Small towns crop up here and there in WY, including Cody, where I spent my summer vacation, without the sprawling miles of malls and apartment buildings that are so much a part of the SoCal communities. We ate in cafes, not chain restaurants, and we had friendly service and coffee at 25 cents a cup, rather than a drive-through speaker box.
My host’s long-hair chiwawa, Chico, who cuddles close with his own daddy, was okay when I held him, talked to him in baby talk (what is it with female dog owners?), and took him for a couple of short walks. We also enjoyed sitting outside in the backyard in both the early morning and the late evening hours, breathing in the fresh air and listening to the silence of the country night.
My friend’s home has a huge finished basement wherein she’s creating a guest room with a horse theme. When she showed it to me, I had an idea for a headboard that I shared with her, then went about constructing. Rather than the 4-6 hours I thought it would take, we worked on it sporadically over the next 5 days. I involved her sister in the project to make the center medallion background, which is a rope-covered circle, because my design vision required that to complete the rustic cowboy idea and she creates a variety of craft items from rope. We added the other rope elements to bring in both the WY cowboy (hat) and their family cattle brand, as well as the WY license plate emblem on the pillow top.
My flight landed in MT, but the guestroom awaited me in WY; the trip between was filled with postcard landscapes. Bright blue skies, green prairies, wide open spaces are a different view from the passenger window than what I’m used to seeing as a desert-dweller. This picture was taken from a scenic view turn-out on the way back to WY from dinner in MT.
Wildlife is abundant, which means the 25 mph speed limit is for safety’s sake: hitting a deer cannot just kill the animal, but also cause extensive damage to a vehicle. The only speeders I saw were those from out-of-state, especially California! Everyone else respects the environment and protects the inhabitants thereof, including the neighbor whose front yard is being used as a restaurant by these two foragers.
WY is the land of the bronc riders; this young man was a living exhibit at the Cody Museum. He's 17, his brother is 19, and they are 5th generation horse trainers. They spent a couple of days demonstrating both a bronc-riding saddle [he's in the classic pose featured on the WY license plate] and roping a barrel calf. I enjoyed talking to him, and smiled at his encouragement to take a picture while he was twirling a rope. When I shared with him the story of my g'son taking a picture of the local windmills, then being disappointed when the pictures were developed because the blades weren't moving, he laughed along with me.
My visit was restful, rather than a frantic rush to see as much as possible each and every moment of each and every day, so I returned home feeling better than I had when I left. Yep, I’m going to return to WY for another visit as we have many places to visit, as well as things to do and people to meet. Next time, I may be physically able to drive that far and see more of the spectacular scenery between hither and yon!!
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