Whining in Wyoming

Valentine's Day--Part 2

2009-03-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

As it flurried we began our drive back to WY. But we weren't on I25 long when we noted a sign. It said that the highway was closed due to weather at the last exit in Colorado. Oh no! What to do? Well it was Valentine's Day after all, so what better way to enjoy the evening than with a hotel room and an evening in....LOVEland, Colorado! We enjoyed an evening of strolling through the shops they had there, then back to the room for a yummy junk food dinner.

The TV in the bedroom of our suite.

Our bed, sorry, we had already slept in it!

The TV in the living room of our suite.

The rest of our living room! Note the bags that held our dinner.

By the next morning, the weather had cleared and we made it back safe and sound.

"Valentine's Day" or "Romantic Getaway Caused by Snow" - by Guest Writer Kevin

2009-03-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

It was Valentine's Day, you can tell by the blue I have on. It was also the day before Christie's birthday and so her present from her fiance Steve was a little skydiving fun. We all went to an indoor skydiving place in Denver. After a video and a little training we suited up to fly!

Here I am sporting my blue flying suit

Steve, Christie and myself in full gear.

Steve and Christie getting suited up.

After our class had been fully trained and set, we flew in a 120 MPH wind tunnel. Or in my case fell up, rather than flew.

Christie flying.

Steve flying!

Me flying!

More of me flying!

After a morning of flying and a nice lunch we enjoyed a nice afternoon walking around a mall that actually had more than 1 floor for a change. As we enjoyed the day shopping, however, it had started snowing a bit...

New Home Away From Home

2009-02-17T17:48:00.000-08:00

Shortly after getting back from Christmas break, Kevin and I found a much more suitable home away from home. Here's the view from the front door.

This is the guest room at the front of the house (first door on the left in the picture above). Scarlett thinks its her room.

Here's the hall bath. It attaches to the guest room also, which is a nice feature. And the newspaper ad wallpaper provides reading material.

Here's a view of the living room.

The living room stays nice and bright thanks to the skylights (and will probably keep it rather warm in the summer).

Here's the dining area and kitchen. Please note the fancy schmancy counter top grill unit. Oh and the mirror above the sink. I can't go into the kitchen without seeing myself - that's probably a good thing.

Our bedroom - also on the main level. Yes, its very lavender.

The master bathroom. With a real shower and everything - oh yes.

The new place also has a laundry room that comes complete with a house boy.

This is a basement bedroom. We're using it as the office/craft room. And its been fully unpacked now.

Here's Kevin's new (to us) bar. We don't have a mancave in this house, instead Kevin got a media room.

The view from the bar.

And our nifty sectional. It has two recliners and a hide-a-bed. Plus its comfy.

Here's the basement bathroom. The wallpaper isn't nearly so entertaining in here.

But Scarlett likes to use the sink has her hot tub.

Finally, there's a store room in the basement as well. It could easily be made into another bedroom, but we're glad its storage - we needed the space for throwing stuff.

Random Cheesehead Cat! Brett Favre would be proud. Or he would have been last year, anyway.
Also, Scarlett and Col Turtle are having an illicit affair. We're saving this photo so she can blackmail him later.

Is it Too Late to Late to Tell You About Christmas?

2009-02-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

We've been a bit neglectful of the blog...

So here's the house in Maryland all trussed up for Christmas...please note my obsessive need to match my wrapping paper to my decorations.

Blame the woman in the corner here (artfully arranging the presents)...also please note that sadly, this was a year that we "cut back" - but the family is large

Here's Dad getting ready to open his Victoria's Secret box. He was a bit nervous - afraid that we got him the wrong size.

Here's what was inside - its a sign for the cabin.

And here's a few more gifts we gave - I made this pin for Mom (and another for Grandma)

I made this pin for Maryann.

Here's Miss Scarlett, basking in the Christmas glow.

Both Kevin and my parents got me Christmas china! Here's the table all prettied up for Christmas supper. I made roast hoo-beast

A close up a place setting (from the set Mom and Dad gave me) along with a bit of wedding china and crystal.

