We arrived back into Worland that Thursday evening. Friday morning saw us on the road - again - to Thermopolis. Turns out Derek's bull elk mount was finally ready after 18 months or so at the taxidermist there. Needless to say, he was excited to get it. Weather during the week we had been gone had been pretty bad - lots of rain and such. When Friday morning turned out to be pleasant and dry, we made the trip to pick up the mount. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves - a beautiful animal beautifully done by the taxidermist. Now I just need to draw a bull tag up there so I can have one just like it to hang in my entryway. 
Saturday saw us prairie dog hunting again (see The Hunt story - first article in this series), and then back in time for a steak dinner Saturday evening.
Sunday was departing day, but I had a later flight (so I thought...), so we had time to make a run into the Big Horn Mountains. Derek wanted to take me up there so I could see first hand what the country is like in the area where I've been putting in for an elk tag. Now...mind you, this is June 7. It is rainy and cold down in Worland - about 42 degrees when we left town. As we approached the Big Horns, we could tell it was snowing. Well, a blizzard is actually a more accurate term I suppose. Again, this is June the 7th! Check out these photos - and be sure to check out the truck thermometer pic.
Coming off the mountain, we stopped in Ten Sleep for another meal at the Crazy Woman Cafe. As mentioned earlier, great food and awesome strawberry-rhubarb pie. Then it was back into Worland. The hour was approximately 2:30. I thought my flight left at 5:50. I hopped on Derek's computer to do the online check-in and was shocked to see that the flight had already closed out - I was within the 90 minute window where you couldn't check in online. Needless to say, I paniced and found my flight information: the flight was scheduled to depart Worland at 3:50. YIKES!!! I rushed around to pack (and still forgot a few things...) and off to the airport we went. I felt really bad that I didn't get to swing by and say goodbye and thanks to Neal and Jeanette (Derek's folks), but come to find out, they totally understood. They said something to the effect that it was par for the course where I was concerned. I suppose they're right. 
I did make the flight, thank you very much - and it turns out I would've had time to swing by and see them as the flight was about 30 minutes late. Due to the lateness (which was not my fault, I'd like to reiterate...), it did make the connection in Denver rather tight - especially since I didn't have a boarding pass for that leg yet. And as luck would have it, my Great Lakes flight arrived at the far east end of Denver's Terminal A, and my Frontier flight was departing from a gate at the far west end of Terminal A (thank goodness I didn't have to change terminals). I was surprised to find that my checked bag also made the connection in Denver. I arrived on time in Houston about 10:30 that Sunday night, and with the drive home, the trip was over.
And what a great trip it was. I love visiting Wyoming - such a different pace of life up there, and you're surrounded by total beauty regardless of whether you're in the mountains or in the badlands. And it doesn't hurt to have great friends there, either. As for the road trip, yeah, we covered a hell of a lot of miles in a relatively short period of time. Just over 2,000 miles in 5 days to be more precise. But what a road trip it was. And if you've never considered visiting Glacier National Park, you need to add it to your list. Yes, Yellowstone is absolutely gorgeous and should be on your list of must-see places. But you've GOT to go to Glacier. At the time of this writing, I haven't been to the Canadian Rockies (they're on my list), but from what I hear, the ruggedness and stark beauty there (think Banff) is very similar to Glacier. They're part of the same mountain range, in fact. But I've never seen anything like it - breathtaking, and worth every mile. In fact, although there are no solid plans at this time, I do plan to go back so that I can see the middle section of the Going to the Sun road.
In short, if you've never been to this part of the country, you've got to go!