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It was nearly 9:00 when I left Elk Mountain, but the world had an early
misty morning feel as I passed the mountain. A few days ago, back at
Niland's Cafe in Iowa, I witnessed delivery of more than a dozen pies to
the restaurant. Today I would be doing the delivery. Pies for tonight's
dinner needed to be transported from Cheyenne to Rock Springs. The place
supplying the pies is normally closed on Mondays but there was discussion
of someone possibly being there so that I could pick them up while headed
west. That would have been convenient for me but would have meant keeping
a bunch of fruit pies in my car over night. I eventually decided that the
possibility for disaster that presented outweighed the inconvenience so
I'm not sure how far discussion of a Monday pickup actually went. This
morning I'm headed back to Cheyenne for pies.
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I mentioned my pending pie mission to Susan and she suggested I take US-30
to Cheyenne as it's only a few miles longer and, because of construction
and traffic, would be close to the same amount of time. I was easily
convinced. As a result, I was able to duck into the parking lot at the
Virginian Hotel and snap some pictures of it and the museum across the
street.
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Although I was well aware that the "Oldest Cabin in the World"
was coming up, I missed it. My excuse is that I've never driven through
here in this direction. As the dinosaur fossil cabin slipped by, I
realized it immediately and quickly turned around. I snapped a picture of
the fenced in cabin and another with the lens poked through the fence but
the real story is in the third picture.
The fellow in the picture is Steve Rider from Albany, New York. I knew he
was attending the conference in Rock Springs and probably in the area
which no doubt made it easier for me to accept that it was Steve I saw
walking across the parking area at the cabin. Just another running into a
friend 1800 miles from home in front of a house built of dinosaur bones
day.
As Steve and I talked, a pickup that had been parked in the lot pulled up
to us. This was George who works for a construction company that seems to
be involved in most projects in the area including moving dinosaur cabins.
I had read about plans to move the at risk cabin to the museum grounds in
Medicine Bow. George told us that, although some site preparation and
other work remained, the moving project was in motion. Before the actual
move, something like a gigantic balloon would be inflated inside the cabin
to keep it from collapsing. A firm date doesn't exist but it sounded like
the cabin could be in its new home within weeks.
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Steve and I chatted a bit after George pulled out then I headed east.
Steve would continue west after looking over the site a little more. I
told myself I would make no more stops but just couldn't bring myself to
passing Tree Rock a second time without a picture. The tree stands between
the east and west bound lanes of I-80 inside a ring of pavement. Without
planning it, I exited, drove halfway around the tree so I was on the same
side as I'd been on previous west bound stops, snapped a picture, then
continued on around the tree to return to the east bound expressway.
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In Cheyenne, I headed directly to the
Pie
Lady, loaded up fifteen pies, and immediately returned to I-80.
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I reached Rock Springs in plenty of time to deliver the pies, register for
both the motel and conference, and check out the book room.
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Well dressed motorist Bill Von Tagen is ready for dinner and so are the
pies. Several local dignitaries welcomed us to Rock Springs, but before
they got started, the conference organizing committee was introduced.
Pictured are members Jerry Peppers, Bill Von Tagen, Brian Suen, Russell
Rein, Gregory Hasman, and Kay Shelton. Committee member Robert Beaudoin
was busy elsewhere at the time. The last picture shows LHA Headquarters
Manager Lyn Asp providing some dinner music while LHA President Kay
Shelton demonstrates her versatility and willingness to do whatever is
needed by holding the mic.
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