We're very fancy, you know

Kitty's First Bath

2008-12-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

We had a small snafu with our antique kerosene heater, to the effect of black smoke billowing, sleeping with windows opened and discussions about leaving notes in case we didn't survive the night. You know, no big deal.

The next morning everything was fine, except that Scarlet was all sooty.
So we decided it was bath time.

Look at that sad little grey paw. Ignore the look of terror on Scarlet's face.

Seriously, I need to learn how to rotate pictures on this thing. Anyway, here she is in the tub. Scarlet's always liked water, so at first she thought it was neat. Then Kevin got her with the shower head.

After that, I had to put the camera down and help scrub and prevent the escape of a soapy kitty.

Here she is post bath. Look at her sad little rat tail.

And here she is starting to plot her revenge. Good thing she doesn't know I'm posting this on the InterWebz.

Lookit What We Did

2008-12-14T18:17:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I have been rental home improving lately...

After 3 weeks of taking "bowers", Kevin got handy and hung our shower head. Yea for normal showers! We also added a ducky shower curtain. It makes the bathroom a little less sad.

We also left our Christmas wreaths in Maryland, so I made one. Its was a nice little project to keep me busy while Kevin was still at work.
I've got to be honest, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Its hard to tell, but there's some glitter on the edges of the poinsettia petals and it sparkles nicely on our front door.

Kitty's First Snow Fall

2008-12-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

We got a pretty good snow fall last week. About 8 inches. So it seemed like the perfect time to let Scarlet check out the backyard.

So, Scarlet put on her warmest scarf. And out we went.

Sadly, Scarlet doesn't own a pair of boots. And she was not so pleased with the cold, wet feeling of snow on her paws.

Maybe Santa will bring her a pair for Christmas so that she can build a snowman next time it snows.

The Cheyenne Christmas Parade

2008-12-07T19:34:00.001-08:00

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Kevin and I walked down town for the Cheyenne Christmas Parade. It should be noted that this was clearly a Christmas parade, not a holiday parade, not a winter parade - a Christmas parade.

They also had put up the Christmas lights on the street lamps. Every other pole was a North star.

Here's Cheyenne's mayor opening the parade.

An all light covered wagon.

This nice Native American stopped to pose for our camera

I can't remember what float this tractor was pulling, but the tractor was very cool.

The Cheyenne Ballooning Club had a float. That poor street light thought it was daylight and went out for about 15 min after they went by.

This float was for Burn's High School - it had a picture of Mary and Jesus and said "The Real Christmas Story"

The Air National Guard's float. Their base is right next door to Warren and is where we'll fly out of when we don't fly commercial.

Finally, the man himself made time for the parade. Here's Santa Claus.

After an hour and half in 32 degree weather, I was a Jessicle - despite my cozy coat, hat and muff,

Stopping for a margarita and supper on the walk home helped warm us up though. The rest of the walk home was much more pleasant!

Black Friday

2008-11-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Colorado Springs with Christie, Steve, and friends (pictures coming soon, I hope). The next morning, instead of shopping the sales, I decided to snuggle with Shelob the tarantula.

Then we went to meet Christie's parents for lunch. When Christie asked if we liked BBQ, I was excited to see what it would be like out west. Turns out we were eating at Famous Dave's. Yummy, but not what I expected. The view of Pike's Peak from the parking lot couldn't be beat though.

Here's the lunch crew: Mr and Mrs Kleinert, Christie, me, and Kevin.

After lunch Christie, Kevin, and I headed for Garden of the Gods, a park with some beautiful rock formations.

They call this formation Kissing Camels

This one is Kissing Carringtons with Kissing Camels in background.
Christie wouldn't let me kiss her.

The view heading from the parking lot, onto one of the trails.

Pike's Peak is there in the background again, but its a bit hard to see because of the clouds.

The park dedication sign.

One last view before we decided it was just too cold to keep walking around.

And finally, some Buffalo that I forgot to post when I saw them a couple of weeks ago. These were along the highway. They didn't seem to mind the cars.

