It was so beautiful, and we were so excited, that on our final week here in Wyoming, we got to see yet a 3rd iteration of its natural splendor … Snow blanketing this magnificent Western landscape. It was gone by day #2, but what a sweet gift Mother Nature bestowed upon us as a farewell treat !

Last weekend Lisa’s sister, Nancy, was here from East Tennessee and Sunday we took her to Rocky Mt. National Park where the Fall colors at the lower elevations were incredibly amazing.  Although our favorite road that winds up to the summit, a narrow one way dirt road called Fall River Road (which we’ve traveled up to the summit several times this summer) was now closed due to the amount of snow at the higher elevations, the views and juxtapositions of the Autumn trees with snow capped mountains behind was pretty darn stunning… and continued to display RMNP to us as a different place on each trip we’ve been blessed to make there during our 3 month stay in southern WYO.

The snow fell in the higher elevations of Wyoming and Colorado last Sunday night and Monday. Late Monday afternoon was when we were making  the trek back to Laramie from Denver. And it was on the dirt county roads and the main 2 lane highway connecting Ft. Collins and Laramie, that we gained the elevation to begin seeing snow falling and especially the results of the previous night’s snowfall.  We had already loved this drive and landscape on the multiple times we had driven it during our 3 months here, but this last 50 mile stretch to Laramie was a whole new experience for us on this early October evening. Now we knew what the townie’s meant when they said that it’s even prettier around here when there’s snow everywhere.

When we got back to home to the Chinook in Laramie, Lisa’s new sandals she had re-ordered a while back had finally arrived !  So I excitedly put on my new Winter boots for the first time that I acquired earlier in the summer at a sale in Winter Park and Lisa donned her new Bedrock’s and we jumped in the snow next to the Chinook in our little side yard at Susan and Tommy’s that we’ve loved as ‘home’ for the past 13 weeks.   We’ll let you decide who had the better footwear for the occasion !

I heard today that it’s supposed to be 7 degrees here on Sunday night and more snow on the way.  So tomorrow these 2 Southern nomads will be packed up, heading Southeast and saying with a tad bit of bittersweetness …

Bye-bye Snowy Range and Medicine Bow National Forest, bye-bye little Cowboy shed next to the Chinook, bye-bye University of WYO, bye-bye fun little cul de sac neighbors on Autumn Circle, bye-bye quaint little downtown Laramie and Jeffrey’s, Altitude, Sweet Melissa’s and all our favorite local places to eat out, bye-bye winds that blow across the range like crazy some days, bye-bye Pokes, bye-bye all the great places in Colorado that we got to enjoy, bye-bye Big Dipper Ice Cream shop (don’t worry we have a quart of Wyoming Black Bear in Nook’s tiny little freezer!),  bye-bye Lisa’s first travel job and all the precious people she worked so hard to improve life for at Laramie Care Center,  bye-bye Buffalo on everything, everywhere, bye-bye Tommy & Susan and the best “yard hosts” ever, bye-bye HappyJack, bye,-bye cool Dirt Bags couple (we wish you all the success in the world), bye-bye Kathy Milks and your awesome massage sessions to treat my bum shoulder, bye-bye huge wide open WYO night skies and gorgeous moons overhead, bye-bye kind, kind people of Laramie, bye-bye magnificent Western horizon sunsets …  Stay warm and enjoy one another’s company …  and we’ll see you again one day …  Thanks for all the memories …

The Two Scruffies packed and heading off for our next life adventures – 

Karole Sessums