Hot Springs, Wyoming, Utah and Family

Friday October 25, 2024

Dear Diary,

Good morning God 

  • I am grateful for this day. 
  • I am grateful for hot springs. 
  • I am grateful for cold weather. 
  • I am grateful to be alive. 
  • I am grateful for blessings. 
  • I am grateful for receiving everything I need. 

Thank you. I love you!

I woke up at up 3 am and wrote my blog. After editing it and posting it, I went back to sleep at around 5 am. At 7 am Angel woke me up and told me it was morning. We got up and I made tea. We packed up our luggage and the coolers and hearted (headed) out. It was 29 degrees Fahrenheit and it felt really good. Before getting on the highway, we stopped to get Angel some breakfast. While I was waiting for her food to be ready, I realized that the hotel keys were in my pocket. Good thing we were just around the corner from the Super 8 and not farther down the road. I dropped off the keys and we drove through the medicine bow mountain range outside of Laramie. We saw a lot of antelope along side of the road. Antelope are so neat looking. There was snow on top of the mountain and the view was beautiful. The roads were clear and it was a fun drive. We stopped at a lookout point and took some pictures. 

On the other side of the mountain range, we stopped at Saratoga Hobo Hot Springs. This is one of our favorite places to stop whenever we drive through Wyoming. The main pool was really hot, so we went out to the pools by the river. They were barely warm. We went back to the main pool and I sat on the step with only part of my body emerged in the water. Angel only had her legs in because it was way too hot for kids. I’m guessing the temperature had to be at least 115 degrees. There’s one more smaller pool that’s usually hotter than the big pool, we didn’t even try that one. After being partially emerged in the main pool for only a few minutes we felt plenty hot even though the temperature outside was now 41 degrees. We went back out to the river and got in the luke warm water. We had gotten hot enough that the cooler water felt great. Angel played with her toys and I fully relaxed, basking in the beauty of the river. 

After a while we started to feel cold and walked back to the main pool to warm up. As we passed by the smaller pool that’s usually hotter than the main pool, I reached down and checked the water temperature. It was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. I’m guessing it was at around 102 degrees. Excited to find a pool at a perfect temperature, we got right in. I floated on my back fully relaxed and Angel swam around me. A lady named Flora joined us in the pool. Flora and I hit it off immediately and had a great time talking about our lives. Angel played with her toys and interacted with us while we talked. Angel showed Flora all of her toy horses and ponies she had brought with her. Flora has real horses and had a fun talk with Angel about different types of horses and which ones are their favorites. 

We stayed for an hour and then I was ready to get back on the road. We had five more hours of driving before arriving at my son Shawn’s near Salt Lake City. Flora got out when we did and in the dressing room we met Floras sister. After we got dressed, Angel and her had an in-depth conversation about my little ponies which Floras sister had collected when she was a kid. Angel pulled her ponies out of the bag she was carrying them in and Floras sister told her which ones she had at home in her collection. I enjoyed watching them interact, they were both excited to have someone to talk ponies with. 

The drive to Salt Lake City was uneventful. We were on I30 the whole way. We listened to Lassie Came Home on audio and we both really got into the story. The scenery was incredible. Wyoming is one of my favorite states to drive through. It’s so rugged and wild. I drank a smoothie and ate pumpkin seeds and some dark chocolate almonds. We crossed into Utah and went down in the Salt Lake valley which was covered in smog as usual. Rarely is the air clear in the Salt Lake valley.  We drove through the city and made it to the other side without getting stuck in a traffic jamb even though traffic was heavy at 4 pm on a Friday. 

We arrived at Shawn’s at around 4:30 pm. I was feeling really tired by then. The long drive on 4 hours of sleep yesterday had caught up with me and I was exhausted. Shawn, my grandkids and grand dogs were home. They have 5 indoor dogs, 3 big dogs, one chocolate lab puppy and one large chihuahua. The dogs jumped all over us as soon as Shawn let us in the door. It was mayhem for 5 minutes or so until everyone calmed down. I gave my grandson Sam a hug hello. Then Angel and Sam ran off to his room to play. I hugged Shawn and we discussed whether Angel and I would be staying the night there or getting a hotel room. There isn’t really any room for us to stay at Shawn’s so I decided to get a hotel room. I sat downstairs talking to Shawn while I searched for a nearby hotel. It took a while to find one that was under $150 dollars but eventually I found one that was $108 and it had good reviews. My teenage granddaughter came out of hiding and we said hello to each other before she disappeared into her room again. I ordered Papa Murphys pizza for everyone to eat for dinner and sat upstairs talking to Shawn until it was time to go pick up the pizza. I got the pizzas and filled up on gas. Shawn had the oven warmed up when I got back. We cooked the pizzas and everyone ate. Just as I was getting ready to leave to go to the hotel for the night, Shawns wife Bri came home from work. I was glad I got to see her before we left. I chatted with her for a few minutes, then I gathered up Angel, gave everyone a hug goodbye and drove to the hotel. On the short drive there, Angel got out Drinky the dinosaur and he was misbehaving by biting my arm. I reprimanded him and Angel laughed and laughed. She thinks “Drinky the misbehaving dinosaur” game is great fun. 

We got checked into the hotel. The man at the front desk was friendly and the room was nice and clean. Regardless I sprayed down the floor and bedding with permethrin and we went straight to bed. Angel and I cuddled and tickled each other for a few minutes. Then we both fell asleep at around 8:30 pm. 

Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I appreciate you. 

Love, Victoria

P.S. this blog post is inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

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