Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Diverse Wyoming....

 
We took a 4 day road trip to Wyoming to participate in a golf tournament with our youngest son.  Driving across the state is a beautiful experience.  From the rocky Big Horn Mountains, through the sagebrush prairies and farmland to the gates of Yellowstone, it's a land of diversity.  The mountains were just waking up.  These flowers, the Arrow-leaved Balsamroot, were the first of the showy wildflowers on the mountains and were stunning to see.


Arrowleaved Balsamroot

 There was still quite a lot of snowpack on the peaks of the Big Horns, and the rivers and creeks were rushing down the mountains with great speed and capacity.  The day we left for home, it snowed on us as we drove over the summit and was sunny and bright down below in the foothills. Diversity.  Even in weather!

Click image to enlarge.
On the rocks near Cody Dam, we saw some fellas repelling the rocks near the Shoshone River.  It looked very scary and yet fun to me.  I wish I was brave, but I'm not.  The man on the left (in blue) was repelling for the first time while the man on the right (yellow helmet) seemed to be a well-seasoned rock repeller.

Not only does Wyoming have beautiful mountains and prairies, but it also has gorgeous wheat and alfalfa fields against dry, bare badlands.

I love barns -- old and new-- and this red one can't help but catch your eye as you roll along the highway.

I didn't take any pictures on the golf course, and it was a pretty course laid up against the Big Horns.  It, too,  was just waking up from its winter sleep.  I forgot to pack my camera in my pocket on both days.  Sheesh.  What a mom.  J. had a crummy first round (78) and a fabulous second round (68).  In golf, low scores are good, high scores are  bad.  Anyway, he placed 5th and we had the longest walks of the year so far.  Hubby said a single round of 18 holes on this course was approximately 5 miles of walking.  I walked 18 holes the first day and 36 holes the second, and I am not stiff and sore!  Yippee!  I walked all of it in my favorite shoes, Birkenstock sandals.  We had a good time, but as always, there's no place like home for REAL comfort.

11 comments:

  1. It was my Birks that gave me the blister. It's the toe thong that takes getting used to when summer arrives. Way to go, Jo! That's a lot of walking. The scenery IS lovely.
    You are SO right! Home is best.

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  2. You've reminded me of a good reason to travel - to go somewhere that alfalfa is growing! It's another smell I love, and there's none around here...

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  3. Glad you aren't stiff or sore! You had some nice scenery for sure. I get bowling scores when I golf and golf scores when I bowl LOL!

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  4. interesting shots from your trip and more flower identification ~ thank you~!

    :-)
    libbyQ

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  5. Oh lovely! I've only been to WY once & it was years ago, but I still remember how beautiful it is.
    So glad the tourny went well - as did you're walking ;)!
    Blessings,
    G

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  6. Wyoming! How fun! Your pictures are beautiful -- it looks like you had a wonderful little getaway. That looks like quite a repel (rappel?) for a first-timer. Hubby took me once on a 100 ft. cliff when we were dating. Once was enough for me -- it was just a bit terrifying. I'm not brave either!

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  7. I always wondered what those yellow flowers were called! They look kinda like sunflowers when ya drive by real quick.

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  8. Thanks for sharing your Wyoming pics with us. Such a pretty state! My daughter was out there a year ago, doing some volunteer work at Wind River. Congrats to your son on a game well played!

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  9. Diversity indeed! The snow boggles my mind as I sit here with a/c running and ceiling fans twirling and sun blaring in through the front door. Glad you had a good time and are back to your home sweet home.

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  10. Hi Jody!
    I don't take out the hem of my pillowcases before I do the embroidery (lazy slacker that I am). I remember you suggesting that when I grinched about making hundreds of french knots (hibernating bears) in the double thickness of some really high thread count pillowcases a while back. The hem on those was sewn with a very professional looking stitching I was afraid I'd ruin if I undid it, so . . . It's such a great idea though -- I especially love the part about hiding the backside of my messy stitching.
    Oh, and the smoothie chewing? Nah, that would kind of ruin the enjoyment of it I'm afraid. I've never really figured out how to chew things like ice cream or pudding either. Have you ;).
    Blessings to you little ? asker ;)!
    GG
    Oh, and feel free not to post this long rambling comment that would make no sense to anyone else -- hee hee.

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  11. Scariest, steepest road I've ever driven was over the Big Horns. And that is saying somthing, as I lived right in San Francisco for a few years. OUr children still talk about that 11% grade on that mountain road. Beautiful photos.

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