Casper (Not The Friendly Ghost)

On our way to Casper Thursday morning, Pat studied furiously in the passenger seat.

Since there are no testing centers in Gillette, we worked it out so that he could take his first July CPA exam when we went to visit my sister, Jeana.   A phone call came in as I navigated the gentle rise and fall of the grasslands — it was Tom’s Hot Shot Service telling me the unconventional method I had suggested for okaying my driving record with their insurance had worked.   Could I start tomorrow?!   (No, but I’ll be in first thing Monday!)

I dropped Pat off at the nicest testing center he’s been to yet.   Usually they won’t let you take anything into the testing room — no food, drinks, watches, chapstick, calculator, pens, pencil, gum, nothing.   No breaks, either, except for whatever you’d like to sacrifice of your testing time.   And the staff is generally unfazed by the urgency of the test-takers, whose futures often depend on the outcomes of those few hours.   The Casper center was far friendlier — a testament to my beloved Wyoming, I think.   They were willing to accommodate hunger, provide plastic baggies and candy, and support their test-takers in anyway reasonable and within the rules.   Yay!

While he tested, I went with Jeana  to pick up my nephew, Izziah, from a summer program at the local school.   A bundle of energy, he came charging out to greet us.   A few hours later, Jeana  headed off to work and Izziah  and I went down to the local Goodwill.   He was an excellent shopping buddy, and from the seat of the cart helped me pick out shirts with collars (the dress code for the rodeo concessions) to try on.   He did a great job with design parameters, but when it came to prints he thought every shirt was, “Awesome!”   I had to acquiesce  and add a few horrible floral numbers to the dressing room pile.   And of course, when I was done, he more than deserved the “turn” he asked for.   It was wonderful to watch him weigh his six-year-old values as he lobbied for more than one shirt and had to slowly weed out which of the six shirts he would keep.   Yellowstone animals was first to go!   The light-up Power Rangers shirt just barely won out over Batman and a Skulls shirt.   Then it was time to pick up Pat and head over to my grandparent’s for dinner.

Izziah is an awesome kid with a strong independent streak.

Between playing with grandma, he helped in the kitchen as Pat and I whipped together a simple dinner of honey-mustard chicken, broccoli, and roasted potatoes.   We had a lovely evening chatting and catching up, topped off with ice cream and a walk down to the neighborhood park where we played on the swings, chased Izziah, and raced down the old-style metal slide.

In the morning, we took Izziah  to the summer program (against his will – he was adamant about being sick, but got better when we reminded him that sick kids can’t go swimming), and Jeana  and I walked down to the Goodwill to get some cards.   We played Rummy  with Pat until it was time to pick up Izziah.   Jeana  had to work, so Pat and I took my nephew to one of the local swimming pools complete with waterslides.

He loved it!   The weather was perfect — just short of scorching.   He rode on my lap down the waterslides  until I was confident that he could struggle through the nose-deep turbulent water successfully.   Then he was, to his delight, on his own (with Aunt Jema  always seconds away just in case).   I definitely got my exercise in a nearly unbroken circuit of up-the-stairs-down-the-slide-up-the-stairs!
That night, we put into motion our plans with one of Pat’s best-high-school-friends and his wife.   We were treated to an amazing evening of food a drinks in “Bar Nunn” — a little community outside of Casper.
Their adorable baby girl toddled around the kitchen as we had cocktails (the secret to their Margaritas is a 7Up and a Corona), amazing jalapeño bacon poppers, and BBQ German sausages fresh from Kyle’s family farm in South Dakota.   We chatted late into the night, including a phone-conference session with their third musketeer — Logan – who now lives on the east coast.

Saturday morning we got up early to hike up Casper Mountain to the falls.   Jeana’s man, Mark, had to work, so it was just the four of us.   Izziah  loved the waterfalls, and we discovered that new trails had been built  since Jeana last visited.   Fortunately, they were also all well marked  for a race that was to take place the following day.   We had no problem following the  four-mile loop, and Izziah had lots of fun “rock climbing” and exploring “caves” and other nooks and crannies.   We also had a great picnic!

Mark was home from work when we returned from our hike, so we all went to mini golf while Pat started study for his next (and hopefully final) CPA exam.   Izziah  loves golfing, and even has his own clubs.   So, no surprise that Aunt Jema  came in fourth (out of four), behind Izziah by more than a few strokes!   Back at home, after a Wyoming thundercloud rolled through, we fired up the pit in the backyard and sat around the fire as the sun set.

Going back a bit, one morning early in our stay, Jeana  and I had “disappeared” (from Izziah’s perspective) on a walk.   He was very upset that he was not invited along and made sure to remind up throughout the morning and afternoon that he was still “mad” at us.   So, I promised him a walk that just he and I would go on, and no-one else.   On our departure day, I got up early, went for a run, and then came back to the house to pick him up on his bike.   I ran and he pedaled several blocks until I suggested we visit a park near his house.   After playing on all the equipment, we started a game of make-believe with the crawl-through tube as our horse we were riding cross-country to California.   I believe we named her Annabelle, and stopped several times to shop and eat at the “Free” store and feed Annabelle  popcorn and hay.   Izziah was sad when it was time for breakfast, but I assured him we could come back and ride Annabelle anytime.

After morning munchies and few games of cards, it was time for Pat and I to head back to Gillette.     I had a date with the rodeo! (Concessions, that is”¦)

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