Did you know that just a little bit north of Laramie lies one of the greatest and most well-known, important fossil beds for dinosaur bones in the world? It's Como Bluff. I've long wanted to see the Fossil Cabin which lies along the old Lincoln Highway route and was once quite the tourist attraction. We passed it on our way to Casper for the dog shows late last month, and finally stopped by this historic road stop on the way home.

The cabin is reportedly made from 5,796 dinosaur bones! I didn't take time to count them, however.

It was a sad little place as it is now, deserted and forlorn, falling into disrepair. Haunting, really. It must have been a bustling tourist attraction in its day back in the heyday of the highway, complete with a gas station. You could fill up your car with gas and fill up on history all at the same time.

You can read more about it here.

Last weekend, when we had company, we decided on the spur of the moment to drive up to the Snowy Range. It's the closest place we know of to get "up close and personal" with true mountain peaks. This time of year though they aren't quite as "snowy" but still beautiful.

This is Medicine Bow Peak, (above) where in 1995 a United airlines plane crashed right into the side of the mountain, killing all 66 passengers plus the crew on board. In those days it was the most deadly airline incident ever to be reported. Airplanes were not pressurized back then and the plane was supposed to have kept to an altitude of 10,000 (the peak is at 12,000) and fog blanketing the top of the mountain was suspected to be the culprit, although no one really knows. 

We stopped at the top and took the short walk to Lake Marie (the spot where numerous dog photos have been made!).

(Note: This photo was taken on our last visit in July)

The flowers were plentiful, unlike the visit we made in the spring hoping to catch all the spring alpine flowers in bloom only to find them lacking. No so on this visit.

On our way back we ate lunch in the tiny town of Centennial, Wyoming at the Old Corral. Such a fun western atmosphere and really good food — we'll be eating here again.

All in all, a really nice little day trip.