Adventure 271: Rock Springs Wyoming

Headin' to the Weddin'

At 6:30 AM, I hugged my buddy, Dave Ulmen, good bye. Then Judy and I drove 409 uneventful miles through the spectacular backroads of Southern Idaho and Western Wyoming. For many miles we enjoyed mountain ranges in the distance, including a long look at the Tetons. This is a nice time to travel this area because things are green. In reality, at this altitude the snow has just recently left. We had a great time in Challis, including a trip back to the 1880s yesterday with a visit to the ghost town, Bayhorse, Idaho which boomed to a population over three hundred thanks to a multi-million dollar lead silver vein. Now the only thing left is buildings battered by the weather, machinery rusted useless by time, scars left on the earth, and a few scant tales of a life so rugged it took the promise of glittering riches to draw people there. The men, immigrants from all over, hoped to strike it rich. There were few women in residence, and those who did make it up to the mines either worked for profit or were single women scooped up quickly into marriage. This brings me to the marriage question of the day. When is a married couple no longer considered newly wed? For example, Miss Kate's lovely older sister, Kim, who is married to a really lucky guy named Micah Kulp, has been married for three years. My lucky son and his wife, Bonnie, who have two school age princesses, are entering their second decade. Is there a cut-off? I'm not sure. I know many long married men who lovingly refer to their spouse as "my bride" and even a few crass Cro-Magnums who mutter, "the wife". But I digress. If the definition of newlywed is that happy glow of a new life together, I can say in my experience, the newness wears off, but if the relationship is fed properly, the glow lasts forever. Speaking of glow, tomorrow night we'll visit Tim and Carissa Ulmen (Married at least five years) who are expecting their first child due in early July. Lightbulb! I just realized the sequence-attraction, courtship, commitment, vows, shared life, loss, renewal, (the richer and the poorer et al)-one great newly wed experience after another. Like I'm fond of saying, "It's all the same day." I suppose that's why life is good, especially today.

Bayhorse mining operation. The owners of this processing operation are likely the only ones to make a profit.

One of the seven saloons next to the local  madam's house.

Snow just a few thousand feet up from the town. Bayhorse Lake: 8640 ft.

Proper foot wear is always advised.

Today's views included this scene.

A nice lunch stop in Cokeville, Wyoming.

Another sad Oh, so close moment for the Wiley Cager.   

She had to find solace in the majestic scenery.