Just outside of Sundance, Wyoming is massive geologic wonder called Devils Tower.  Teddy Roosevelt declared it the first national monument. It is a tall, mind-blowing structure that is sacred to tribes of the area.  Every June they close the monument to visitors so they can practice their religious rituals. People from all over the world come to climb these columns.  The National Park service put it perfectly, “Devils Tower entices us to explore and define our place in the natural and cultural world.” We came here on our way to Sundance and gazed at this place reflecting on how far we have come and where we are going. On our way to Sundance, about 30 minutes away, we could not find a gas station and for the first time on our trip we almost ran out of gas!  With just a gallon left we finally found a station in Hewlett, which was out of the way.

Once we arrived in Sundance, with a population of 1,222 recorded in 2013, Amy and her baby Wyatt along with her daughter Dylan and a their neighbor greeted us outside the Garoutte’s house.  The Garoutte’s moved to Sundance two years ago from Sussex County, New Jersey.  Jeremy Garoutte is my brother-in-laws’ best friend, so once we came to Wyoming we knew we wanted to stop and say hello.  It is always so refreshing for us to see familiar faces from our hometown while on the road.  We caught up and laughed about familiar places in “the county” over a delicious pasta dish that Amy so graciously made for us.  Dylan couldn’t wait to draw on Scarlet. Once Wyatt saw what she was up to, he wanted in the on the action, too.

We were all hugs leaving their home.  Sundance is home to a drive through liquor store. Scarlets first drive through in this category so we considered it a must to order some wine before heading to Reuter Campground.

The next day, we headed to the fairgrounds.  Amy hooked us up with Kendall at the fairgrounds in Sundance for our volunteer efforts in Wyoming.  Kendall showed us the grounds where they are sharing space and building a grade school.  The grounds host the Crook County Fair as well as 4H events, meetings, and wedding receptions.

Today we were in charge of some much needed grounds maintenance for the upcoming graduation.  We white washed 10 wood planter pots and filled them with soil and flowers.

Chris helped us get the rings off the pots while we painted.  Once we finished the first step he went back around and hammered the rings back on while Mel and I enhanced our green thumb planting flowers.

Mel took a special liking to the Violas, which shares the name of her great grandma. The finished pots looked so much better filled with spring vibes, which was exactly how we felt as we were leaving Sundance.

We set off for our next stop- South Dakota!