Day-25 .. The Mayor's Wife

What a difference a day makes!   After almost 6,000 miles on the road, running away from forecast snow and blizzards, it finally caught up with me.   You remember that, after very pleasant weather back East, I noticed snow clouds in Nebraska and Wyoming?     This is what we woke up to this morning :

5-7 inches  .. Jim & Carol's back yard

We headed over to Hot Springs Park and took a few pics, one of the same I  took yesterday to see the comparison :

Here's a few of the Mineral Terraces, which the hot springs water rolls over mounds and empties into the Bighorn River :

bring your swimsuits!  that's the indoor hot springs pool,  outdoor pool also

Here's the cowboy statue, compare to yesterday's pic :

Then it was on to the Hot Springs County Museum.   What a treat!

bar back drop that was in a bar frequented by 'The Hole in the Wall' gang !

typical chuck wagon used out at ranches rounding up cattle

many, many of these family stories line the walls ..

extensive arrow head collections

A fun museum!  Much to see.  County museums merit a visit!   Afterwards we ate lunch at 'The Front Porch'.   Good sandwiches.   Mayor and friends and County Sheriff and a deputy were there also.   It had to be good.   Returned home in the sunshine and .. look at the change from this morning :

We sat down to visit and recap the day's adventures when ... a knock on the door resulted in a lady coming in and greeting Jim & Carol.   She was bringing a bag of cookies and a program from a funeral she just attended in Billings.   She's the Mayor's wife.    She and Carol proceeded to catch up about Thermopolis happenings.   Then ... the conversation turned to rocks and fossils, and she proceeded to enlighten us about all of the sites around the region.   This is a passion of hers!   I told her about Cameron's interest in dinosaurs and she went out to her car to get a container of rocks and fossils.   She opened bags of fossils and explained their name,origin, and where they were found.   She put together quite a few of them into a bag for me to take to Cameron.  He will be so excited!   See some of the items :

She recommended a super book for young readers :

Thanks!  to Jim and Carol for hosting me and showing more of the wonders of Thermopolis and the surrounding area.   What a treat!   And, of course, excellent food and desserts and most importantly .. fellowship!    Maybe, maybe, they didn't bring or encourage the snow ... ??