Big Wonderful Wyoming, October 31-November 10

I arrived in Wyoming on Halloween and have been visiting different locations here in the Southeastern part of the state.  Unlike Texas, it has been cold and snowy here.  First I visited the University of Wyoming Library with my friend Tami Hert.  She is head of the Emmett D. Chisum Special Collections there.  They have this huge collection of published materials all about Wyoming!  She even showed me an article about the Girl Scout National Center West which used to be in Wyoming.  On Thursday, November 3d, there was an art invitational held in the library and I got to see several paintings by local Laramie artists.  There is one by Travis Ivey hanging in the special collections reading room.  On Saturday, November 5th, I went to Casper, Wyoming with her where I got to attend the Executive Committee meeting of the Wyoming State Historical Society.  They met at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center and my picture was taken with those attending the meeting as well as in front of one of the inscriptions.  This Center teaches us all about the Oregon Trail!  I got to see a handcart like those used by many of the Mormon travelers along the trail and learned about the Pony Express.  I was hoping to go on to Casper with another friend but the weather was questionable so I returned to Laramie with Tami.  We had our own adventure driving the last few miles back to Laramie in what was almost a blizzard.  On Monday I attended a lecture hosted by the Geology Department.  The speaker was from the USGS, United States Geological Survey, and he talked about the different chemicals found in the waters of Yellowstone National Park.  Then Tami took me to the Geology Museum where I got to see dinosaur skeletons!  On Tuesday there were history presentations by 3 history graduate students.  I am learning so much!  Then, last night on the way back to Tami's house there was a grass fire very close to her house.  She got a little panicky because at first it looked like it was her house but it wasn't.  Today she is going to send me off to Cody, Wyoming.  I have seen a lot of the area but Tami tells me there are other sites she would show me if the weather were warmer.