Sadly, we will not be completing the Oregon Trail.  As you can imagine Chris is distraught and hasn’t come out of the bedroom since finding this out!  We will be leaving the overland travelers in their quest, because we are beckoned by the Black Hills and Yellowstone.  So, we decided to take a day trip in to Wyoming to see a few more important parts of the trail before we wander away from it.  We drove just over an hour from Scottsbluff to Guernsey, WY (which Chris did really enjoy, all kidding aside).  You can see our route below:

Why Guernsey?   I thought you’d never ask!  Guernsey is the home of Register Cliff, where overland travelers inscribed their names as they passed through, and it is the home of the best trail ruts probably on the entire Oregon Trail.  These aren’t the dinky ones that are being passed off to tourists like we saw in other places.   These are serious ruts carved in stone!  We also saw our first golden eagle, it flew about 80 feet directly over our heads.  We were too stunned to take pictures. Traveling in to Wyoming we were really leaving the plains behind and driving to much higher elevations.  Peak Laramie was visible in the distance, and it really is a peak, nothing like anything I have ever seen before.  It was a dark point looming on the horizon.  It “peaked” our interest for what the Rockies will be like.  Once the puns start, I know it is time for me to get to the photos!

Unmarked graves

A video to show you the ruts…

And so we say farewell to the Oregon Trail, allowing it to press onward without us…