Thermopolis, the Dinosaur Center & Wind River Canyon

It HOT here but I guess it's really really hot back home.  It's in the 90's here but not nearly as humid as home.  We spent all day exploring today starting at Mallory's favorite spot, The Wyoming Dinosaur Center.  It's one of the top 10 dinosaur museums in the world and here it is in little Thermopolis, Wyoming!  The reason I picked this spot is because Mallory went to the University of Iowa to study paleontology.  She changed to History and secondary education, but still loves her dinosaurs.  So, when I was looking for a halfway spot between the Black Hills and Yellowstone, I found Thermopolis. 

It was easy to find her birthday presents!

Next, we went to Hot Springs State Park and the springs are White Sulphur Springs.   Sulphur...stinky!  The springs are hot water!    The park is also home to the state buffalo herd but we only saw some from a distance.  The park is also home to a swaying pedestrian bridge which of course we had to cross. Dad and Carol crossed it as well. And the view from the other side was so cool.  The hot springs have been depositing calcium as they cascaded over a cliff and that view was only possible if you crossed the swaying bridge.  My father (afraid of heights!) walked across that bridge!

After the state park, we saw there was another state park around half an hour away and it involved a drive through the Wind River Canyon. Wow.  I'm glad we didn't miss this scenery.  Massive rock cliffs lined the drive.  We ended  up in a little city called Shoshoni, WY where, because there's just not many roads out here, we turned around and took a second trip through the Wind River Canyon.