Road Trip with Henry – Day 3

The alarm came early this morning. We were up at 4:00 a.m. and rolling off the mountain by 4:30, watching the first light of day spread across the Bighorns. We retraced our route through Worland and continued on to Thermopolis. I don’t believe I’ve ever traveled this stretch of Wyoming before, and I found it both beautiful and intriguing.

The Bighorn River looked absolutely ideal for drift boat fly fishing, with anglers scattered along the water. Just upstream, Boysen Reservoir stretched out through the upper end of Wind River Canyon. Between the river and the reservoir, it certainly looked like an area worth returning to someday with a fly rod—or perhaps even the boat.

As we approached Riverton, Henry spotted something unusual floating in the western sky. At first it was just a colorful object in the distance, but as we got closer we realized it was a hot air balloon. Soon we discovered we had stumbled into the middle of a hot air balloon jamboree. Balloons drifted gracefully overhead while crews followed along the roads below. We even watched one make a gentle landing in a field right beside the highway. It was one of those completely unexpected travel moments that neither of us will forget, and Henry captured some terrific photos along with plenty of video.

The biggest surprise of the day, however, was discovering the military vehicle museum outside Dubois. It seemed almost hidden away in the Wyoming countryside, making its size and quality even more remarkable. Henry was completely captivated, moving from one display to the next taking photographs and videos of the incredible collection. I have to admit I was equally impressed. The amount of detail, the variety of restored military vehicles, and the overall presentation made it one of the finest military museums I’ve ever visited. Its somewhat remote location only added to the mystery, and I’d be interested to learn the story of how such an impressive museum came to be there.

From there we continued west, stopping in Dubois for fuel before beginning the climb over Togwotee Pass. Crossing the Continental Divide and descending toward Jackson was spectacular, although Jackson itself was absolutely packed with tourists. We didn’t linger long, eager to get over Teton Pass and into Idaho.

By early afternoon, around 1:30, we rolled into Driggs and were pleasantly surprised that our hotel room was already ready. After getting settled, we headed over to Royal Wolf for supper before making one last stop at the grocery store to stock up on snacks for tomorrow’s drive. The truck had accumulated a healthy layer of Wyoming dust over the past several days, so we also treated her to a much-needed trip through the car wash.

Tomorrow will be another early start. Our plan is to be back on the road by 5:00 a.m. with hopes of reaching the Tri-Cities by early afternoon. After another full day of driving and sightseeing, neither of us had much energy left, so we returned to the hotel, relaxed for the evening, and called it an early night in preparation for the final leg of our journey west.