Thermopolis, Wyoming

We spent two nights in Thermopolis, on the Bighorn River in Wyoming. Thermopolis has one of the largest mineral hotsprings in the United States; these mineral baths are free to the public thanks to the Wind River Indians. The land where the hot springs are located were originally owned by the Shoshone & Arapaho Indians of the area. About 100 years ago, the tribes sold the land to the US government, but conditioned the sale on the requirement that the hot springs always be free and available to all the people. Above is a picture of the girls in front of one of the mineral fountains (the rocky-looking material is the mineral build up over the years). Mike soaked in the therapeutic baths each day while we were there and we also took the girls to a privately operated splash pool that had water slides and multiple pools, vapor caves, steam rooms, etc.

We also visited the Wyoming Dinosaur Center where we saw tons of dinosaur bones and visited a dig site out in the hills.

Local notables have included Butch Cassidy & the Hole in the Wall Gang (the town museum has the original bar from the saloon where they hung out). Also, Sacajawea is supposedly buried nearby on the Wind River Indian reservation next to the town.

A high point for us, though, was the A&W Root beer restaurant and bowling alley in town. In addition to greta root beer floats and burgers (that you order via telephone at your table0, they also have 3 statues of the A&W family out front. Photo above.

But the big news of our stay here is that Mike caught the biggest trout of his life right in the Bighorn River. He caught it using worms, and is very excited about this.

Thanks to Steven Flax for recommending we visit Thermopolis.