Larry A. Smail's Blog

   The terrain changes rapidly in many areas of our travels. We are seeing lush farm country lands of Nebraska and suddenly we are witnessing prairie lands pale blue with sage brush and rocky outcrops. This day brought about our first view of the “true west” country.

The place we stayed in Cheyenne

We stayed in Cheyenne, Wyoming and later moved through Laramie. Obviously, I remember these names from western history and old western television shows.                                       

In southern Wyoming steep hills become more prevalent in certain areas. These were the Laramie Mountain ranges of the Medicine Bow National Forest. We were impressed with their stature, but the mountains of our future would dwarf these ridges.

Big Sky

We traveled across this area when suddenly we emerge in a vast basin going on for miles. We were impressed! The sage country was now in full view. We were in a very unique and beautiful land.

A sage

The very common sages are unique plants. They tend to have a pale bluish hue. The plants have a remarkable and pleasant aroma when rubbed between the fingers. Sage was used by the Indians and early settlers as a deodorizer. These people might rub some on their bodies and place in their abodes to help as a freshener.    

Blue Prairie Flax

We stopped at a visitor center or two. I noticed a small, pale “groundhog-like” mammal. They were known locally as a pocket gopher. The correct name is Uinta Ground squirrel. Laurie was fascinated with them and we managed to get close enough to observe them and take  photos. They were cute little rascals, but by the amount of ground piled up I could see they could be damaging to property.

Uinta Ground squirrel

Sage brush was very common by this time of our travels. Miles of the plants were everywhere. This was a strange beauty. Pronghorn antelopes became routine. We saw hundreds of them. Most would be over two hundred yards from the roads with few exceptions.

Pronghorn Antelopes