Casper, Wyoming, July 12; Cody, Wyoming, July 13

I am writing from a La Quinta in Casper, and it is a little past 6:00 p.m.  I started the morning with a 5:30 a.m. pickup by Joy, who had me to the airport at a little after 6:00.  The gates changed three times, but my luggage and I were rejoined successfully in Denver, where Ann was on hand to pick me up.  It has been a year since I have seen her, and I was very glad to set eyes upon her once again.  After a little snafu getting out of the parking lot with her camper van, we were on our way, driving 25 N through Fort Collins, to Cheyenne, Chugwater, where we inquired about gas but were told there was none, and up past Wheatland, Glendo, and Douglas to make a final stop in Casper--altogether a distance of about 378 miles.  We checked in at La Quinta, and, with Chase along, were glad of the hotel's policy of allowing pets.  We had an early dinner at a restaurant called The Fort--Ann had buffalo wings and a beer, and I had a burger with fruit salad.  Very necessary, as I was famished and am still laboring under laryngitis.  Following dinner, we drove to the National Interpretive Center in Casper.  Hours in the Internet had been listed as 8-7, but that turned out to be wrong, as they closed at 5:00.  We will return tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.  The Center is known as Wyoming's finest museum, and features state-of-the-art technology, allowing the visitor to experience what pioneer life was like for early emigrants.  The entrance is designed to resemble the curved top of a wagon, and we will be able to sit in a wagon and view a simulated crossing of the North Platte River.  The highlight of the center is an award-winning audiovisual presentation illustrating the life and times of early pioneers, including the Native American history of that era.  After we view those exhibits tomorrow, we will be continuing on to Sheridan, then swing west to Cody, Wyoming,   There we will visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a complex of five museums and a research library displaying artifacts and art of the American West.  The five museums include the Plains Indians Museum, the Buffalo Bill Museum,  the Whitney Western Art Museum,  the Draper Natural History Museum, and the Cody Firearms Museum.  We shall stay at an RV /camper site in Buffalo Bill State Park, and as I am not sure if there will be access to electricity there, I have decided to combine the two dates of our accomplishments in one blog.  What an amazing countryside this is!  Endless skies, endless prairies, buttes, lonely homesteads in the midst of a beauty that is stark and unforgiving.  But beautiful nevertheless!