EVANSTON, WY
Today we make our way to Kemmerer, WY (the fossil fish capital of the world) with a stop in Evanston, Wy. It is a good day to get out of the Salt Lake City area since it is supposed to have record heat and the smog is already hanging thick in the air. Evanston seems like a good place to stop for lunch. And it is. They have an historic downtown where the buildings have been preserved even though converted to other uses. John and I take a walk around and then have lunch at the Main St. Deli. The picture is of a building on Main St. built in 1887.
THE HOMESTEAD
Then we go the rest of the way to Kemmerer. I have been a little concerned about our lodging in Kemmerer. We are staying at the no-picture-on-the-internet Energy Inn. As we pull up we can understand why there is no picture. We drive by and look around Kemmerer and Diamondville to see if there is a more palatable choice. The other choices are much scarier. So we come back and check in. It’s not great but I think we can manage. We then take a look around Kemmerer.
First we go to the Fossil Country Museum. They have lots of exhibits of early life in Kemmerer. I love looking at ads with prices like $5.60 for a wringer washing machine and $.08 for a meal. Then we visit to the J.C. Penney home. He lived in Kemmerer when he established his first store.
THE MOTHER STORE
The store which is in its third location is one of the longest continually operating department stores in the U.S. Inside it just has regular Penney merchandise. I want to buy something historically significant but there’s really nothing here that I can’t buy in the Penney’s at the mall at home.
Tomorrow we go to Fossil Butte National Monument for some hiking and fossil watching. Then I don’t know what else there is to do here.
