Home on the Range......09/21/20

....where the deer and the antelope play...That is where we are tonight... Laramie, WY... The city is named in the honor of Jacques LaRamee, a French - Canadian frontiersman who trapped beaver in the Laramie Valley.

We left Hays, KS this morning and continued our westward trek, following the path General Custer took when he led 1100 U.S. Calvary troops on horseback to seek out the indigenous tribes that were on the warpath. This is also the same trail the settlers took when they used Hays as a jumping off point as they joined wagon trains in Conestoga wagons in a westward migration. I don't mean to equate our trip with theirs, I merely wanted to point out we were all taking the same path, but in different centuries and with different modes of transportation.

We crossed the Kansas plains, through Colorado, and into Wyoming. When we make these road trips, Linda prepares our lunches and we stop along the way for a picnic. It is a great way to rest a little, eat a good meal, and find a little bit about the history of where you are. We found a small park in the town of Flagler, CO. After lunch we walked around the park and discovered a monument to 21 people who were killed in 1951 while watching an airshow. One on the stunt planes crashed into the spectators.

Laramie is familiar to many of you through TV and movies. More than 14 TV shows and movies were set in the Laramie area. Among these were Lawman, Laramie, The Man from Laramie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and many others. Speaking of Butch Cassidy, he spent time here in the Wyoming Territorial Prison, as an inmate.

I mentioned Jacques LaRamee. He had returned to this area after an absence in 1820. He was trapping along the river that now bears his name and was never seen or heard from again. His disappearance remains a mystery to this day, but the town of Laramie, two rivers, a fort, a county, and a mountain peak bear his name.

Today after arriving in Laramie, Linda and I decided to take a driving tour on a scenic drive in the mountains near Laramie. (the Snowy Range Scenic Byway) While in the mountains I saw the UH-1 helicopter hovering with a water bucket underneath it. The helicopter landed and a fuel truck came over to refuel it. I went over to the pilot and introduced myself. I told him I was an army aviator and I grew up flying the Huey. He asked if I was a Vietnam helicopter pilot and I told him I was. He told me he was an army aviator also. He graduated flight school in 1980. He said although he was too young for Vietnam, the Vietnam pilots taught him how to fly. We had a great visit. You can't imagine how excited I was.

While driving through the mountains, we saw herds of deer and 2 herds of antelopes. I got pictures.

Tomorrow we go to Jackson Hole. Harry and Amanda are flying in Wednesday. When they get here, we will spend the next week exploring the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. Buffalo steak, anyone?