Frannie To Buffalo WY or Luci does Big Horn, Washakie and Johnson Counties

Thursday morning, July 10th, a sunny day in Big Horn County. 

Dave and Kelly are practicing their tunes for the WY State Fiddle Contest which is held in Douglas WY in conjunction with the State Fair. They are practicing their individual contest tunes and also for the twin fiddle division. 

Kelly has a get away cabin near her house and an old John Deere mowing machine parked nearby.

Kelly is planning to go help her dad with mowing today using a swather, not anything like this old mower.

We are packed up and on the road south through the basin. We cross the Big Horn River at Manderson and take a paved county road following the Nowood River south to Ten Sleep, elev.4206. Turning east onto Highway 16 we are going to cross the Big Horn Mountains. This is a Wyoming scenic byway. Ten Sleep creek is full and rushing west.

The mountainsides are blue with Lupine this year.

Up and over Powder River Pass, elev. 9666. Luci and the Tacoma are a good team handling the steep uphill and downhill grades without complaint.

On to Buffalo, the Johnson County Fairgrounds and the 2014 Big Horn Mountain Festival and a great camping spot with electricity for three days of Bluegrass music and good eats!

Going to Frannie WY to see Kelly Wells

On a cool July 8th morning we set out pulling Luci north through Albany county past Bosler ( home of Bosler rosin, "medicine for your bow"), Medicine Bow (home of the Virginian Hotel), the Shirley Basin, Casper and finally stopping for lunch in Shoshoni. I'm saddened that the Yellowstone Drug store is closed where they made the most wonderful ice cream malts.

Ever pointing north, Luci passes the Boysen reservoir and winds through the Wind River canyon following the rushing river. 

Unable to find a coffee shop in Thermopolis, we stop at the State Park where thermal springs are a feature and make a pot of coffee, drinking it at a handy picnic table. Lots of folks were taking advantage of a free soak. Here is an example of the mineral deposits left by the springs.

North again through beautiful if stark country. Chugwater formation red dirt then sandstone rising up on either side of the river, we are almost to Greybull.

On to Lovell we see sugar beet fields more often than corn here. Crowley, Deaver (a food truck serving  Chinese food is parked at a former cafe!) and finally at Frannie we turn east on 2 1/2 Road and then south to Kelly's farm home. 

After a good visit and some dinner Dave and Kelly play some tunes.

Beaver Creek Campground

Beaver Creek Campground is a Black Hills Forest Service campground in South Dakota north of Newcastle WY.  A well maintained dirt road leads to Mallo Camp, a private camp with a lodge and cabins plus other camping. The road continues but narrows almost to a single lane snaking along Beaver Creek. 

The campground entrance dives off the main road leading to eight camping pads for tents or smaller RV's. Campground information suggests RV's no larger than 23 ft. We chose an easy parallel site next to the creek. All campsites have a picnic table and fire ring. There is no electricity, no garbage service or cellphone service. The pit toilet was clean and potable water was available from a pump.

An interesting feature in the campground were the white rocks that delineated the campsites and the road keeping people from driving onto the grassy areas near the creek. 

The campground is in a beautiful setting with hiking trails nearby. We hiked along a cross country ski trail after navigating a barbed wire gate. The trail was steep in places and rocky but we didn't have to climb. Violets, arnica, yarrow, wild strawberry, lupine, geranium and several other flowers that I couldn't name were blooming. 

Other than Grey Jays, Robins, Chipping Sparrows and Song Sparrows and a chipmunk, we saw no other wildlife. 

Dave and I enjoyed the view until a chilly wind started the pine pollen blowing so we retired to the trailer and enjoyed the view from Luci's panoramic front window. 

We took a drive in the afternoon along the maze of forest service roads. Good maps helped us to see where we were going or we might still be wandering around the hills. Our truck was covered in fine white dust. 

The next day we packed up and headed back for Laramie stopping at an overlook near the former Cambria salt mines.

The drive home through Newcastle, Lusk and Wheatland was broken up by a lunch stop in the parking lot of the Wheatland Elementary School. It is nice to be hauling around your favorite lunch spot and it can be wherever you happen to stop. 