An Evening with Scarlet

2008-11-16T19:20:00.000-08:00

I preface these pictures by reminding you all that Kevin and I don't know anyone here yet and we're in the middle of nowhere. Therefore we make our own fun.

First we decided Scarlet needed a blanky made out of Kevin's scarf. Aw.

Then we decided that she needed to try on my sunglasses. She looks pleased, huh?
Kevin brought her a treat. Kitty's first icicle!

Yummy!

South to Colorado

2008-11-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

My first view of the Rockies

Purple Mountains' Majesty, indeed.

When Tumbleweeds Attack

2008-11-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

The main newspaper here is the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.

This was the front-page headline the other day...

Apparently, people are being trapped in their homes because tumbleweeds have blown up against their doors and windows. Yup.

And, no, I don't know if the reporter rescued that woman or left her to rot. Maybe he's planning a follow-up.

Our Little Home Away From Home

2008-11-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

The housing market is Cheyenne is inexpensive, but also very frustrating. The majority of the apartment buildings are income controlled or retirement communities. The few that aren't are booked months in advance. That leaves landlords either renting themselves or using management companies. Those homes tend to be tiny and not well kept. But we got lucky. After only 3 days of looking we found our Western Home.

It was once the Baxter Ranch Headquarters and is on the national registry. Now its been split into 4 townhomes.

Its across the street from a gorgeous park with a huge pond. Or maybe its a small lake.

And now for the grand tour. Here's our front porch.

The front room. I love all these windows. Its like being in a sun room. And the cream walls and dark wood remind us of home.

Past the front room, there's a second room we're using as a dining room. The movers are gonna love those stairs!

The kitchen is good-sized and bright.
The oven is gas. Its going to be a bit different learning to cook on gas and at high altitude at the same time. Poor Kevin.
Here's our little back yard. We're going to put down some grass seed when spring comes.

A quick peak into the guest room/office.

The bathroom does leave a bit to be desired. But, honestly, it was one of the best we saw. Sad, yes?
Our room. Another bright airy space, just like we like.
We also have a basement that Kevin is turning into a man-cave. Photographic evidence coming soon.

Home on the Range

2008-11-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

There's a herd of antelope that live on base. They seem pretty used to the cars and don't jump out in front of them like the deer at home do. Thank goodness. Usually they hang out in the fields behind the main buildings.But sometimes they get lonely and graze in people's yards. This guy was ready for his close up.

Or perhaps he's just frozen with fear.

But since that photo shoot went so well surely they'll let me walk right up and pet them. Hey! I worked in an animal behavior lab in college - that makes me Dr Doolittle. Needless to say, this was about as close as I got before they bolted.

But at least they still came by the apartment. They're Scarlet's favorite form of entertainment.

Temp Housing

2008-11-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

Our first apartment on base was filthy. Filthy and cold. Because the heat didn't work. And it was 23 degrees. And windy. So Kevin got us moved.

The new place was much cleaner and was pretty nice. You walked into the living area from the front door. To the left is the master bedroom and straight ahead, Kevin and Scarlett are coming from the kitchen.

The kitchen was huge. It had a full size washer and dryer in it, which was awesome because we were still living out of suitcases.

We also had a back door, and a table for four. Through the door to the right is the second bedroom.

This is the second bedroom with twin beds. We kept the door here closed because the room smelt like stale, wet dog. I prefer my wet dogs fresh, thank you!

Here's the bathroom. It connected the second bedroom and the master bedroom.

And here's the master with the queen size bed. Scarlet loved sitting up in that window, when she was bogarting the bed.

Sadly, the new place also did not have heat. But it did have space heaters. Lots of them. And besides - did you see the groovy carpeting?

Wyoming or Bust

2008-11-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Today we decided to take a late check out so that I could put in a couple of hours of work before hitting the road. Kevin packed us back up again while I worked and soon we were back on the road for the short jog into Wyoming.

Here we are raising a train on the tracks that run parallel to the highway. Isn't the paint job neat?

Crossing the Wyoming state line. That same symbol is all over the state, on signs, on the license plates - everywhere.

