Fort Laramie

Last Sunday, we abandoned our chores and played hooky from church and headed a few hours northeast to visit some friends and visit Fort Laramie.  We've talked about taking the kids to the Fort for a few years now but it finally took some good friends moving nearby for us to hop in the car.  It was a hot Sunday but we slathered on the sunscreen and had a great afternoon at one of Wyoming's neatest historical places. 

Our first stop was the visitor's center so we could get our bearings and get a map and enjoy a few minutes of AC.  The clerk at the welcome desk offered the kids a chance to earn a Junior Ranger badge by filling out a workbook.  Reina enthusiastically agreed, Will took a little longer but decided to do it. 

Glistening but eager to fill out workbook pages.  Will was psyched to learn that the fort was first called Fort William.  Who knew? 

After the visitor's center, oh look we found some cannons.  Whilst trying to look tough, Will bonked his head on the cannon.  Yep, we'd been there about 30 minutes and someone got hurt.  That's not even close to a record for us. 

Mom, do we have any icepacks? 

All recovered.

Fort Laramie has a few original buildings on site and others that have been brought back over time.  We are a family of old house afficionados so we spent a lot of time wandering in and out of buildings. 

This is usally my view on trips like this.  Boys in the front. 

Hey look at that old wagon, let's go take some pictures by that. 

Mommmmmmmm its so hot.

"I'm literally sweating." 

We found the Officer's saloon which serves a mean sasparilla or root beer these days. 

Luckily, you can also drink it from ice cold bottles. 

Yep, this one should probably saved for the Christmas Card. 

Fort Laramie is the site of Wyoming's oldest standing building.  Built in 1849, "Old Bedlam" was originally built as the bachelor officers' quarters and got the name "Old Bedlam" because well, it was the bachelor officers' quarters.  It's restored beautifully and you can peak into rooms on both levels.  It was also a great place for some pictures.  1849 is really something for Wyoming.  Fort Laramie today is still fairly isolated and I can't imagine what it must've seemed like back then.  Without a doubt, this was my favorite part of the trip. 

That little dot on the lower right staircases is my girl. 

We visited a few more buildings and completed the lap around the parade grounds to end up back at the visitors' center.  The kiddos (with some help from moi) finished their workbooks and earned the Junior Ranger badge.  Reina's still wearing her's. 

By the end of the afternoon, we were all sweaty and tired and maybe just a tiny bit grumpy, but 3 out of the four of us took a nap on the way home, so all's well that end's well and we got a neat little history lesson to go along with our summer.   


Oh Reina.