in town again

i arrived back in casper mid-afternoon yesterday after leaving last wednesday afternoon for camping in the medicine bow forest in southern wyoming and then branding at boss dennis's ranch 40 miles west of casper on the open range on sat/sun.

i love wyoming life. i like mountains and lakes in mountains. pine trees. baby moose. trails through mountain meadows covered with wildflowers. campfires. campfire coffee. the squeak of saddle leather. cast iron pots. the smell of a pine forest. chaps. sunshine. bright white clouds and deep blue sky. ranch people. horses. mother cows. a job well done. the wyoming sky so full of stars it seems there's more white than black. sleeping under the stars. green range pastures. odd formations left from years of erosion. seeing for miles from horizon to horizon. empty highways. dirty cowboy hats. trucks and livestock trailers. dust. cool breezes. hamburgers and brats. picnic tables full of ranchers telling stories. ranch boys. dirty boots and jeans. bud light in cold cans. eating several gooey brownies just cause i want to. riding bareback. country music. spurs. pendleton whiskey.

i don't like having to drive back to town and the reality i still live in town.

here are just a few photos from our camping trip... (click to enlarge)

i bought emily a sheep hooker shirt when i was out at powder river and she was absolutely thrilled with it. of course we had to have a photo with both of us in our sheep shirts.

doesn't get much better than this.....

oh, for the life of a dog out on the trail. other dogs have no idea how good their life could be.

wide-open wyoming skies and wide-open wyoming country.