July 31 – August 5, 2018
Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming
After spending every dollar we had on truck repair in Colorado, and staying longer than expected in a $50/night campground to wait for that, we were feeling even more ready than usual to get back out into the country.
Brad found us a great space to boondock (when I use that word, I mean free camping with no hookups) in the Medicine Bow National Forest between Cheyenne & Laramie. The 5 days we spent there were some of the easiest, most relaxing boondocking days ever. Brad took advantage of a fantastic coworking spot in Laramie on a couple of days. The girls and I enjoyed a local coffee shop/bookstore where we could sit in 2nd story windows overlooking downtown & listening to occasional trains going by.
But the majority of our time here was spent out in the middle of a cow pasture on National Forest land. We parked near the underground tunnel palace of a very cute little flickertail that we named Natalie.
I hung our hummingbird feeder on the window next to our dining table again and attracted about 10 birds over the course of our stay. We enjoyed dining next to them a couple of times a day. Coral was most excited about the free range cattle roaming the meadows who she called her “cow pals”. She was so determined to pet one.
I’m sorry to say she never got to pet any of these ladies. Her opportunity to finally pet a cow came on our last day when we enjoyed the Laramie County Fair in Cheyenne. Free parking, free admission, and free kids activities. This was just what the doctor ordered. You’d think that camping in the woods would allow for these girls to run free, but they both seem to prefer being directly underfoot at all times, often playing legos or talking about being bored. Throw in a couple of rainy afternoons, and I was just about to let cabin fever destroy our family. So the county fair was a delightful reprieve from cramped trailer space, and they played and played and played to the point of exhaustion, unencumbered by occasional rain, and only slightly slowed down when another kid’s foot to the face meant a trip to the first aid station for gauze.
We had a few real life moments during this week like the ones you see on Instagram… Brad and me sitting outside drinking warm morning drinks together, talking and watching the meadow grasses dance in the wind. Even an afternoon when we set up a working space outside to get some work done side by side.
The back & forth between campgrounds and boondocking spots helps me fully appreciate what each has to offer, and this experience was no different. After a couple of weeks of money stress and busyness it was ideal to sit outside and let the rhythm of the earth’s cycles do its work on my spirit.