Guernsey, WY

Guernsey, WY

If I ever become wealthy enough to retire without having to worry about money, I'm going to move to Guernsey, WY. As many of you know, I spent two weekends in this small town during June, and frankly, I fell in love with it as soon as I crested the small hill and saw it for the first time. When I went back for the second weekend, I wished very much that someone would come with me so I could share this little piece of heaven. In the end, I decided to do something very uncharacteristic and take pictures. More characteristically, I procrastinated until the evening before I left, hence the coloring in some of the pictures. Tee hee.

This was my first view of Guernsey. I had expected an ugly town, since I hadn't been very impressed with Cheyenne when I went there. So, the trees and loveliness of it was pleasantly surprising.

Did I mention that Guernsey is small? Notice the population. No Wal-Mart, no fast food, no stop lights. I could drive down every street in the place in less than an hour. According to what I could see (don't stake your life on these facts), there were 4 bars, 1 diner, 3 hotels (mine was the largest), and several churches of differing denominations (not my own, though). Oh, and a small grocery store that saved my life a couple times. But that's between it and me. Sorry.

This is where I stayed both weekends I resided in Guernsey - three nights each time. The place boasts 30 rooms, like I said the largest in the town - the others had 11 and 4 rooms.

My bed wasn't mega comfortable, but the room had a fridge, a shower with great water pressure, and a cooler, so it was do-able.

This is the diner at which I ate every dinner. I was tempted to try a couple of the bars that had, so I heard, decent food. However, I could walk to the River View Restaurant - and it was a nice little walk - and I really liked the food.

Admittedly, I'm a creature of habit. The first night, I tried the Club sandwich and it was the best I have ever eaten. Mmm mmm mmm. However, in the spirit of adventure, on the second night I tried the above sandwich, the Renegade BLT. The rest of my dinners traded off between these two sandwiches; three nights Club, three nights Renegade BLT. To heck with adventure! What make it "renegade"? In addition to the usual accoutrements (bacon, lettuce, tomato), the sandwich had pepper jack cheese (yummy) and a fried egg. Sigh. It was so good. I'm going to have to try to make it at home. I'm craving it mega! Oh, and the first night I tried the fries - subpar - so I stuck with tator tots the rest of the time. Just in case you ever eat here.

The following pictures are views of the river from a nice bench by the river. I'd always walk to the diner and read a little at the bench either before or after eating. Oh, it's the North Platte River, for those of you who were wondering.

Guernsey was part of the Oregon Trail and you can still see the ruts made by hundreds of carts.

While traversing the tourist park that houses the above ruts, I came across this tree. Whenever I see trees such as this, I think of my friend Tearese, who first showed me their beauty. I named this picture "Tree for Tearese".

I got kind of silly while driving around. Hence this next photo. Tee hee.

Please note the bug guts all over the windshield and realize that this was after I had cleaned it. Those suckers are a permanent part of the glass, I'm afraid. Well, until I pay $40 to have Bertha detailed inside and out, I hope. It's also fun to see what direction I was facing (not driving, since I was also taking a picture - I'm a safe driver!) and the temperature at the time (around 8pm or so).

This picture illustrates one of the things I loved about Guernsey and the land around it. The grass and trees were very green, then there'd be these white-gray rocks jutting out like teeth. Unfortunately, the effect is a little lost due to the setting sun, but I still think it's pretty.

I love this place. I hope I get to go back again someday.