a former gymnast with a neverending case of wanderlust
While we were camped at Vedauwoo (if you missed last week’s post, you can read all about Vedauwoo here), we took a few hours out of our day to visit nearby Laramie, Wyoming. Laramie is the third largest city in Wyoming and home to some interesting museums and quite a lot of frontier history. We… Continue reading Eight Hours in Laramie, Wyoming
Vedauwoo [vee-dah-voo]: anglicized version of the Arapaho word bi-ito’o’wu, meaning ‘earth born’ Vedauwoo Recreation Area encompasses a large collection of 1.4 billion-year-old granite outcrops in the foothills of the Laramie Mountains in southern Wyoming. Evidence of human habitation of the area dates back at least 8000 years; it is the native land of the Arapaho,… Continue reading Among the Rocks – Vedauwoo Recreation Area, Wyoming
The final destination for our three-day weekend in Cheyenne, Wyoming was nearby Curt Gowdy State Park. Curt Gowdy State Park is located in the foothills of the Laramie Mountains, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Cheyenne. This is the native land of the Comanche, Pawnee, Crow, and Shoshone, but they were displaced in the… Continue reading A hidden waterfall and obnoxious geese – Curt Gowdy State Park, Wyoming
Ask anyone who has ever gone on a road trip with me, and they’ll tell you that I planned far more things than we could possibly fit into the time we had. They wouldn’t be lying. I’m not exactly what you’d call a relaxed vacationer. But every once in a while – usually accidentally –… Continue reading Pioneers on the Plains – Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Wyoming
Visiting Wyoming’s capital city was not plan A for this particular outing. But when weather thwarted plan A, we found ourselves spending the weekend in Cheyenne. Prior to our departure, some of Pat’s coworkers warned him that Cheyenne was lame and to prepare to be disappointed. Perhaps they enjoy different things when they travel or… Continue reading 48 hours in Cheyenne, Wyoming
If you read the title of this post and assumed the “fifty lakes” is an exaggeration, let me begin by assuring you that it's not. If anything, it’s an underestimation. At one point, from where I was standing on the Medicine Bow Peak trail, I could see 32 lakes! At an elevation of 12,013 feet… Continue reading Fifty Lakes and a 12,000 Foot Summit – Snowy Range Scenic Byway, Wyoming
Memorial weekend 2019 in Colorado was a snowy mess, so it was fortunate that I’d already made plans to fly home to Montana and visit Bighorn Canyon with my mom. Despite the fact that it’s only 4 hours from my hometown, I’d never been there before and was eager to explore a new place. We… Continue reading Wild Mustangs and Montana Skies – Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Historically, I've wrapped up each year with a summary of our annual highlights. I'm going to do the same this year, but with a little twist. In 2019, for the first time ever, I participated in the 52 Hike Challenge. This is exactly what it sounds like: the challenge of completing 52 hikes in 52… Continue reading A Year in Review: #52HikeChallenge 2019
Whenever I’m away from home too long, I get a serious case of Yellowstone withdrawal. Because I grew up so close, I visited the park at least twice a year from the time I was too young to remember. Since I’ve been away, Yellowstone is always one of the main places I ended up missing.… Continue reading A Snowy Day at Snow Pass – Yellowstone National Park
This post is one I’ve been looking forward to writing for a long time, because I get to talk about one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been: The Beartooth Plateau. The Beartooth Plateau is located high in the Beartooth Mountains, reaching a maximum elevation of nearly 11,000 feet (3350 m). The Beartooth Mountains… Continue reading Top of the World – Beartooth Plateau, Montana & Wyoming
Handstands Around the World 