June 25-July 1—As I write this edition of my blog we are camped at Vedauwoo (Veedouwoo) Campground just east of Laramie, Wyoming its pouring down rain and 60 degrees. This a beautiful Forest Service campground surrounded by massive granite rock formations. This has to be one of the most beautiful campgrounds I have had the opportunity to visit in my 20 plus years of camping. Below is just one of the views I have as I sit here writing this article.
But let me digress and bring you up to date on our travels to date and the events that have transpired. After leaving Webster SP in Kansas we traveled to Oliver State Recreation Area in western Nebraska. When we arrived on a Friday the campground was full and we had to camp in the overflow area. This turned out to be not bad since we had the area nearly all to ourselves. The campground has no hookups so we did not suffer any consequences. The weather was cool, low 80’s in the daytime and low 50’s at night. Most campgrounds, other than private ones which I hate, have no hook ups in this part of our nation. We are completely self contained with a generator and solar panels, additional water and really have no need of hookups. The current campground requires blankets overnight and the temperature drops to the low to mid 40’s and the high so far has barely reached 70. The actual lake around the campground really did not produce many bird species for us so we headed out some county roads. I think our best find were a pair of Upland Sandpipers and Mountain Bluebirds. Just like back in Kansas those backroads produced lots of Horned Larks. We also ran across a pair of Wild Turkey and Red-tailed Hawks.
On Sunday, June 27, we headed out early so we could get a campsite in Vedauwoo, our current campsite, because it is a very popular campground and the 4th of July weekend was coming up which could make it difficult to find a nice campground. We were in luck and moved into our current site.
As it turns out this is a site we will occupy until July 7th. Since our trip to Alaska back in May I have been having a problem with my right eye. While in Alaska I went to a doctor who diagnosed the problem as a stye and said it would go away. And it did for the time we were in Alaska. Then the day before we left it began to bother me again, so when I got home, I went to a doctor and he thought it was an infected tear duct and gave me an antibiotic for 10 days. Then on to Kansas and still having a problem with the eye and it was even worse than before. Again, I visited a doctor who diagnosed the problem as a chalazion and prescribed drops and hot compresses. She did caution that if it didn’t get well soon, I need to consult an ophthalmologist as it might need to be drained. By Monday it had become so bad that I called an ophthalmologist in Laramie, Dr. Shaun Shafer. They were able to work me in that afternoon. Dr. Shafer, upon a through exam, determined it was the result of a muscle in my lower lid that was weak and was causing my lower lid to flip inward against my eyeball, thus putting my eyelashes against the eyeball causing the irritation. He said I would need a surgical procedure to correct the issue. He offered to tape it temporarily until I could get home. I told him I wasn’t going home. He said he had a cancellation for Wednesday and could do the procedure in his office. I said yes. This was driving me crazy. My eye was constantly hurting, tearing up, and weeping. I was at my wits end. So on Wednesday, yesterday, I had Dr Shafer do the proceedure. While lying on the table as he was beginning, I asked how many of these procedures he had done in his 20 years of practice. He astounded me when he replied at least 5000. He then proceeded to tell me he had lived and practiced most of his life in Cleveland and New York City. So, the next question is what brought you to Laramie, Wyoming. His response was really shocking—911. So. of course, that peaked my interest even further, so I asked how that influenced his decision. Dr Shafer then informed me that at the time he was working and teaching at Columbia Medical Center and they lost their power that day. Therefore, they took ambulances down to the site to treat the injured and while there the Second Tower collapse and two of his colleagues were killed. Trauma of this experience made him decide to leave the area. When asked how he chose Laramie he responded, “There are no tall buildings”. Needless to say I was very fortunate to find such a qualified doctor in a town of 30,000 people. Very fortunate! And as I write the day after this surgery, I am happy to report the problem seems fixed and my eye is no longer a major concern. I am seemingly back to normal except for a little swelling that has not completely gone away. I will see Dr Shafer next Tuesday and expect to be released so we can head on toward Idaho.
Enough of my personal situation and back to our travel and birding. We have gone birding while here at Hutton Lake NWR outside Laramie and some back road driving in the area around our campsite. I must say my eye problem has greatly affected my birding. On Tuesday before the surgery, I actually sat in the car while Deb birded because the sun and wind made it miserable to be outside. We had done some birding on Monday at Hutton and the highlight of that trip was a Prairie Falcon sitting on a fencepost. Unfortunately, he refused to allow a picture to share and I also got to witness the mating display of McCowan’s Longspurs on the refuge. Tomorrow I look forward to again getting out to do some birding now that my eye is back to near normal. I will share some bird photos later.
