Split Rock and Sweetwater River

One of the things I absolutely love about this trip is that you never really know what you are going to see.  For example:  Split Rock is an area of historical interest that we hadn't even heard of before.  There were no other people there at all, so when we stopped we discovered a really cool place and had it all to ourselves.  Simon LOVED it here.  I let some of Alex's ashes go here because this is the kind of place she would have wanted to spend all day at climbing around.

Google it to read the history, if you want.

Simon was so fun and he was a much better climber than I would have expected.

See me up there?

Here I am!

Simon cooling off after his big climb.  :)

After we left here, we went through a town called Jeffrey City where again, I have to complain.  I wish there was something good to say, but there isn't much.  The restaurant we stopped at had decent food but the service was very rude.  They even went so far as to put the answers to any questions someone might ask up on a dry erase board.  Things like, "Yes, the winters here are cold and windy" were written in different colors and really sent the message, "Don't talk to me."  I wanted to hug her and ask her if there was anything I could do, but then I just decided to not leave a tip.  Weird grouchiness is not my forte so we ate quickly and got back on the road.

The only restaurant for miles.

This was the motel there.  Most of this town is deserted.  I wonder why.

This was cool tho.  :)

We stopped for the night at a true safe haven in Sweetwater.  There was a Mormon River Camp there and when we pulled in a couple of really sweet ladies came out to greet us.  They were so kind and welcoming and we were so happy to be there!  Little did we know we would get to witness something wonderful while we were there.  

As we unpacked our things and started to set up camp, about 75 people came walking up the River Trail, and they were dressed up in clothes from the frontier days, and some of  them were pushing carts.

Our wagons look different than their wagons.

They all stood in a circle.  And then they did what's called a "Cinnamon Roll" and the circle started curling in on itself until all these kids were in a huge pile!  It was hot out.  I don't know how they could stand it but they were all laughing so hard we couldn't help but laugh too.  It was wonderful to see young people having good clean fun together like this.

After they all got settled into their camp area, Ken and I took off down the River Trail the kids had come down and about a mile down the trail we spotted the access to the River.

The sun was just starting to go down.  We wished there had been showers there but once we got to the River we were actually glad they didn't.  The water felt fantastic!!

Sweetwater River Bath.

Yes, that is my Liggetts Soap!  Safe for the fishies and for me.

Makes you feel ALIVE to wash in a river.  Have you ever done it??

It's not always easy at first.  Ken is trying to ease in.  I told him to just get it over with and this is what he did:  

It surprised me and made me laugh!!  Then he did it to me too.  :)

After our bath Simon got a River Bath too.  No pictures of that, though.  It took all of our hands to wash him.  He did really good but didn't care much for it.  Then we all walked back to the camp and got ready for bed.  The next morning we spoke with some of the youth leaders and people who worked at the camp and several of them were not registered organ donors.  But they are now.  I thank them for that, and for their nice place to stay.  It was refreshing in many ways.

Thanks Sisters!  We will always remember your kindness.

Beautiful hand carts made right there at the camp.  Keeping the Mormon history alive.