Black Friday

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

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

My first view of the Rockies

Purple Mountains' Majesty, indeed.

When Tumbleweeds Attack

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

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

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

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

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

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.