A Week Awandering in Wyoming

Hey again!

My sister Crista flew into Rock Springs this past Sunday, and things have been very busy ever since! We left Monday morning for Yellowstone and spent three days there touristing like there was no tomorrow. After seeing the Wind River mountains up close and personal not so long ago, and having driven to Wyoming through the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Yellowstone was actually a bit of a disappointment. The mountains were nice, but not as glorious as say, the ones we see driving to town here. What was REALLY cool about Yellowstone though was all the geysers! They come in all shapes, sizes, and sounds. From big, brown fog horns to red little spurts, I think I took a photo of every major one in the park!



Before this trip, I had taken 644 pictures of my summer vacation out here in the West, from California to Wyoming. This week alone, I took 750.



The camping in the Park was interesting. It was surprisingly crowded with RVs, and the Park doesn't allow you to camp outside the designated (and expensive) camping grounds. I tried starting a fire the first night, but Uncle David made me stop after 20 minutes of pouring rain. ;)

In case any of you are planning a trip to Yellowstone, the Park's main roads form a figure 8, and most of the really cool places to go are on the lower loop. Old Faithful was definitely a high point (har har), and the lodge there is a lot of fun!



After our three days in Yellowstone, we made a jaunt over to Cody. There, we saw the Old Trail Town, a recreation of an Old West town. Several notable figures' graves had been exhumed and relocated to the town including W.A. Gallagher, Blind Bill, Liver-eating Johnson, and Belle, the lady in blue. All of the buildings there are original structures which have been relocated. They had a schoolhouse, general store, carriage house... even the hideout cabin that the Hole in the Wall gang used to plan several major bank robberies! It was nifty!



Also in Cody, we saw the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a collection of 5 museums including the Whittier Gallery of Art, a gun collection housing 2700 arms, the Buffalo Bill museum, an Indian musueum, and the Drapier Museum of Nation History. There was a special exhibit under the Indian museum of a whole bunch of bronze statues. Really cool. There was also a video there about how they make bronzes, starting with concept drawings, and following through all the way from the original clay statue to the final poured product and shipping process. It was an old Art school film, and had "flash cards" instead of sound. :)



It was incredible to me how much misleading and just plain wrong information was displayed in the Natural Museum of History. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me, but there were so many naturalistic, liberal, and environmentalist worldviews present as well, that some of the displays were a bit nauseating. There was one in particular that was describing the tragedies that occur when grizzly bears and human beings come into contact. It lamented that grizzlies were often poached. I couldn't believe my eyes! It made absolutely no mention of the numerous cases in which grizzlies have gone out of their way to attack humans for no reason! What about all of the times they've maimed, murdered, or eaten whole innocent people, completely unprovoked! }:{ *shudders*

...

The number of grammatical errors in the displays were also astounding. ;)

Anyway. After Cody, we proceeded on to Cheyenne, which is on the Southeastern border of Wyoming -- Boulder is on the far West side. We spent the night there since it was getting quite late, and in the morning, I competed in my first Cowboy Action Shooting match! It was fun! I'm also now a member of the Single Action Shooting Society. Basically, Cowboy Shooting entails dressing up in period clothing -- I've still got to get the britches -- and shooting steel targets in a scenario that can run from a high-noon shootout, to takin' out the bad guys robbing a bank. Most stages require a shotgun, pistols, and rifle, but occasionally you only need one or a combination of the three. This time, there was one stage that was exclusively shotgun (I got a good time on that one,) and another where you used all the guns, but had to shoot from the hip. 8| That was a toughie: I missed five times. XP



On the way back home that evening, we celebrated my Uncle's and my birthday at a restaurant called the Hungry Miner. I got to drive back to Boulder the 200-something miles that were left after dinner! It was my first time hauling a trailer on a standard transmission diesel! Fun fun FUN! :D

Yesterday, we spent the day in Jackson Hole with Dave and Barbie and ate at the Bar J. After a nearly-authentic chuckwagon meal, they perform Western, or cowboy, music for a couple hours. They are veyr funny, and the music is very good. Uncle David was thrilled that they played the Orangeblossom Special. :) I bought two tapes, and Crista bought some CDs.



Anyhoo, I'm gettin' sorta tired now. We put up some more walls up in the loft, fixed the riding lawnmower and cleared a lot of growth, installed another light fixture and a bunch of insulation. Crista completely cleaned out the camper, which was quite a feat! Have a good one!