Saturday States: Wyoming

State Nickname: The Equality State

Year(s) of Family Trip: 2000, 2006

Cities Visited: Laramie, Cheyenne, Jackson Hole

Can't Miss Tourist Attractions:
Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park

The Ranger Motel

The most notorious hotel in all our travels was without a doubt the Ranger Motel.  This motel was special...and not in a good way.  We arrived in town on a busy rodeo weekend so there was limited no available rooms at normal chain hotels.  Enter the Ranger Motel...complete with a pool hall full of bikers attached.  To say it was an interesting night is to put it mildly.  We were privy to hoots and hollers from the pool hall that evening and discovered an open window in the bathroom the following morning.  Definitely an experience to remember!

In Laramie (2000), we also stopped for a church service at a nearby Baptist Church.  As it turns out, our family made up half of the congregation that week.  The church is located in a college town and all the students had just gone home for the summer.  Nice people there though.

Sweet Potato What?

In Cheyenne, we saw the most unique and colorful boots all around town.  After visiting the capital building, we stopped for a bite to eat at a local restaurant - Snake River Pub & Grill (now Shadows Pub & Grill).  The restaurant had its own brewery and one wing was still a Union Pacific Train Depot...built back in 1886.  A train even made a stop during our meal.  However, the most interesting thing we discovered here was sweet potato fries.  It was love at first taste!

Grand Tetons!

The Grand Tetons are stunning!  Completely remarkable in every way.  Gorgeous scenery!  The photos were taken in the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming.

Animals and Geysers Galore

Last, but certainly not least, no trip to Wyoming would be complete without spending some time in Yellowstone.  I really liked checking out all the bison as we cruised through the park in our minivan.  Much to the dismay of my mom, I actually got out of the car to capture a better photo of me with the bison.  I was obsessed with these beasts.  And also scared enough to hustle back into the car when they started moving.

Our other Yellowstone excitement occurred in the form of geysers.  In particular, a famous geyser known as Old Faithful.  We had every form of precipitation fall on us as we toured Yellowstone...culminating in a hail storm just as Old Faithful erupted with McKinley looking on in shorts and a t-shirt.  Who would have thought a winter coat necessary in mid-July anyway?

Have you ever been to the beautiful state of Wyoming?

Andrea :)