Monday 6/30: Nebraska and Wyoming

We finally got smart and left North Platte at 7 AM instead of sleeping in till 8. The temperature stayed in the low 70s the whole morning- what bliss! We didn't have to use the air conditioner till we hit Cheyenne, Wyoming.

There was lovely morning light and lots of dramatic clouds when we left Nebraska.

You know me and flowers - got this photo of a black-eyed susan at a rest stop in Ogallala, NE:

We crossed into Wyoming at Pine Bluffs. The rest stop there boasted an archeological site and lovely vistas.

Wyoming seems to favor these hilltop sculptures - we saw many like this.

Cheyenne, Wyoming is a great town. We visited the State Museum of Wyoming (highly recommended) and the State Capitol Building, which sports a golden dome.

This building is beautiful. Photos don't do it justice. The lady at the information desk handed us a self-tour brochure and said the entire place was accessible to anyone - no restrictions, we could go anywhere and take any photos we wanted. Here is my favorite - a wonderful sculpture of Lincoln, outside the Attorney General's offfice. His face looks so sad and kind.

Room 302 sports a beautiful, ornate chandelier and mural of Wyoming history.

My telephoto lens was too long to get a good photo of the inside of the Capitol dome.

I really like Wyoming. I love the vast, open feeling. Yes, it's true there are mile and miles of "nothing." But it's a grand, noble, rugged place. The sky is so wide. You get the feeling you could start over, achieve anything. People are strong and hardy and friendly. Sanguine in the face of nature's challenges, they inspire you to reach for that level of grit in your own life. My photos don't capture the feeling at all. Here's one of many windmills we saw along the highway. They were almost always in singles, looking brave and lonely in the big brown landscape.

Another hill sculpture in Douglas, Wyoming -- home of the "jackalope" -- for those that don't know, a jackalope is a hybrid of jackrabbit and antelope, reputedly created first in Douglas by local taxidermists.

Listening to the news, hearing Wyoming farmers' concerns about the energy bills being proposed in Washington, D.C. I couldn't help but wonder if any of the D.C. crowd had ever visited the farmlands of America. I think maybe they should come and see this area for themselves and get a sense of what it's like to live out here and grow the foods that feed the whole nation. It's easy to sit in a far-away city and pontificate about laws that affect places you've never been. Oh well, off the soapbox...

And finally, landing at another fine Holiday Inn Express in Buffalo, Wyoming. It's the quaintest little town, situated very pleasantly near the Big Horn mountain range, just southeast of Yellowstone.

Tomorrow we head for Helena, Montana. Good night, everyone!