The sign for Laramie county which is the first county over the boarder and also the county Cheyenne is in.

I was a little worried when we crossed the state line. I thought I might start seeing some evidence of mountains soon.

Wait, I think I see something hill like in the distance.

And oh, there it is! A butte. I think thats what those are called anyway.

About half an hour later we were on base. And finally done driving!

Day 3 - Up, Up, and Away

2008-11-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

We were only in Iowa for an hour or so before crossing into Nebraska this morning. This sign is on the bridge crossing the Missouri River.

Omaha is right over the state line

Scarlet found a new comfy spot today. She spent the entire ride down there and would jump right back to her spot after we stopped. If only we had figured this out 2 days ago.

The clouds were just amazing.

We were making good time so we took a short side trip to Buffalo Bill's ranch. This is his house. It cost $3900 to construct in 1886 or so. The back part was added on in 1909.

Here's the stables.

We didn't stay long because it started to rain, but caught a rainbow on our way out of town. Its actually a double rainbow, but its a bit hard to see here.

The plains.

Look very carefully at the asphalt between the Arby's sign and the green post - its a tumbleweed! The first one I'd ever seen - it was in the parking lot of our hotel.

The Cabela's in Sidney, NE. We've passed 4 along Rt 80, but Sidney is headquarters and this is the original.

The bobcat says "What'd you do with my deer, Fred?"

So we're now at an elevation of just under 6000 feet. At home on top of our little mountain we're only at 950 feet. I can feel my red blood cells increasing as we speak.

Day 2 - The I's Have It

2008-11-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

Today's title refers to the fact that we spent today in states that begin with the letter "I". We started in Indiana, drove through Illinois, and stopped in Iowa.

Scarlet decided the hour or so it took us to get from Warsaw, IN to the highway this morning would be best spent under my seat. We ended up having to stop to rescue her.

This is one of the speed limit signs in Indiana. It just amused me that trucks had to go slower than cars and there was a minimum speed. Brilliant!

Entering Illinois. We mainly saw concrete and construction, so this is the only picture.

Crossing the mighty Mississippi. I expected it to be wider. It didn't look any bigger than the Potomac here.

And on the other side we entered Iowa. And we're still here. Its a wide state.

The World's Largest Truck Stop. We didn't stop. Kevin was afraid they would also have the world largest trucker.

And this is what happens after two days in the car - random self portraits!

We are fairly certain these are what one would call "amber waves of grain".
Our hotel room for Night Two in Stuart, Iowa. We pulled into town at 3pm Central time. Which felt like 5 pm to out very confused bodies.

The town of Stuart happens to be where Bonnie and Clyde committed their last robbery. This is the bank building where it happened. It happens to be the police station now.

These signs on the window cracked us up though. You would have thought the whole Bonnie and Clyde thing would have taught them a lesson. If we had been in the South, I would have looked for Deputy Fife.

We also stopped in a bar where the bartender didn't know what bourbon was. But that was too sad for pictures. These midwesterners have thing or two to learn!

Day 1 - Go West, Young Man, Go West

2008-11-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

We pointed our motorized covered wagon west and headed out for the open road ... after we ran errands.

Scarlet says "I hate your stupid errands."

One last shot of Braddock Mountain before heading out of town.

Soon we were in Pennsylvania

We were in Pennsylvania for a looooong time. But look at these cool windmills we saw!

Finally, Ohio!

I never thought I would say that.

Ohio is flat, green, and today it was also rather gray.

Entering Indiana (apologies for the blurriness, there was a rather large truck right behind us)

This picture is also blurry, this time because I couldn't stop laughing at it. It says "Animal present when flashing - next mile". We saw 3 of these signs, and one was flashing, but no animals. But we were a bit worried - what kind of animal? Squirrel? Water buffalo? Penguin?

Scarlet, she was not worried in the least. She's cool, man, she's cool.

Our room for the night. There was a home game at Notre Dame, so we ended up a bit off the beaten path. But the room was nice and within our per diem. I also enjoy being able to sleep horizontally across a king size bed.

Plus the bathroom is Scarlet approved!