Wyoming

If you are feeling drowsy, don’t drive through Wyoming.  If you are one of those people that likes to get close to “E” before filling up, don’t drive through Wyoming.  Wyoming is beautiful in its own way but HAS to be one of the most boring states in the union.  

On our way to Douglas, WY to visit Nicole and Brian, we were on a stretch of two lane road from Rawlins to Casper, and There.  Was.  Absolutely.  Nothing.  No houses.  No farm animals.  No on-coming traffic.  Just…nothing.  We got so bored that we started playing games.  Ian honked the horn for a good thirty seconds straight without lifting his hand.  No one…not even a single cow…was around to know the difference.  Whenever we met one or two cars of on-coming traffic, we would wave furiously in an effort to make new friends in that desolate landscape.          

When we finally (FINALLY!) made our way to Douglas, we met Nicole and Brian at a local burger joint before making our way to a brewery that had just opened up in town.  We stayed up pretty late that night catching up and talking about things since we had last seen one another.  

The following day was Friday, our fifth anniversary.  Hurray!  Nicole and Brian both had to work that day, so Ian and I explored the great town of Douglas by ourselves.  We started off with a picnic breakfast in the riverside park and made lots of friends with the geese that continued to hesitantly approach our table to see if we would feed them.  

There are two museums in Douglas, the pioneer and train museums.  The pioneer museum was okay at first, but it quickly became just a collection of random things piled into cases.  There was stuff from the early days of Douglas to WWI items to flapper dresses to modern day tea sets.  Ian and I took our time at first viewing each item but quickly became bored, so we moved on to the train museum.  It wasn’t so much of a museum as a couple of old train cars left open to explore.  We walked through each one of them before deciding to visit the tourism office next door. 

For as small of a town as Douglas, the kind lady at the tourism office gave us a TON of handouts.  I don’t think we walked away from YELLOWSTONE with that many handouts!  We learned that (fun fact!) Douglas, WY is home of the mythological jackalope.  When we told the lady that we were from Kentucky, she said that we HAD to go visit Sir Barton’s grave.  Sir Barton was the first triple crown winner, which was cool to see since it was the previous weekend that American Pharoah had won the triple crown.

After all of those fun filled activities, we stopped by the grocery on the way out of town for lunch items and made our way to Ayres Natural Bridge State Park.  It is exactly as it sounds, a giant slab of sandstone that creates and natural archway over a creek.  Our first task was to climb it, which we did with ease.  From the top we were able to scout a nice hammock spot and walked down to claim it for an enjoyable afternoon of leisure.  Both of us were pretty exhausted after being on the road and go, go, going for so long, so we took pleasure in our slow afternoon.  When we were bored with laying in the hammock, we’d walk down to the creek and wade for a minute before our feet were frozen, and then we’d repeat.  It was a glorious afternoon.  

That evening we were invited to Brian’s family’s ranch for dinner.  Wyoming is beef country, and Ian and I agreed that the steaks Brian’s dad made were some of the best we’ve ever had.  Once we left the ranch, Brian suggested that we go for a drink.  I’m not much of a “bar” person, but if you ever find yourself in Douglas, Wyoming, you MUST go to the White Wolf Saloon.  The inside is decorated with any and every thing.  Walls are covered with animal heads, bumper stickers, signs, old trinkets, and everything you could imagine.  I didn’t take one picture in this place, and I regret that.  The bartender/owner was so friendly and basically sat down to talk to Ian and I for the duration of the night.  He was hilarious and explained how he obtained several of the crazy and random items on the wall.    

I'm almost finished now!  I only have two more days to cover!  Woot!