June 21-22, 2022
We planned on going from South Dakota back down to Denver via a leisurely route through Wyoming. Neither one of us knew the state very well, even though we'd spent a lot of our adult lives in Colorado, practically next door. Our first stop wasn't far from our starting point in Rapid City. We had a week planned in Pine Haven, Wyoming.
We barely saw the sign in time that told us we needed to get the boat inspected at the state line. Normally, you get inspections at each reservoir or lake, but Wyoming has them at the border. It was at a big rest area, nice and efficient.
We stayed at the Empire Lodge, and though the sites are pretty narrow we'd stay there again. The owners were so friendly, just like everyone else in the area. And it was across the street from the only grocery store for many miles (nothing fancy, but they introduced Margot to FatBoy Churro Fried Ice Cream so Paradise Foods will always have a special place in her heart.
The first thing we couldn't wait to do was see Devil's Tower. It's a national monument not far from where we were staying, which made it a nice, easy day. It's definitely a weird experience to see it in the distance for the first time, and stare at it as it gets closer and larger. We spent quite a while at the monument, though their visitor center is pretty small and light on content. We just stared at it. It's such a weird and magical thing.
Even though we only had a week in Pine Haven and Monica was working each weekday, we got to Keyhole Reservoir twice. The town of Pine Haven is not very big, but it's pretty. And the reservoir is on the edge of town, so it was a quick trip to get to the water. It turned out to be one of our favorite reservoirs so far!
The first day was probably the best day, because we had it almost to ourselves. The weather was perfect, and we cruised around the lake grinning from ear to ear. It has a few coves we went into, and then we found the perfect cove. It had low walls of rock and green grass and trees at the top. It was a bit narrow, but deep. We found the perfect place to gently beach the boat, and then we got out to fine sand in a relatively flat area where we could set up chairs. And we had it to ourselves.
Margot jumped in a few times, swimming to the other side and back. Lacey ran all over the sand with wet feet, and she was a mess. At one point, she jumped out of the boat to the sand -- the first time she'd ever done that. She's getting brave!
We left the 360-degree camera running while we were enjoying the cove.
The second time we went to the cove, there were other boats there. It got a bit chilly, so we put the covers on the boat and hung out underneath, playing Farkle and loving life. At least until the water patrol showed up. We didn't have our floatation device with us, so we got a warning ticket. I'm sure they were just checking up on a beached boat that was all covered up, and found it weird to find two people inside.
Lacey really loved that cove, because she loves running around and exploring. Margot washed her feet off in the water, but she still needed a bath when we got home.
When we find a place like Pine Haven (which isn't often), we talk about what it would be like to live there (or at least stay for a long time). We won't be able to drive the motor home forever, and we'll eventually have to settle down. Pine Haven would get too much snow in the winter for us, but it would be the perfect fair-weather location for a house. Needless to say, we'll be back!
