted good.

 

Blueberry Cheesecake 

We had another relaxing day.

 

 Relaxing Day