Second home

(Obviously I didn’t make it clear when I started posts about my Wyoming trip that I’ve already been there and am now back home, writing these as though you’re coming along with me.  🙂 So thanks for the wishes for a great trip.  I had one and now I hope you’ll have one, too. )

Just as hobbits have second breakfasts, I have a second home, one I’ve been coming to for over 40 years.  Arriving at the cabin feels like coming home.  But just as at home, I must have supplies.  We’ll need to make several stops in Sheridan before I take you up the mountain.

First comes the library.  Stocking up on books is key when the nearest library is 45 minutes away.  Next, groceries.  Although I brought several boxes of supplies/necessities, I have to get the rest of what I need for my recipes.  Have everything you need?  Let’s head up the mountain.

The unpaved, generally unimproved road is the Red Grade Road. Yeah, it’s quite rough this year with lots of loose rock.  Fifteen miles per hour is about the limit, up or down.  (This is what makes meal planning vital!) The van doesn’t have four-wheel drive, but it goes up pretty well. We’re over 7,000′ now.  And here’s the cabin.  Let’s haul all the bags and boxes in, have some dinner, and sit on the porch enjoying the view.

View from the porch

No phone coverage (unless you have a satellite phone), very slow, sometimes sporadic internet, no TV (except for watching DVD’s).  I have bags of books, boxes of things to do, several shelves of puzzles, and  a horse to ride tomorrow.  Early to bed is a good idea.

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A quiet morning, mist hanging low over the grazing horses, the lake shrouded.  Only just above 40 degrees.  A cup of Ito En green tea waits for me and a day of leisure stretches before me.  I’m haunted by the songs from the “Lord of the Rings” CD’s, haunted as in they won’t get out of my head!  I read once that if you shake your head hard, that will shut off the “earworm”, but I have my doubts.  

Beauty in all weather

Day’s done and it’s back to the porch.  Would you like a beer or some tea?  Listen to the quiet.  As Scarlett famously said, “Tomorrow is another day.”