Up at 5:35, and dressed in full Scout Uniform.  49 degrees - quite a change from the Wind River Range!  Our post-midnight Troop hadn’t set up tents, but were rather just sleeping on the ground in the next site.  I woke everyone else at 5:45, with 3 quiet commands:  Stay Quiet, Dress in Uniform, and have a change of clothes to change into after Mass.  Matt found a wallet in the parking lot coming back from the bathroom; I tried to find the manager to hand it in, but no luck (although a radio was playing in the office, no one answered my persistent knocking).  Finished packing up by 6:45, and ate breakfast (food bought by Ted and Mike yesterday).  At 7:15, I tried the office one last time; still no answer, so I relayed the wallet to one of the local residents who promised he would deliver it at 8:00 am, when they "officially" opened.  Best we could do, since we were out of time.  Coming back to the vans, I ran into some of the Scouts and Adults from one of the Troops that had set up before we came back last night, and briefly chatted with them; they were from Chicago.
 
We left for Mass at Saints Cyril and Methodius around 7:20 (way early, it was all of 8 minutes away).  Ted, Mark, and Mike went to snag some coffee at the local Gas and Go, while everyone else either sat in the van or tossed a frisbee around for a few minutes.  We headed in at 7:45, and were greeted warmly by Father Savio, the Pastor.  The Church was quite beautiful inside, and it was a nice service.  Father Savio recognized us from the Altar, and also offered a prayer for our continued safety.  After Mass, we headed over to a local McDonalds for a caffeine fix.  We noted a problem with the left rear shock on the cargo van (the bolt for the lower mounting bracket was missing, and the shock was hanging down).  I went inside to notify the other adults of the problem, thinking that our chances of finding an open service bay on a Sunday morning were "slim and none."  But proving that it pays to go to Mass, the guy at the next register (also "Mike") happened to work at the local, full service Texaco a couple of blocks away, and immediately offered to help us (Wow!)  He led us down the street, and within a minute of our arrival, we had 3 guys working on the van.  10 minutes, fixed, and they adamantly refused our repeated offers to pay.  Full Scout Uniforms Strike Once Again!

After offering our profuse thanks, we headed west on I-80, then north on U.S. 30 to Diamondville/Kemmerer (the latter was the location of the original J.C. Penneys in the world (go figure)).  Absolutely unbelievably, the classic rock radio station we were (still) listening to played "Journey of the Sorcerer" - the song I had stated before as being one of the two best concert songs I had ever heard.  [I’ll bet I hadn’t heard this song on the radio in 20 years - cue up The Twilight Zone theme music, please!]  There was some kind of a fair or parade going on in Kemmerer, which we worked around.  Then onto Fossil Butte National Monument.  The terrain became more rolling, with lots of white mesas and only moderate to sparse vegetation.

We pulled into the Visitor Center around 11:40, and spent about an hour touring inside.  Superb displays of many dozens of 20 - 200 million year old fossils - everything from giant palm fronds to a 12 feet long crocodile.  And dozens of fish, of course.  Two different video shows helped explain everything.  We also got a live demonstration of uncovering a fossilized fish (about 15 inches long) by Tim Reins, a Ranger/Preservationist who patiently answered our many questions.  A very knowledgeable guy.  Ted discovered that the $5 Fossil Butte patches could be had for free for completing a "junior ranger" type program, so he grabbed a bunch of the booklets and set off a blitz of Scouts filling in answers and drawing pictures of fossils.  Not exactly Merit Badge quality work, but good enough to get the free patches.

At 12:40, we headed up (by van) to the "Chicken Creek" Picnic Area - one of the very few spots in the area that had significant tree cover.  Only one of four tables was free when we first arrived, but the other picnickers were about to leave, so we soon had 3 tables.  Cold cuts and PB&J sandwiches, plus Gatorade, delicious.  At 1:30, we drove up to the end of the road, and then walked up the quarry trail.  Took about 20 minutes (and a pretty stiff climb) to reach the "quarry" - surprisingly small, only about 12 x 20 feet or so, and very exposed.  There were two Naturalists on site:  Andy Brooks and Beth Demyanick.  Andy was just leaving, so Beth gave us the nickel tour.  Turned out that this layer was about 60 feet below the famous "18-inch layer" that has all the enormous fossils that makes this area so famous.  In contrast, this much older layer has a fairly high concentration of small, fossilized fish (between 2 and 4 inches long).  Beth first showed us how the fossils were mapped out, layer by layer, as they were lifted away - then allowed a few of the Scouts to use thin spring metal rules to lift off a few sections of the layer they were currently working on.  We didn’t find any new fossils, but it was neat to try, anyway.
 
