Today would have been my Dad’s 99th birthday. We all thought he would make it to 100. He died peacefully six months after his 97th birthday. He is missed and thought of often.
As we cleared the rise in the road, Darlie exclaimed, “We drove all the way out here to see that!” That was her initial reaction to laying eyes on Devil’s Tower for the first time. After seeing Bryce, the Oregon coast, Glacier and Tetons, it does look a bit puny.
The northeastern Wyoming landscape left much to be desired. It is very bland and colorless. We did see many prong horns in the fields and along the roads. It was so lack luster that Darlie didn’t take the first photo.
Dropping down in to the valley near the Tower, revealed a very green colorful terrain accented by red rock cliffs. Darlie’s camera came out of hiding. The Devil’s Tower is framed by this very beautiful topography.
I have to wonder why so many things out here are named for the devil. There is devil’s tower, devil’s gate, devil’s creek, devil’s canyon, and so on. Nothing is named for the one who created all of it. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. Why not the Lord’s Tower or the Lord’s Canyon? Man refuses to acknowledge the creator. Instead he worships the creation.
Today we saw signs in the national monument asking us to respect the religious values of the Indians and others who hold this place as sacred by not walking off the path or disturb prayer cloths tied to trees. What about the establishment clause everyone hollers about? People would try to justify respecting the Indian values because they were here first. Again, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. The Lord was here before he entrusted anything to us. I think this is quite hypocritical of the government to protect religious values here while forcing the removal of Christian symbols that have been here since the founding of the country.
Prayer Cloths
The Indian legend about the creation of the Tower is cute, however. Legend has it that some girls playing in the forest were chased by a bear. They jumped up on a rock and the rock grew higher and higher carrying them away from the bear. The vertical lines on the Tower are the marks left by the claws of the bear.
We walked the trail around the base of the Tower. High up on the Tower sides you could see people climbing. A permit is required to climb the Tower. No one is allowed to stay up there overnight, however.
Can you spot the climbers?
We were pleased to see the rangers here enforcing the RV ONLY parking areas. So many times we have had to move on because people parked their car in the middle of an RV spot. One car taking up the room of a bus. Some people just don’t give a hoot or are plain stupid. When I parked today, I had to parallel like you would a car to wedge myself in between an RV and some idiot that parked in the middle of an RV spot.
When we came back to the RV, there was a ticket on the windshield. That is a first for us. What really gripes me is there are nearly always several spots open for car parking.
Sometimes I feel like doing a Smokey and the Bandit move like the trucker in the movie when he ran over all the motorcycles. Just crunch them right up and drive away.
There was a ticket on the window.
The campground here is small having only 50 sites. National Park campgrounds usually fill up early this time of year. This morning before church, I prayed that the Lord would hold one open for us. We were able to get a beautiful shaded site when we got here.
It is warm but a cool breeze is blowing. We sat outside. Cooked a meal over an open fire and visited with some of our neighbors. Very severe weather is predicted for this area tonight with winds up to 60 MPH, hail and lightening. We already had some rain and hail. Hopefully, we have seen the worst of it. Once more, I feel sorry for the tent campers. They are a hardy bunch. They seem undaunted with everything they have sopping wet.
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