Our Bold Adventure Continues

The Big Horn Basin lies in north central Wyoming, a northwest to southeast oval tipping its hat into southern Montana. It’s a moonscape. Funky-looking, desolate, stunning. Hot and dry in summer, bitter in winter. It’s isolated and easy to get lost in. It is distinctive enough to be readily visible on satellite images from space. The badlands of the Big Horn Basin. Some geologists write it Bighorn Basin, but our client prefers the three-word version, so that's how I write it. A few towns ring its circumference. You've probably heard of Cody, Wyoming, a tourist magnet just an hour from Yellowstone. It's the Basin's biggest town with 9,000 souls. The populations of other towns around its perimeter hover between hundreds and low thousands. Not much goes on in the heart of the Big Horn Basin, at least not now. But at different times in the earth’s history this area was immersed in tropical flora, an inland sea, and a lush forest. The earth is approximately 4.6 bi...

No matter how well you plan, it's not possible to get five people into a car at the appointed time on departure day. The speed with which a minivan with a roof carrier can go up a mountain pass and the speed with which it can go down the other side average about 50 m.p.h. O on day 2, after doing some kind of coloring project in her seat: Does anyone have a stapler? A roof box can open while going around a corner down a hill, spilling much of its contents, if you have not properly closed it. Colorado is a big state. There are a lot of hot springs in Colorado. There are also a lot of mountains. Funnydad could spend all day wandering in sand dunes. Dude likes moonscapes. O on day 3, frustrated, Does anyone have a stapler NOW? Four-year olds are not terrified by 32-foot ladders and small tunnels on cliff dwellings. They are, however, worried that the man with the hat [park ranger] will talk too long. The most exciting thing about breakfast at the hotel for the girls and funnydad (!) wa...