Here, There & Everywhere

Amanda, Evan and Molly invited me to go skiing with them Christmas Eve. Well, they didn’t actually think I would go skiing, but thought I might want to go up to take some pictures at Happy Jack. I was willing to go along. :)

I walked around and took pictures while the three of them went on a 2.8 mile trip. Rumor has it that Molly wanted to go faster than Amanda. :) Right before they got back to the parking lot, the sky turned absolutely gorgeous!

Besides Amanda, Evan, Moose, Molly and Penny, the skies in Wyoming may be my favorite thing here.

Tommy and I got up Christmas Eve morning and headed out past Bosler, Wyoming to a location we had read was a great place for photographing trains. We weren’t sure what the conditions would be out there–there was still some snow on the ground in Laramie. As we got farther outside of the city limits, there was more and more snow. However, the roads were in great condition. It was cold though:

The temperature dropped to -13 before we reached our destination. Funny though, when I got out to walk around and look for a good place to stand to take pictures, I really wasn’t as cold as I thought I’d be. Yes, it was cold but I was colder later on in town when the temperature was in the 20’s. Go figure.

These are the tracks leading into Laramie.

This the view of the tracks leading into Medicine Bow.

Here comes the train…and we only had to wait about 45 minutes!

As I was standing here taking pictures of this train traveling south, a train coming the opposite way came flying by me. I didn’t hear it even though it was on the track closest to me. It scared the daylights out of me! Tommy reminded me when I got back into the truck that I should always “be aware of your surroundings”. Ya think??

I made Tommy stop in Bosler on our way back into town so I could shoot these autos again. They’re the same ones that I took pictures of back in the Fall, but I liked the way they looked in the snow.

This is the same train that we saw (and I took pictures of) farther north. We felt like we were racing the train to Laramie. It had gotten behind us but when we stopped in Bosler, it caught up to us.

It was a good outing and we plan to go back when the weather is nicer. There is a much better viewpoint to take photos that we could not get to because of the snow this time. But, I’m satisfied for now. At least I know I can stand out in the really cold temperatures and my camera and me are OK!

I think Amanda and Evan are so fortunate to have a park right across the street from them. I’ve seen a pack herd of antelope grazing, the most gorgeous blues and golds during the Fall and the bareness of the all white in the Winter. I love this place! Here is a Fall/Winter side-by-side of Huck Finn Pond. I was not standing in the exact same spot but you can see some of the same trees. In the Winter shot, the ice was broken for a fire department emergency rescue practice.

This is 17th street in Laramie the morning after the snow. Tommy and I had gone to breakfast at a cafe owned locally. It was really good! When we were going out to the car to go back home, I stood in the middle of the street to take this picture. The cafe owners probably thought I was nuts. They can just join the crowd. :)

We woke Amanda when we got home and made her go for a walk at the park across the street. It’s always humorous to take 3 bassets and 1 beagle for a walk!

Tommy, Bubba and I went train hunting again. We were successful and didn’t have to wait too long. No matter–the view is worth it. And, here’s the train we did find:

We woke up to snow. Yay! It was probably about 3″ which is nothing for Laramie. For me though it was awesome. :) Tommy and I went to breakfast at the 17th St. Cafe and had a delicious breakfast starting off with hot chocolate:

It was as good as it was pretty. We then headed back to the house to get Bubba and take him for a walk in the snow.

There is a tree at the park that has these pretty red berries. They really are spectacular with the snow on them. I’ll have to get back out with my macro lens to take some more shots.

When we travel, Tommy and I are always on the lookout for photo ops. Sometimes what we see is on the opposite side of the highway from us and sometimes we’re just in a hurry to get somewhere. But, we try to jot down what we saw and where we saw it. That way when we travel the same route we can, hopefully, stop and take pictures.

On our first day of driving we stopped (along side I24) to take some pictures of this old homestead. It looks like it was probably a pretty nice place at one time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got to St. Louis, the city was in the fog as was the Arch.

I’ve been looking for a red barn and found this one. But still not what I have pictured in my head. I think the cow thought I was crazy stopping along the side of the road to take the picture.

I love this old church on I80 in Nebraska. Just wish I could get up close to it. Unfortunately, the grounds on which it stands are gated and locked.

and Sara and Hall. What a great day!

from the graveyard at Bosler. I’m not quite sure why, but when I saw this old car I immediately thought of going to the drive-in theater in Chula Vista, California. That was a long time ago. :)

Bosler, Wyoming

This was to be our last day of meandering on the way home. We had never driven the northern part of Missouri so with that and the fact that the University of Missouri (in Columbia, MO) was celebrating Homecoming that day, we decided to drive on Hwy. 36 and wind up in Hannibal before going south. I was expecting a lot more color in the trees by then but was disappointed. This drive was not quite what we expected; not an “off-the-interstate” drive as it was a 4 lane, divided highway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve saved this shot for last because it’s Tommy’s favorite!

We had such a wonderful trip to Wyoming to see Amanda, Evan, Moose, Molly and sometimes Penny. It’s always such fun to go there–what a completely different lifestyle than here. And, getting off the interstates and seeing small town America is very enjoyable as well. Another successful trip!