Sorry I could not check in yesterday folks, we had our first day of i4kamping in Meadowlark Wyoming. We had more than 7,000 feet of climbing in only 43 miles as we ascended a mountain in Big Horns National Forest.  As we reached the top we got pretty close to snow. We happened to run into the 4k for Cancer New York running group at a rest stop. It just so happens that their group is running from San Francisco to New York in a relay setup with distances between 6-16 miles. Since they are a national group with multiple teams their organization raises around $800,000. It was such a crazy coincidence as we saw their support vehicle pull up right next to ours on the mountain and their team excitedly ran up to us. We exchanged the logistics of our organization and it turns out, we have the same goal of cancer fundraising and setup of staying in churches and such. They gave us the hot tip to ask grocery stores for donations if we are low on food. It was such a weird coincidence and it felt like we had just met ourselves in a parallel universe.

Rolling into Meadowlark Lake was the most beautiful scene we have witnessed so far. Pretty blue flowers dotted the sides of the grassy hills that surrounded our campsites and there was a fresh pine smell in the air. After the insane amount of climbing we settled into our campsite which was overlooking a ski resort lake. We broke up into groups of 4 for our first night in the tents. For dinner we roasted our own hot dogs and made s’mores. It was chilly when we woke up but as soon as we sped down the 15 miles of downhill in only 30 minutes, it was already hot and we shed our multiple layers. After the downhill section the mountainous forest scenery was traded for hilly desert and it was a hot one! As per our usual tradition we stopped at the local ice cream joint on our way into town. Some of us took the opportunity to use the shower facilities in the hot springs park and spent some time in the stinky but refreshing natural spring water. To celebrate the 4th tonight we plan to watch fireworks outside of the church.

In the next few days we have the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. We are all psyched!

Wyoming is the best state so far.

MB