WATCH and LISTEN To: St Louis Reunion Farewell Dinner Video #1
St Louis Farewell Dinner Video #2
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USMC VTA Mini-Reunion in Wyoming!!!
The dates are September 17th to 20th, 2022
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites
1002 – 11th Street, Lander, WY 82520
REMINDER: This is a mini-reunion…there is no registration form and no upfront fee. We will be asking for “donations” after we arrive and get moving…
ACIVITY SCHEDULE:
Saturday, Sept. 17 – Arrive. Lunch on your own.
For dinner we are thinking about arranging for an “Old West” dinner in the little town of Hudson which is about ten miles outside of Lander. You will be responsible for your own beverages … but dinner will be paid for by the VTA. I have been told that you will probably remember the meal for a long time after. And by the by, we will select several of the restaurant’s best-selling items for you to choose from…to be chosen by you about a month before we gather. Please don’t arrive too late or you’ll miss dinner.
Sunday, Sept. 18 – Free Breakfast at the hotel.
We will then travel by charter bus to Dubois and spend the day at the National Military Vehicle Museum. We plan to have VTA-provided box lunch at the museum.
We will travel back to Lander in the late afternoon / early evening. Dinner will be on your own in Lander or where ever you choose to dine.
Monday, Sept. 19 – Free Breakfast at the hotel.
This will be a “chill day.” You can hang out in the hotel hospitality room or you can travel around (on your own) as a tourist. Lunch and Dinner on your own.
Local Sites: Shoshone Rose Casino (in Lander)
Sinks Canyon State Park
Museum of the American West
Popo Agie Falls Trail
Freemont County Pioneer Museum
Wild Horse Sanctuary
Chance Phillips, USMC burial site (of “Taking Chance” movie fame) (in Dubois)
Wind River Reservation Casino (in Riverton)
Order a FREE site seeing guide book: https://www.go-wyoming.com/Lander/Attractions/#
Tuesday, Sept. 20 – Free Breakfast at the hotel.
Travel home … or embark on a tour of Wyoming (Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Etc.) on your own.
AIRLINE FLIGHT: If you need to make airline reservations we will be flying into the Riverton, Wyoming airport. Right now, there are three flights per day into Riverton. There may be some unfortunate changes where there is only one flight per day. I highly recommend that you take care of this sooner than later.
PLEASE NOTE: Just so you are aware, several attendees are flying to either Salt Lake City, UT; Denver, CO; Jackson Hole or Cheyenne, WY and renting a car to drive to Lander … many of them are planning to take time after the gathering to be tourists in the area.
CAR RENTAL: At this point, the car rental situation in Riverton is considered “slim” … but if we get our heads together and commit ahead of time, we may be able to arrange to make the situation “better.” That is, let me know if you intend to rent a car and we will try to get the rental people to remedy any shortfalls.
Again, you may want to fly to a larger city (Salt Lake, Denver, Jackson Hole or Cheyenne) and rent a car to drive to the Lander, WY hotel.
As you may or may not know, due to the COVID hysteria forced a lot of car rental companies to sell off excess cars and now they are facing a very short supply of rental cars because car manufacturers cannot make new cars fast enough to fulfill demand.
TRANSPORTATION: There are four or five “fixed route” buses from Riverton to Lander each day. This is a no-cost bus service. It is not an “on demand: service. They have a set schedule where departure times may be hours apart. This bus service is the Wind River Transit Authority at 307-856-7118.
If you need to travel on your own schedule, there is a taxi service (it is $70 each way) and you need to contact Gator Creek Taxi by Aug. 1st at (307) 851-3619 to reserve your ride. There may be another shuttle bus starting up later in the year. That new shuttle bus will also have a fee to ride from the Riverton Airport to Lander.
LANDER HOTEL: The room rate is $159.00 per night. We will be staying for three nights. We will be getting a FREE breakfast so that it worth (what?) $20.
You HAVE TO make your room reservations NOW!!! The contact information is below. Most of us know and understand that the hotel will not charge you until you check out of your room on the last day. Please secure your room reservation right away.
If you call and the hotel says that they are “out of rooms” for us, please call John Wear (719-495-5998) and I will see about adding more rooms to our block of rooms.
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites
1002 – 11th Street, Lander, WY 82520
Please note, guests will need to make their individual reservations by the cut-off date, August 20th. After this date any unclaimed rooms will be released and reservations will be taken on a space and rate availability basis. Reservations can be made by calling the hotel directly at 307-332-4005 or on line using the link below: (The group code and rate will populate when they put in their travel dates)