Wyoming to Big Sky

WYOMING -- Saturday, October 25

After spending the night in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and waking up to 27-degree temperatures; we continued on through “amber waves of grain”; however this time it was miles and miles of corn. Winter wheat has been planted and already greening up the rolling hills.

It wasn’t long before we reached Wyoming the land of open range, cattle, miles of hay fields and trains. Don’t let anyone lead you to believe that the railroads of America are dead. Already in Western Nebraska we began viewing 120+ car freight trains loaded with coal heading east. After seeing this for an entire day, I wonder if any of Wyoming will be left in a few years.

Immediately, we felt “home on the range – where the deer and antelope play.” At first the antelope were a pleasant surprise, but 50 miles later we were still seeing them in the fields, along the streams, in the campgrounds and even in some of the small towns we passed. Antelope dotted the hillsides and fields throughout our travels in Wyoming.

The signs for historical markers began appearing at regular intervals along the roadway. One that caught our attention was historical ruts of the Oregon Trail. The interstate on which we were traveling is located where several trails West traversed years before in the form of the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express Trail and also the Lewis and Clark Trail. We stopped in the small town of Guernsey, Wyoming and took a country road out of town just a little over a mile and came to a nice pathway leading to some of the ruts that the wagons made between 1830-1880 on the Oregon Trail, which closely followed the North Platte River. As you can see from the pictures these ruts were so deep and made their mark in the sandstone along the riverbanks that they still exit. Another mile up the road brought us to the Register Cliffs where pioneers over the years carved their names and the year into the cliffs along the river. What a lasting monument to those who had traveled so far through much adversity and still had miles to go . . .

We traveled North from Casper to Sheridan, Wyoming where we spent a delightful evening visiting the Melius family. Stay tuned for more on our stay in Sheridan.



ANTELOPE TO BIG SKY COUNTRY -- Sunday, October 26

Doug, Robin and Jesse Melius gave us the grand tour of Sheridan, Wyoming upon our arrival on Saturday evening. Visiting with them was like a piece of home, as they had ministered to us in Wapato at Community Presbyterian Church. Doug fixed us a yummy lasagna dinner cooked in a Dutch oven heated with charcoal briquettes.

Sheridan is a neat Western town, which has kept its main street downtown in spite of expansion on the outskirts. Great school buildings, parks, a pathway through and around town, a community college, a revitalization of older downtown buildings and museums to enjoy. There are even buffalo and elk in a park in town for all to enjoy.

This morning we worshiped at First Presbyterian Church and thoroughly enjoyed hearing Doug preach on the first tablet of the Ten Commandments from Exodus as well as Robin lending her talents to the church choir. We left after church and drove west into the Big Sky Country of Montana.

We enjoyed viewing more antelope, deer, mining, horse ranches, ski resorts, fresh snow in the distant mountains, mining operations, beef ranching, hay fields, fall colors of the cottonwood trees, and beautiful sunny weather.

Just as with our trip East, we are ahead of schedule. Plans are to drive through Idaho into Clarkston, Washington and home ahead of schedule. Soon these travels will be over and it will be back to everyday life in Sunnyside.