A final stop at the Orin Junction rest area on Interstate 25. We find out that the Interstate rest areas have dump stations! Another find was that the new 80 mph speed limit signs have gone up along the interstate.  Most folks seem to go that fast anyway whizzing by us RVers. 

Anyway, home again. Bambi Luci got a thorough cleaning and an outside rinse and the Tacoma got the pine pollen and white dust and South Dakota bugs washed off. Now we are ready for the next trip!

Kenaston Jamboree a 46 year tradition in Springview NE

The Jamboree is a benefit for the Keya Paha County Historical Society started 46 years ago by Bob Kenaston. He invited musician friends to come and play an afternoon jam session and an evening performance. 
A wonderful pot luck meal is provided for the musicians and lunch is served afterwards. Homemade buns with roast beef, ranch beans, salads and desserts of all kinds filled our tummies. 
The tradition is to start out the evening with a few tunes from the fiddlers. The youngest looked to be eight and the oldest was a seasoned veteran.

The Kenaston kids keep the tradition going by providing a back up band for all performers and dance-y tunes for the folks who want to dance. Sharon and Vanessa harmonize to the old old country tunes while playing bass and rhythm guitar. Roger plays lead guitar and dobro and BobbyJo plays drums.

The school gym is the venue, fitted with a stage for the performers and chairs for the audience. People come and go, visiting, listening and dancing. 

Some folks, like us, come from a distance. A nice if small campground with restrooms and showers, electrical hookups and Free Wi-Fi !! makes it easy to relax and jam with friends.

Rivertown String Band

Dave and I have known Kathy and Jim Wood and Jenni Wallace for many years. They and Paul Arnold were Rivertown String Band in 1998. They played a few tunes at Matt and Jennifer's wedding reception and accompanied Jennifer on a song for Matt. Paul has since moved to Wisconsin and Jim and Kathy have moved to a palace on 132nd St. We met Jim, Kathy and Jenni for dinner and followed them to their home (aka palace). Music ensued on the deck on a beautiful evening in May.

Jenni and Dave playing Kelly Reel.

Jim playing his Guild guitar. Kathy playing rhythm. Good times and good tunes.  We hope to see them before another decade passes. 

There's no place like home

Grandpa B ended up in the hospital while we were fiddling around in Omaha so we stayed an extra day to see him home with some extra services. He and Bonnie are teetering on the edge of needing more assistance to live safely. Home Instead will come in to help with evening and night cares and morning dressing and getting to the dining room for a few days or longer as needed. All of us are hoping this will work for them.
We made it to Gothenburg's city Park for the night after leaving Lincoln. Beautiful towering cottonwoods over gravel pads, electricity and showers, a nice walking path, frisbee golf and a dump station plus a friendly couple who run the campground. Few campers and a nice breeze made us feel comfortable.
On to Laramie and home June 1st. Six hours is too long to drive but we were determined to just do it.
After hot, humid eastern Nebraska the cool dry Laramie air was a blessing. It felt like going back in time since the trees and bushes were in new leaf and had spring blossoms. Ross has been taking care of the house and lawn. Looks great and feels great to be home. Bambi Luci thinks so too.

Black Hills Bluegrass Festival

The Black Hills are lush this year with frequent rains and cool temperatures. Our campsite at Elkview campground was all grass with electric hookup and a picnic table just up the hill from the shower house. Other sites had full hookups and gravel pads and still other sites were for tents. Spring peepers were singing in the creek and bluebirds were busy catching insects. 

Dave had found some friends to pick tunes with and I got out the grill to make dinner. Then the rains came in bucketfuls. Dinner was finished inside the trailer. 

The next morning was sunny and cool but warm enough to play tunes outside. 

Dave and Mike Martin play a few tunes in a sunny spot out of the wind. 

The Friday night show was held indoors because of the rain but Saturday and Sunday shows were held on the stage in a natural amphitheater below a steel building that had food, vendors and another stage. The entertainment lineup is below. 

We stayed to watch most of the Sunday gospel show then packed up and hit the road.