We headed back down to the vans around 2:30, where a college student tried to enlist us into doing a survey (unfortunately, we had to take a pass).  Back down to the main road and on into Idaho, stopping in Montpelier for the Oregon Trail Museum (formally, the National Oregon/California Trail Center).  This was another "freebie" arranged by Ted (in exchange for a donation to the museum).  We pulled in around 3:40 - just enough time to buy some drinks from the gift shop before our 4:00 tour.  I had had some doubts about a museum stop during our trip planning, but this turned out to be an excellent choice.  The museum did not just consist of static displays, but rather had tour guides done up in period dress, and lots of "hands-on" interaction with some of the exhibits.  We started in a general store mockup in "Independence, Missouri," where a "wagonmaster" went through all the things necessary to get to Oregon.  The Scouts were encouraged to handle the firearms of the day, plus a boring and rifling machine, plus flint and steel, obsidian knives, and other vital items.  Next was a general store, where we reviewed some of the critical foodstuffs and other consumables (salt, tobacco, whiskey, etc.).  The wagons were a surprise - much smaller and narrower than the classic "Conestogas" from the movies; apparently, the trail wasn’t wide enough for a Conestoga, and anyone using such a transport would very quickly be forced to stop or turn back; it was many years before the trail was that well developed.  I was amazed to hear that it cost $600 to get prepared for the trail (a huge amount of money in those days).

From there, we got into two wagon mockups that gave a sense of the jolting, uneven ride and noise when inside one on the trail (they actually moved, twisting unevenly, to simulate rolling down the trail; lots of bumping, grinding, and groaning).  On the other side of the "ride" was a mockup of a typical campsite with 3 new narrators, one an all-around handyman and guide, and the other two were wives.  The setting was a campfire within a wagon circle.  These brought to home some of the life - and death - along the trail.  Apparently bad water killed a huge percentage of people; and many others were killed or eventually died of wounds suffered while mishandling wagons through difficult stretches.  We also reviewed some of the tools and cookware used on the trail.  One item that was particularly clever was a home-made odometer that could be mounted to a wagon wheel, which accurately measured the miles passed each day.  From here, we exited to a gallery, consisting of 40 large mural-style paintings (all done by one artist) of a myriad of scenes along the trail, all painted in the actual locales and based on diaries kept by the pioneers.  An prodigious effort.  Gary Stone (the artist) also had 2 quirks in that he would paint his wife (Beverly) and at least one Indian into each painting; in some cases, it took some doing to find them (for example, he would paint his wife’s face into the rocks, or have Indians viewing the wagon train from some thick woods).

When we were finished, John Cook (the Director) allowed us to go downstairs into the basement to look at the "Rails and Trails" collection, which had been compiled and was maintained by a local historical group.  This included many donated items that were not open to the general public.  As you would expect, there was lots of neat stuff there as well, including railroad artifacts and many items of clothing, furniture, and housewares from the very beginnings of Montpelier (in fact, before it was even called Montpelier).  A nice "extra" for us.  When we finished, the guys hit the gift shop again, while Ted and I talked with John for a few more minutes, and also made our donation to the museum.  They have done an outstanding job there; I hope they get "discovered."

At 5:45, we called it a tour, and left for our next campsite, the Montpelier KOA (arriving just behind 2 noisy Harleys).  Ted did the check-in, and we were on-site by 6:00 - a nicely shaded spot near the end of the camp, with lots of flat ground and 4 picnic tables, running water, and 2 stand-up grills.  Our nicest commercial campsite of the trip so far.  Everyone was distinctly unenthused about another one-pot "trail" dinner, so Ted and Todd left to buy charcoal and a cheeseburger dinner back in town.  The rest of us set up tents, lanterns, and cookware.  Most of the guys then headed off for a swim; I wrote some more diary.  Hugh hit about half the campsite trying to give away our remaining fuel (without success).  Ted and Todd returned with a ton of food, including ice cream.  They forgot to buy lighter fluid, however, and the camp store was out, so I used the old Coleman Fuel/wait 10 minutes/throw a match at it from 10 feet away trick - which worked.  [Kids, don’t try this at home!]  Hugh and Mike set up the feast, I ran the grill.  Mike went over and grabbed our swimmers at 7:45, and we all enjoyed a huge dinner (too much to eat, but we devoured most of it).  We gave the Scouts their release to hit the game-room over in the campstore, while Hugh, Mike, and I handled cleanup.  We put the lanterns on low, and headed over to the game-room ourselves, where Al was "schooling" the Scouts in pool.  The rest were playing a few arcade games, or talking with the current cashier in the store (a quite attractive young lady).  Matt couldn’t resist buying a coonskin cap - I told him he looked like roadkill.  The gameroom closed at 10:00, and we hit the rack soon thereafter.  Clear skies, but still pretty warm, 56 degrees.