At Home in Wyoming

A Thing About Log Cabins

I have a thing about log cabins.

They are rustic, they are cozy, they are reminders of a simpler time.

If I were Queen of the Universe I would command that everyone spend Christmas in the mountains in a log cabin.  It would be a rule......sigh.......so not happening.  Which is why I never miss the Christmas Open House at Old Trail Town in Cody.

For the uninitiated, Old Trail Town is a collection of cabins that were rotting around the state of Wyoming, and someone (I think it was Bob Edgar) brought them to Cody to do their rotting here.  There are quite a few cabins...it looks like this.

My favorite cabin is the saloon, because it reminds me of the one in the western Lonesome Dove.  Every kid in Cody will say that their favorite thing is the stuffed mutant two-headed calf. 

Kids like weird things.

Anyway, at Christmas they throw open all the cabins, and decorate them for Christmas.  It is worth braving the cold to check them out.  I took lots of pictures, which you will see peppered throughout this blog over the next month or so.  Until then, I will leave you with another picture of the cabin at the top of the page, which was once a one room school house that I think was near the Wood River outside of Meeteetse.

If I had been a student there, I would have prayed to get the desk by the woodstove, wouldn't you?

 

Shiny Red Tractor

 

This shiny red tractor with a FOR SALE sign on it was parked across the street from Lucille's Cafe in Meeteetse last week.

I don't happen to be in the market for a tractor, but I must say it is a classy little tractor...I think it would be fun to drive in the parade!

A Little Sunday Reading

 
This little western church is St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Meeteetse, Wyoming.  I have been inside this church, and it is just as sweet on the inside as it is on the outside.

Is that a bird sitting on top of the cross on the church steeple?

 
Yep, this bird knows where he should be come Sunday morning!

Anyway, this church has a mystery...look at the side of the building.

 
The church appears to be held up on one side by a series of steel bars.  I wonder why...was it tilting, or did it need some extra reinforcements?  Or maybe more people sat on that side of the church than the other!

If you live in Meeteetse and know the answer, please solve this riddle for us.

Anyway, in honor of churches everywhere I am going to poke a little fun at the time honored tradition of the church bulletin.  (You know, the thing everyone is reading instead of listening to the preaching). 

The following are some of the typos or mixed up wording in actual church bulletins...see if you can figure out what they MEANT to say...

 

"Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale.  It is a good chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house.  Bring your husbands."

"Today the pastor will preach his Farewell message, after which the choir will sing "Break Forth into Joy!"

"Easter Sunday we will have a 9:30 worship service.  The 11:00 will be hell as usual."

"Tonight's sermon-"What is Hell?"  Come Early and Listen to our choir practice."

"Thursday night--Potluck supper.  Prayer and medication to follow."

 

See what fun you are missing if you don't go to church?!

Cody Refugee

 
It happens every year about this time.  I don't know if it is the heat, the swarms of tourists, the bands playing on the front porch of the Irma, or having to stand in line at the grocery store...but I have an overwhelming urge to stand in the middle of Main Street and tell everyone that the party is over, and everyone should just pack up and go home.

I have tourist fatigue!

My solution?  Get out of town at least once a week, and head for Meeteetse, Wyoming...a little town with a population of 300 plus, that is about 29 miles from Cody.

Why Meeteetse?  It is a real town, not a tourist trap.  The scenery is beautiful...the picture at the top of this blog  was taken just a few minutes out of town.  It is quiet, it is peaceful...almost sleepy on a hot summer afternoon.

So we go.  We drive down roads we never went on before, just to see where they go.

We saw an antelope or two.

 
We walked down the wooden sidewalk.

 
We ate a burger at the Elkhorn Bar and Grill.

 
Yep, this is fine dining in Meeteetse!  And other than the locals bellying up to the bar, we were the only other ones there.  Not a tourist in sight!

I love Meeteetse.  I want to move there tomorrow.  But we have jobs, and a house, and bills to pay in Cody. 

