Wyoming with The Grand Tetons and Devils Tower

Wyoming was everything we expected it to look like and be.  It truly is the "Old West".  Lots of real cowboys all around and gorgeously picturesque ranches nestled in mountain ranges.

my new retirement home

shops selling beautiful saddles and cowboy gear

  Wyoming also was the first state to allow women the right to vote and the first state to elect a female governor.  It has a rugged history to match its rugged landscapes.

As we were driving along we began seeing the majestic peaks of The Grand Tetons through the haze.  As we got closer their images became sharper and took our breath away.  

A Teton Glacier

We stayed in a true cowboy town...Dubois...and the views from our site were to die for.  The gorgeous painted rocks in the background and Wind River running by. 

our beautiful campsite on Wind River

The town of Jackson and Jackson Hole were fun to visit.  Lots of cool shops and animal trophies hung on the walls of every shop.  Antler arches surrounded many towns in the area.  

and we thought BEAR SPRAY would thwart an
attack by HIM!!!!  REALLY!! Give me a
BREAK!!!!  haha

Wyoming was also where my two favorite bad guys....Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid hung out.  We shopped in shops where THEY shopped and visited saloons and hotels where they stayed.  

We went to the town Sundance, where The Sundance Kid got his name after steeling a horse, rifle and a saddle from a ranch when he was 15. He  spent 18 months in the Sundance Jail. 

  

a jail that The Sundance Kid was in.

Etta Place and her Sundance

As we were leaving Wyoming we visited Devils Tower, America's first national monument in 1906. 

 Being there reminded me of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

  The legend of the tower is of  7 Native American Indian girls who were being chased by a huge bear.  They jumped on a rock about 3 feet high and began to pray to the rock to take pity on them and save them.  The rock began to rise higher and higher into the sky.  The bear began to claw at the sides of the rock causing the deep lines on the sides of the tower.

  The bear continued to try to climb the rock until the rock pushed the girls up to the sky.  They then became the group of 7 stars of the Pleiades Constellation. 

And let's not forget a couple of cool animals we saw.

mule deer

marmot

bull elk taking an afternoon siesta

Our next stop is South Dakota and all of the exciting things that await us there.  TTFN!!