Day 5, Part 2 – Going to see Ian Tyson

We went to the final night of the Laramie Mountain Bike series of which Evan is one of the organizers. The race started at 6:00 p.m. with cloudy skies and a chance of rain. The first group (the experts) had to ride the course 3 times, the next group (women) had to ride the course 2 times and the last group (beginners) only had to ride once. The first picture is of Evan (to the far left) giving directions to all.

The experts are lined up and ready to go.

And they’re off! Evan is on the far right in the white and green shirt.

Here’s our guy as he came around to start the second lap.

A couple more from the expert group:


Soon after this last shot was taken, it started pouring and lighting was flashing all around us. Being the chicken (or maybe the wise one) that I am, I ran to sit in the truck. The race continued on for a little bit before they canceled it. Doesn’t seem to be so smart riding a bike in the rain and lightning on the top of a mountain.

Day 5 – Going to see Ian Tyson

Huck Finn Pond–across the street from Amanda and Evan’s house. This is Seamus’ favorite swimming hole. When we take him for walks, we have to stay far away from the pond to keep him from jumping in.

Tommy and I dropped Amanda off at work and went to find a barn that the backyard neighbor told us about. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a good angle on it as it was directly behind a house with lots and lots of stuff around. But, it’s a really cool looking barn and very much like the one we saw the day before. Can you imagine having this building in your back yard?

I have always liked this building. At first we thought it was an old church, then someone told us it was an old stable. We found out exactly what it is when we went downtown to talk to a man who has a camera/wool/weaving/meat–as in elk, buffalo shop. Last year when we were here I had him print a photo or two and he told me to come back and he’d share with me some places to go to get some good shots. He told us this was a house that was being built by a man for his betrothed. Before he finished it his bride-to-be called it quits. The man never finished the house.

We headed out of Laramie toward the Snowy Range. Isn’t this a beautiful sight? I can see why Amanda feels claustrophobic when she comes home. I truly never get tired of the Wyoming skies.

Along our drive we found this small lake. There was a man in a small raft type boat fishing, another man with two dogs who were swimming and on the other side of the lake was a bunch of cows.

Does this say “Wyoming” to you?

Some of the same horses coming closer to us to take a look.
What’s a blog post without a flower?

Day 4, Part 2 – Going to see Ian Tyson


Here’s Moose all excited about taking a hike!

The next few pictures Tommy took on their walk. The first is an old dilapidated cabin. The second photo is Evan and the dogs hiking in good single line fashion. And the last is a shot of Douglas Creek.


Here’s Moose, Molly and Evan at the end of the 6.6 mile hike!


Rain on the plains.

Have you seen on TV the ads selling land in Wyoming for about $5,000 per acre? Well, this is one of those “communities” outside of Laramie. The first picture is the entrance way. The second is looking off to the left of that entrance way. Do you see any homes? If you look very closely on the second shot you can see a black dot. That’s a house–not much else out there! If you’ve ever been to Laramie, you know how strong the wind can blow. Can you imagine being out here in the middle of this with the wind blowing and the temperature below 0?? But, hey–the price is good!

Day 4 – Going to see Ian Tyson

At some point over the last year Tommy, while reading the Cheyenne newspaper, found an article about the Devil’s Creek hike. This trail is 6.6 miles through the Platte River Wilderness area. He put this on his list of things to do while we’re here. Evan, Moose, Molly and Bubba decided to go along with him. Following are pictures taken either by me (truck driver from one end to the other) or Tommy along the hike.

This looked somewhat like a dandelion, but it had the yellow “buds” at the end. It was pretty cool looking.

Amanda and I stopped along one of the dirt roads we had to travel to take a picture of these trees. I’m not sure if you can tell from this photo, but there are a lot of trees dying from the pine beetle. It’s so sad to see these beautiful trees dying.

One of the views we had driving to the place where we would pick up the guys and gal. I love Wyoming skies.

Here’s Douglas Creek. It was just gorgeous! This picture doesn’t do it justice. There were numerous great camping places. Almost makes me want to sleep in a tent on the ground again. Well, maybe not. :)

What a great daughter she is! She went after a river rock for her dad. Or maybe she decided to get a rock after she fell in the water.

I really don’t know if this is a dandelion or not. If it is, it’s been taking steroids.
I had Amanda put her hand next to the flower so that you can gauge how big it really is.
Another weed. How can this pretty thistle be considered a weed?

Day 2, Part 3 – Going to see Ian Tyson

Moose, Bubba and Molly trying to act sweet so they can get another treat. Bubba is trying to “shake” with Evan, but Molly’s head keeps getting in the way.

Then Moose decided to put the other two hounds to shame by showing his talent. He will keep a treat on his nose until Evan says, “OK”. Molly and Bubba don’t have that kind of patience.

Day 2, Part 2 – Going to see Ian Tyson!

When we got to Sidney, Nebraska, we decided to go shopping at Cabela’s. I think this is Tommy’s favorite store. He bought a couple of flannel shirts and a few other things. I got nothing!
On one of our prior trips to Wyoming, we had gotten off of the interstate and found this motel. We laughed and laughed about the Generic Motel. The license plates on the cars have been blurred to protect the guilty who were at a place called the Generic Motel in the middle of the day. :)

When we got to the Wyoming state line we pulled in to the A&W Root Beer place in Pine Bluff. I wanted a Root Beer Float–yummy! As we pulled around the back to the drive through we saw this truck. Look at those tree trunks. There were actually three pieces on this trailer. The middle one was a burl which probably measured eight feet across. These pieces of wood were massive.
Wyoming dandelions are pretty, aren’t they?

Day 2 – Going to see Ian Tyson!

After checking out of the hotel, we went to Denny’s to get a breakfast sandwich to go. They were pretty good, but not nearly as good as those that we’d had in Clarence, Iowa or Wood River, Nebraska on our prior trip.

As you drive north on Highway 29 you drive through the Missouri River valley. I have always loved these old barns, so since we were pretty much the only ones on the road we stopped to take pictures. As you can see, the sun is just coming over the hill.

Another barn further up the road.

These silos are no longer in use. You can tell by the trees growing out of the top of them.

To get to I80 from Highway 29, you turn onto Nebraska 2 and drive through the outskirts of Lincoln. Tommy decided he wanted to take a side trip into Nebraska City. I thought this sign was pretty cool.

And, of course, we couldn’t possibly pass up some sunflowers on the side of the road!

Day 1 – Going to see Ian Tyson!

Amanda called us a couple of weeks ago as soon as she had heard that Ian Tyson (of Four Strong Winds fame) was going to be performing at the University of Wyoming. As I’m sure that our good friend Julian will agree (since he’s driven with Tommy to Wyoming), Ian Tyson is one of Tommy’s favorite performers. It didn’t take much convincing by Amanda in order for Tommy to agree to drive back to Laramie for the concert. And, Amanda got us second row tickets!!

On our usual route out west we go from Atlanta to St. Joseph, Missouri on the first day. It is a pretty boring trip. About the only highlight is seeing the Arch in St. Louis. I think it’s as exciting to me on each trip as it was the first one. I will never go up to the top, but I do think it’s pretty cool.