Maybe someday...when we retire, I can finally move to Meeteetse.

Until then, I don't think that they mind taking in Cody refugees!

 

Happy 4th of July!

 

OK, I admit it.  This is an old picture of the 4th of July parade, because I had to listen to it on the radio from my front porch, due to the knee injury I mentioned a few posts back. 

I like the Cody parade and fireworks, but my husband and I were talking last night about our favorite fireworks display ever.  It was over 20 years ago, but we laughed again when we talked about it.

At that time we were living in a little farming community of about 400 people.  The area fireworks were held in a town  10 miles away, with a population of about 200.

We loaded up the kids, and off we went...for fireworks, ice cream cones and small town fun.

Down a dirt road we assembled around the small field, just in time to listen to the fire department, who decided to lecture all of us on fire safety before lighting the fireworks.

We had been having a drought, so the fireman wanted to take the opportunity to impress upon us the perils of lighting fireworks near buildings or trees, or near any open dry fields.  NEVER EVER were we to even to CONSIDER doing our own fireworks during the drought...it was best to leave it to professional fireman.

Then the professionals lit the firecracker, and it fired in the wrong direction and hit the only tree in the whole vicinity. 

The tree promptly caught on fire.

No matter, they had a fire truck standing by for such emergencies.  From where we stood we could see the fireman scurrying around like ants on a griddle, running for the lone firetruck, that looked like a leftover from the 1940's.

The firetruck wouldn't start. 

By then the tree was fully engulfed, and we all stood with the firemen, and watched it burn to the ground. 

We laughed until we cried, it was so funny.

I don't remember the fireworks that I am sure followed the tree burning, but I will always remember licking an ice cream cone in a field that hot 4th of July night, watching the small town fire department burn down a tree...to their embarrassment and our entertainment.

Small town 4th of July's are the best! 

Wherever you celebrated...I hope you had a good one!

 

  

 

Getting Out Of Town

We decided to take a drive out of town today, so drove up the North Fork to Pahaska.  It was really windy, and if you look at the top of the mountain you can see the blowing snow...

One of my favorite sights in the winter is buffalo in the wild, with snow on their backs.  All I saw today was one measly buffalo, hunkered down out of the wind.  

This is a picture of Buffalo Bill's hunting lodge at Pahaska...sorry for the tilty picture, but there was a snow drift right in front of it, and I didn't want to sink above my boots!  

  

 

 

A Peep at Christmas around Cody

 

It has warmed up into the 20's in Cody, Wyoming today, a virtual heatwave that we had better be enjoying...because by Friday I think the the 'high' is supposed to be minus 1.  The following pictures are of the Park County Courthouse, all decked out for Christmas, and a statue of two elks that is in the front of one of the area local motels.  DLB

 

Old Time Camp Meeting

Sunday, the last day of our vacation, found us at an old time camp meeting sponsered by Bennett Creek Baptist Church in Clark, and also I believe a church in Lovell.  It went on for three days, but we only made it to the service on Sunday.  It was held on a private ranch (the setting is the picture below).  We really enjoyed the music, and the preaching was terrific!  After the services, all meals were provided for a free will offering.

We plan to go back next year and attend more of the services, which will be in mid August.  DLB

Apple Pie, Anyone?

My apple tree harvest is going to be a bit of a disappointment this year, I am going to have very few apples, but...the few apples that I do have will make a lovely centerpiece until I figure out what to do with them.  Apple pie, anyone?  DLB

Great Ball of Fire!

Cody feels tonight like it is centered right smack in the middle of someone's campfire, due to the smoke from the Gun Barrel Fire on the North Fork.  I took this picture of the setting sun from the street in front of my house...it really looks like a great ball of fire!  Hopefully the wind will change and we will get some respite, but right now the smoke is thick.  We have had a lot of beetle killed trees on the North Fork, and it is only a matter of time until they burn.  Hopefully it won't be this year!  DLB