Wednesday in Wyoming -- October 31, 2012

'Tis the season, not for Santa Clauses and Christmas trees but for goblins and scarecrows.  I found this one in the Children's Village at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens.  Did you notice that the head is a birdhouse and that the side says "go away crow"?  Those poor crows don't get any respect, do they?

Wednesday in Wyoming -- October 24, 2012

Wyomingites are proud of the state's firsts -- first national park (Yellowstone), first national monument (Devils Tower), first women's suffrage, first female governor, but did you know that those firsts extend to maps too?  In 1949, the Wyoming state map was the first in the country to have airbrushing that created shaded relief like you see here, making the mountains look higher than the surrounding plains.  Who knew?  I certainly didn't.

Wednesday in Wyoming -- October 17, 2012

Before I moved to the West, I had read a lot about false fronts on buildings, but I hadn't seen too many other than in movies.  As far as I can tell, they served no function other than making the building look more impressive, but they do make me wonder about the people who constructed them.  Surely they knew that it wasn't difficult to see that they were only a facade. 

Wednesday in Wyoming -- October 10, 2012

For me, this is truly an instance of a picture being worth a thousand words.  What can I say other than that autumn in Wyoming is beautiful?  If you're curious, this was taken near South Pass City, a restored gold mining town in southwestern Wyoming.

Wednesday in Wyoming -- October 3, 2012

One of the things I liked about the Historic Trails Museum in Casper was the number of interactive exhibits that give visitors a chance to actually experience aspects of the pioneers' journey west.  Here I am trying to pull a Mormon hand cart.  Trust me, it wasn't easy!  Admittedly, I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion, but there's no ignoring the fact that it takes a lot of strength, not to mention endurance, to pull a heavily laden cart thousands of miles.  Handcarts may have been less prone to problems than mule-drawn covered wagons, but they were definitely a challenge for those pulling them.