TRAVELING THROUGH WYOMING

 

MOUNTAIN TIME

We pushed quickly westward, staying only a day or two at each place and not even unhooking the car. Nebraska was open rangeland and occasional cornfield. We have seen thousands of cornfields from New York State west. It causes us to wonder if it is all feedlot corn or capitalizing on the upcoming production of biodiesel. There was nary a mountain nor even a slight hill in sight. Trees along the highway should have warned us of the strong winds to come as they were bent in one direction like those on windswept shores at the ocean. We were to become intimately acquainted with those winds as Zoe fought them to stay on the highway and one night we were buffeted with 75 mile an hour winds that rocked us to sleep when we stopped for the night at the Cabella campground next to their store. It was fun the next day to wander through their extreme weather clothing and smugly hope that we would never need to wear them.

We finally saw the snow covered Rockies far in the distance and were amazed at the thought of the pioneers having the courage to continue on their trek over those forbidding peaks. Between Laramie and Rawlins in Wyoming, we could see a red pipeline stretching across the plains evidently to carry oil shortly. At the campground in Rawlins, we were surprised to see a large pronghorn antelope stroll casually through the RVs. The next morning there was a whole herd of them across the fence from us. They seemed to be totally unconcerned with the nearby humans. My worst fears were realized in Evanston, Wyoming when snow began to fall heavily. I had hoped we were early enough to miss snow. Fortunately, by late afternoon it had all melted but when the weather report said more was coming in two days, we left a day early and missed it

The red dirt hills of Utah flashed brilliant red bushes with accents of yellow trees. We cut across the corner through Ogden and up to Idaho. The crops in Idaho turned to wheat fields, potatoes and occasional grazing cattle. The brown rolling hills of grasslands carried over into eastern Oregon. The winding Snake River furnished a brief respite from brown with oasis of green. The road followed the Oregon Trail up to the Columbia River where we crossed into Washington State to visit Zoe’s daughter, Susan, in her new home there.

SNOW AT OUR RV SITE

 

OUR SPACE IN MANSFIELD OHIO AREA

 

IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE IN OHIO

We settled in a park near Shelby/Mansfield, Ohio over the Labor Day Weekend. This park is in the middle of nowhere but has fantastic RV sites. We have a sculpted patio that looks like flagstone, a gas bbq, lawn swing, wrought iron dining set, picnic table, screened portable fireplace, a fire pit and they deliver the local paper to us every day. Over the holiday the place was packed with families hurrying to enjoy themselves but before and after the holiday we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

There wasn’t much to see in the countryside but we did go to Mansfield where we visited the Richland Carousel Works, one of only two such factories in the world that still makes hand-carved carousel figures. The manager explained the process with us and showed us 52 figures that they were restoring for a private collector. Then we went to a new carousel that the city has developed and the child in us took a ride on it.

We had an unexpected pleasant surprise when we discovered in emailing our friends Mary and Marilyn that they were near us on their way to New Jersey. So the next morning we met them for breakfast at a Perkins restaurant just off the freeway that they were traveling. What a wonderful coincidence! It was great to see them again and compare travels. We never know what each new day will bring.

CAROUSEL AT MANSFIELD OHIO

 

JAMESON AND DANAE GETTING MARRIED

 

WESTERN NEW YOUK AND ON OUR WAY WEST

We moved to near Buffalo, New York so we could fly out of the airport there to California to attend Zoe’s grandson, Jamie’s, wedding. It was a straight shot to the airport but from there everything was circuitous, flying to Philadelphia then Phoenix and finally San Luis Obispo.

The wedding was beautiful in an outdoor setting with components of Christian and Jewish traditions as well as poetry and music. The wedding couple will continue to make their residence in Boston where Jamie is doing graduate work at the New England Conservatory of Music and Danae will be attending college for an engineering degree,

There was no time to sightsee around Buffalo before we went to our last stop in New York, Chautauqua. We have really explored all parts of the state and have enjoyed it immensely. Chautauqua is a fascinating place. It mostly consists of Chautauqua Institution that was established in 1874 on 783 acres of land. The first Sunday school in America was started here. The Institution went on to address four areas: religion, arts, education, and recreation. It has been called a ‘summer camp for grown-ups’ with opera, dance, drama, orchestral concerts, academic seminars, lectures, interviews, author readings and book signings. It also consists of a colony of late-Victorian homes with front porches, rocking chairs, canvas awnings, American flags and patriotic bunting. It is like stepping back in time. When Bill Cosby visited he asked. “How many Chautauqauns does it take to change a light bulb?” the answer, “Change?” Unfortunately, we had come at the end of the summer program and so were unable to attend any functions.

It rained most of the week we were there but we managed a few side trips between drops. There was a visit to the Westfield Produce and Craft Market and a stop at the Sugar Shack farm. The farm produces 27 different kinds of fruit syrups. We ended up with a bottle of blackberry syrup and one of dewberry. Delicious! We got more fresh fruits and vegetables at roadside stands. We also found a restaurant rated a three by Zagat for a wonderful French dinner.

I was puzzled to see vineyards along the way full of very lush leaves. For wine you need the energy to go into the grapes, not the leaves. Then I discovered that this is the home of the Welch grape factory and these were Concord grapes for their jellies and juices.

The leaves are starting to turn so it’s time for us to head west. We’ll miss the huge 100+ year old trees and the greenery everywhere. We will always have fond memories of our touring of New York State. It is outstanding.

HOME IN CHAUTAUQUA