Thursday, July 17, 2008

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.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow - I loved the photo journey. Do it again, do it again!

And... I didn't realize until you got to the rut picture that I have been there before! I think it was in 1992.

Cardine said...

I am a huge fan of any sandwich including the letters B, L, and T. If you ever feel like really clogging your arteries, you can also go for a BELTCH. Bacon, egg, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and hamburger. I usually just have a BELT, but sometimes I really am in the mood for the BELTCH.

Nice book, by the way.

tearese said...

awe, thanks for the tree! I love that you took the pictures in the evening, it made them more beautiful I'm sure. Everyplace needs a bench next to a river, I say.
I'm glad you finally took pictures!
I've seen the ruts in other places in Wyoming, closer to my grandparents old home in Lander...dang, what was the name of that tourist place, near the Willie handcart monument?

julie said...

Sarah, thanks! Stay tuned - I'm finally going to be posting pictures of Bertha and the Beast.

Cardine, mmmmm. You're making me hungry. Maybe we should get together sometime and make BLT sandwiches. I think the BELTCH would be too much for me, though.

Tearese, you're welcome. I agree - a bench by a river would be a great asset to any place. The sound of running water is one of my favorite sounds in the whole world. And I love when the sun makes the water sparkle. Aahh. I miss that place. Sorry, but I don't know where you're talking about. Anyone else???

Alyson said...

Loved the pictures. That town looks like a really nice place to live.

I'm reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and it has really given me the desire to live in a small town. If you've read it you probably think I'm weird because it's a true story about a family who is brutally murdered on their farm in a small town...but before that the description of the farm was so nice...

Anyway, I'm glad you decided to take these pictures, and if you ever go back, I would love to accompany you on the trip. :D

julie said...

Aly, you are totally welcome to come with me if/when I go back. Please don't bring the book, though. It'd give me nightmares - even if I don't read it! :)

Melissa said...

Julie, you took some GREAT photos! I love them! Thanks for sharing Guernsey with us. It is nice to see where you have been spending so much time. And I totally agree that you should continue to post pictures, it is so fun.

Mellissa said...

I feel like a slacker because I don't post many pictures - you didn't help! Your pictures were lovely. I also love to see when rock meets vegetation - it adds dimension to any landscape.

How have you enjoyed the Twilight books?

My brain is in mom mode, because if I think of sitting by a river to read, it would meaning constantly putting the book down to keep Riley out of the water!

Cassie said...

So cute!! I want to go too. Seriously next time you go maybe. Let me know. So cute. I love the river.

julie said...

Cassie, I'll definitely let you know if/when I go back and you can come along. It was way cute, I kind of miss it.

julie said...

Melissa, thanks! Yeah, don't count on too many more pictures from me. I will do at least one more with pics that I took. That should be coming sometime this week. However, I learned with this post that it takes a lot more effort to post with pictures. I'm lazy. :)

Missy, don't feel like a slacker for not posting pics. I used to google pictures that would go with my post topic, but this is the first time I used pictures I actually took. Slowly, I stopped putting any pictures at all. I'm lazy!!!

I liked the Twilight series. Not the best writing in the world (don't stone me!), but the story was fun and easy to read. I love Edward and would read the books just to read about him. Sigh.

tearese said...

South Pass...thats the place I was thinking of! I think.

Booklogged said...

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Sounds like you have fun and see some neat things. Driving Bertha and the Beast all around the country is quite the experience.