Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Wide Open Spaces




Himself and I moved to Wyoming eight years ago from Florida as kind of an experiment. We needed a change, there was a job opportunity, and it sounded cool. Unlike a lot of life choices I have made based on cool factor, this move was a good choice.

Five Reasons I Love Wyoming:

Wyoming is sparsely populated. I love people, in a theoretical, stay-out-of-my-bubble kind of way, so to move to a state that has half the people of my former city? Well, that's a good thing.

About 30 miles south of town, we escape to the
 Laramie range and Medicine Bow
National Forest.

Wyoming has sky and lots of it. There's room in the Wyoming sky for everything and yet there's nothing in it but sky. It's as if, in other places, I'm standing in a box with a beautiful lid on it that's painted to look like a sky, but when I come home to Wyoming, the lid is taken off and the real sky is revealed. I imagine Dorothy felt much the same when she landed in colorful Oz after being ripped out of black and white Kansas. I need some ruby slippers.

Himself and Jas doing some rock walking.

People in Wyoming are friendly. This is most likely due to the fact that they're aren't many of them, but whatever the reason, it's true. People look you in the eye and say hello, they wave from their cars, (and not just with one finger, like in New Jersey), and they make good neighbors. Whether you need a cup of sugar or a box of thirty-aught-six, they've got your back.


There is no traffic in Wyoming, except for the occasional cow or tumbleweed stampede. Actually, it's so windy in Wyoming, the tumbleweeds aren't a problem, since they are usually going faster than the cars. I have been passed by a tumbleweed on the way to the grocery store. (Me, not the tumbleweed. I don't think tumbleweeds shop at Safeway.)


There are rocks in Wyoming that are easily climbable. These are so fun to climb around on, feeling all Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible-ish, without all the hassle of skill, athleticism, or that weird religion.

Nothing is better than a picnic at the top of the world.
















13 comments:

  1. To me, Wyoming has always seemed like one of those places where the outdoors is everywhere. Sounds like it's true. Great pics!

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  2. You're right on. Wyoming is certainly beautiful. You made a wise choice in settling there. I hope to visit Wyoming and Montana again.

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  3. Looks very nice...

    Heywood

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  4. What? Rock climbing without Scientology is like a pedicure without polka music.

    Nice pics.

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  5. Christian, the outdoors in Wyoming *is* kind of a stalker.

    Doug, There's plenty of room, come on out.

    Heywood, Deep thoughts, as usual.

    Brütalism, I know, right? These are crazy times.

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  6. Thanks for the positive outlook for Wyoming. All very true. The rock climbing is way better on Trials Bikes though!!!

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  7. it feels good when you know you made a good choice...the right choice...

    damn! SKY! BOULDERS TO CLIMB! stampeding cattle & tumbleweeds!

    i'd move in a nano sec!

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  8. STUNNING !!! This post makes me want to go on a road trip.

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  9. Glen, Don't you know you could break a hip, doing that at your age!

    Laura, We did. There are plenty of BONES out here, come on out!

    Gina, I'm on a permanant road trip! If you come out to Wyoming on one, though; bring food. There's a LOT of road and not a lot of food! Glad to have you riding along!

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  10. Your descriptions of Wyoming and its people are so succinct and clear and vivid - like all of your posts - when I finish reading, I feel like I've been there. My wife and I have wandered the coasts of the US (and love it), but your blog makes me long to explore the wider, more open spaces.

    Thank you!

    Joe at Mostly Harmless Drivel

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  11. Aww, thank Joe! I'm all blushing and shuffling my feet. We get to see so much diversity, trucking around the country, and I like to share it, this blogging stuff is a blast! Come out here in the spring and you will fall in love with Wyoming too!

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  12. Growing up in Montana, I STILL miss all those wide open spaces & the big sky. However, we do return every year & this year made a jog to Cody country in Wyoming. It do think it is BECAUSE of all that space & sparse population that many parts of the west are super friendly. And once the area is in your blood, well... you just never recover. THANKS for this post - love it, as always.

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  13. Hey Ladybug! I think you're right about the sparse population = super friendly people, I know it's easier for me to be nice to a few every now and then, than to be nice ALL the time! =)

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