Back on the road with Diablo. This was our first real opportunity to get Diablo out this summer and with gas prices dropping ever so slightly, we headed out. Our first stop was Lake Pueblo State Park in Pueblo, Colorado. Will Has some cousins that live in the area, actually they live only about 3 miles from our campsite. They came over and we enjoyed a nice time grilling some steaks and hanging out.
They gave us a couple recommendations for things to see in the area the next day. So, the next morning we set out, our first stop was the Steelworks Museum. Pueblo has a rich history in the steel making industry and was the only plant west of the Mississippi for many years. It was an interesting museum and is set in the former medical building for the plant. Although, the plant looks like it has been abandoned for years, it is still run although a much smaller operation then in its heyday in the 50’s.
The drawings were used during WWII to promote the Steel Plant. 
This is the old part of the plant as seen from the museum. 
The original doctor for the plant was a stanch believer in the Eugenics Movement, believers wanted to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics regarded as desirable. This was also what Hitler believed as well and his party adopted Eugenics as part of their doctrine. Dr. Corwin still managed to get a hospital named after him.
We then took a tour of the Rosemount Mansion. Jan gave us a great tour. The 37-room mansion was fascinating and gave us a glimpse of what it was like to live as part of the upper class in the Victorian era. Most everything in the home is original. It was the home of the Thatcher family who came to Pueblo to open a store and quicky saw a need for a bank. The last member of the family occupying the home died in the late 60’s and as part of his will, a trust was established to turn the home into a museum. We were told that at Christmas the home is spectacularly decorated. Maybe one of these days we’ll make a trip up to see that.
We then drove on to Bishop’s Castle. This “castle” is located about 50 miles outside of Pueblo in the San Isabel National Forest. The drive was beautiful and got us out of the heat in Pueblo plus the road is a Colorado Scenic Byway. Bishop’s Castle has been under construction since the late 60’s and is the dream of one man. It is a site to see and is built almost entirely of stone and iron. You definitely enter at your own risk and as you get higher up you are warned again not to shake or jump around as it could collapse. Needless to say, Will did not join me as I went exploring around.
We were able to continue on the scenic byway back to Diablo. That night Larry and Yvonne had us over for dinner. Great food and good company, it was a great start to our latest adventure.
We left Colorado and headed for Glendo State Park in Glendo, Wyoming. It is located in between Cheyenne and Casper. The town of Glendo boasts of a population of 263. It’s a large state park on a reservoir that is managed by the BLM. We had picked a good spot that we were glad had at least partial shade because it was hot.
We were by ourselves the first night in this section.
We got up the next morning and decided to explore Casper a bit. On the way, we made a stop at the Ayres Natural Bridge and had the place to ourselves. It a park managed by the county and is only 5 miles off I-25. It’s a pretty area and has picnic table and BBQ grills. There was also a sand volleyball court and some horseshoes, so would make a nice area for a family picnic.
Will wanted to check out the local Casper ski area Hogadon Basin Ski Area. It’s located on Casper Mountain. It’s one of those ski resorts where you drive to the top and ski down. The lodge looks to be fairly recently built. They have one main lift, a lift for the bunny hill and a Poma lift for the terrain park.
Since we were on the mountain, we looked around for a nice hike and found just what we were looking for. The Eadsville Loop is used a cross country trail in the winter and hiking/mountain biking trail in the summer. It was 4 miles, and the trail is pretty well shaded, which was nice on such a hot day.
After lunch we made a stop at the Tate Geological Museum, which is part of Casper College. It’s a free museum that has a number of dinosaur fossils as well as rocks and information on the formation of rocks in Wyoming. We also discovered that Wyoming is the largest coal producing state in the Nation. And here you always associate West Virginia with coal mining. One of the Curators at the museum is very passionate about his job and was great at explaining and answering questions from the kids exploring the museum.
Our last stop in Casper was to the Rotary Park to see the Garden Creek Falls. It was a short walk from the parking lot to view the falls which were still flowing despite the area looking pretty dry.
The next day was another hot one and we thought let’s take the bikes out and explore the park a bit. Made our way to the dam overlook and decided that was good enough. The park has some pretty good size hills and with the heat we were spent. We decided that a lazy afternoon was in order.
We were off again to Billings, Montana. We were actually staying in Laurel, MT about 18 miles outside of Billings at the Riverside RV Park. It’s dry camping only, but it was a good deal, so we figured we’d give it a try. We got there and quickly got set-up and headed back out as we had tickets for the Magic City Blues Festival. We found that we both really enjoyed Amythyst Kiah. It had been raining pretty much that whole day in Billings and so it was quite a bit colder which was a welcomed change from the heat we had been experiencing in both Colorado and Wyoming.
Also, conveniently located across from the refinery.
The heat was back the next day in full force. We decided to get out and drive the Beartooth Scenic Highway. This road is only opened in the summer months once they’ve had a chance to clear the snow. This year there was also some heavy flooding in June, which washed out sections of the road and caused some rockslides as well. Well, we didn’t make it very far into the drive when Will decided it was a little too scenic for him.
I got up the next morning and decided to tackle the Beartooth Hwy myself. So, another sunny hot day, which made for a great drive. The views were spectacular, and I also managed to see a heard of mountain goats at the top. You can make the drive into a loop and return via the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. It’s probably a little longer of a drive doing it that way, but I would recommend it as it is a very pretty drive as well. If you have a fear of heights, you could just drive up and back on the Chief Joseph as it isn’t as intimidating. There is a switch back section, but the drop-offs aren’t as severe and there’s more vegetation.
Mountain goats 
This guy was skateboarding from the top.
Looking for a handout. 
Got back from the nice fresh air of the mountains to the stifling heat of the upper 90’s. We continued our mansion tours as Billings has one as well. The Moss Mansion was completed in 1903 and we were surprised at the similarities between it and the Rosemount Mansion we had just seen in Pueblo. Both had a button at the dining table for the lady of the home to summon the staff to bring the next course at meals. They both used curtains as well as pocket doors in the doorways to deaden sound as to not disturb members in other parts of the home. Both men had originally gained much of their wealth from opening banks. Most of the furniture is original as the last member of the family to occupy the home had it written in the will to turn the home into a museum.
Then we headed over to the Pictograph Cave State Park. This park is just south of Billings and has a few rock paintings in one of the 3 caves in the park. There was said to have been 100 pictographs visible at one time. Due to the ravages of time and vandalism through-out the years there are only a few that are still visible. Most of those that remain seem to also require some imagination to make out. It’s a small park and it’s only $8/vehicle for non-Montana residents, so the price wasn’t bad.
