Travelogue -- Shoshone National Forest

Diane is really mad right now because she just wrote a whole long post for me about the Shoshone National Forest and then her iPad froze and it got erased and she says she's not writing it all over again. Instead we're going to give you the short version:

On Friday, July 15, after we left our lovely Sinks Canyon campsite, we drove up into Shoshone National Forest on a beautifully scenic road that began paved and wound its way up with hairpins and switchbacks to an elevation of over 9,000 feet. From there the went along a ride with small ups and downs and became dirt road.

Even though it was dirt and narrow and had steep drop offs to the side sometimes, there were tons of people driving it in both directions. At one point, we were going down and an RV was coming up, and it was a tense moment and we figured out how to get past each other.

We drove as far as a high pass where Todd parked the Big Rolling Crate and he and I took a walk to an old CCC overlook. Diane didn't come because it was buggy there and she hates bugs. She stayed in the Big Rolling Crate and read until we got back.

The hike wasn't long but the overlook was scary! It was basically really old stone steps the side of a cliff. Todd was scared for me, and his fear made me afraid, but we took our time and were careful and everything was fine.

On the drive back down, we stopped at a stream to swim. The water was freezing!

From there, we drove back to Lander for a late lunch. Diane and Todd went to a restaurant called Gannett Grill and had really nice hamburgers. Even though I couldn't go to the restaurant, I know it was good because they brought me a doggy bag and I had hamburger in my dinner for the next two days. It was delicious!

From Lander, we headed towards the Tetons with the plan to camp in the northern part of Shoshone National Forest. 

We drove a long time through the Wind River Indian reservation. After we crossed the reservation, we stopped at a public river access for a quick dip.

There wasn't much in the way of towns on the whole drive, but as we got into the National Forest, we did see this sign:

The northern part of the forest was a lot different from the southern part. The Southern part had these rolling hills with lots of boulders and outcrops. The northern part had very steep, pointy, rocky peaks and tall, narrow pines. 

We spent the night at the Falls Campground, which wasn't as nice as Sinks, but was a good place for one night and got us pretty close to Grand Teton National Park. Here are some pictures from our campsite:

Diane likes being at a campground, as opposed to dispersed camping, because there are tables, fire pits, bear safes, and bathrooms.

Todd heated up some leftover pizza over the fire. It got very cold in the night, so it was nice to have a fire.

Except, I am kind of afraid of open fires, so whenever we have one, I go sit far away. 

There were tons of holes in the field behind me here. At first we thought they were from prairie dogs, but when Diane finally got a good look at the critters that kept popping up, we realized they were somethings else, maybe pika. Whatever they were, I could have played whack-a-mole with them all night long if only Diane and Todd had let me.

The last of the day's sun on the clouds.

And the moon on the rise.

Do Your Job #PottyMouth

My people are obsessed with my potty habits. They are constantly saying, "Amelia, do you need to do your job?" Which is the polite way of saying go to the bathroom. 

When they are being patient, they take me out and say, "Okay, do your job." And when they are being impatient, they say, "Come on, take a pee," or, "I know you need to poop." As if they didn't understand that these things take time and that it is important to find exactly the right the spot.

In the morning, they take turns taking care of me, and then they leave each other coded notes like the one above, which means:

Amelia peed (#1) and pooped (#2), which equals 3, and she ate (8) her breakfast.

Taco ate (8).

They don't ever tell Taco to do her job because Taco does her job whenever she wants in a box in the powder room. I envy Taco's freedom. It must be nice to be above all bossing around. That said, I know that going to the potty outside is way better than using a box inside. Sure on cold, rainy days, it'd be nice to stay in the warm, dry house, but Taco never gets to feel the breeze on her bum. Poor sister-cat.

Anyway, as I said, they're obsessed with making sure they know if I did my job. Sometimes, when we're away from home, it's hard for me to find the right spot and feel comfortable, and this stresses my people out a lot. The first time they ever took me on vacation, I refused to pee for over 24 hours, and on the ride home, they literally stopped at every single exit off the highway from Freeport, Maine, to Lowell, Massachusetts, trying to get me to pee. I never did. I preferred to wait until we got home.

I've gotten better since then--that was five years ago after all!--and I think our trip will be fine in this regard. For me, anyway, because as we've previously established, I go outside. 

What Diane's worried about now is her own potty issues. You see, the Big Rolling Crate (BRC) isn't like an RV. There's no plumbing. 

The other day Diane and Todd came home with the emergency toilet solution: A toilet seat that snaps onto a 5-gallon bucket. The people are going to have very cat-like toilet habits, it seems, on this grand adventure. 

From the look on Diane's face when Todd snapped the seat onto a bucket, you'd think she'd just stepped in poo, and not that Todd was proposing a place to go #2. She studied the bucket-toilet and said, "I think I'll just maybe be dehydrated a lot and not eat much."

Todd assured her it's only for emergency because most of the time there'll be Walmarts and truck stops and fast food restaurants and camp grounds and, of course, the woods. Personally, I think the woods are the best toilet, so I'm not sure why Diane makes that face every time Todd mentions it.