Earthquake Drill

Today in Wyoming there is a statewide earthquake drill. First of all, I didn't even know earthquakes happened in Wyoming. I thought I was escaping scary hurricanes to the land of freedom but apparently we have other natural disasters to worry about here. In case anyone in Houston wants to participate, it's happening at 11:00am which is 12:00pm your time. There are 3 key elements to remember if you are visited by an earthquake....

My favorite part of this picture, which I got by going to Wyoming's earthquake drill website (by the way I encourage you to check out this website, it has a countdown to the drill and everything) is the picture of California on the poster.

Our House

Today I will take you on a tour of our little house here in Pinedale. Here's the front. Notice the Texas to the left of the front door. That's one of my favorite parts!

Here's one view of our living room. Yes, that is a moose antler on our coffee table. 

Here's the other side of our living room. Please notice the other antlers on our shelves. We have decided to embrace the Pinedale hunting atmosphere. (Thanks Dad for giving us all the antlers before we left!)

The breakfast/dining area.

STALKER PICTURE!!! This is looking out our back door. See the door across the way with the A&M flag in the window? That's John's house. 

Kitchen. I'm almost embarrassed to put this picture because it looks really messy but thats just life. 

The guest room/computer room. This room could be yours if you just come to visit! 

Future Baby Bohn's room, so far.

He's already got his own drum set in his bed room. Lucky kid!

A glimpse into our bedroom. Notice that humidifier on the floor. I am convinced that 95% of the humidity in the whole state of Wyoming comes out of that thing. 

AND, just in case you didn't notice the wallpaper border that is going on in our bedroom, here is a closer look:

That right there is the main reason we signed a lease in this place! 

And one last picture of our new license plates on the car. Check out the awesome cowboy!

Weeding and a Kitten

When we moved into our house, there were a lot of weeds in the yard. I mean A LOT. Someone decided it was a good idea to put rocks down on top of the grass to make a driveway and then never do anything about the weeds that were growing through the gravel. This is what it used to look like:

We decided we couldn't be the neighborhood eyesore for one more minute so we got to work. It took more than a minute to get all these suckers up though. It took FOREVER!!! It took an afternoon of Mickey and I working together and then 3 or 4 more afternoons of me weeding while Mickey was at work. But, our final result looks like this!

Much better! However...there are many more rock sections in our yard and out back that need attention too. My back needs a break before I get started on those!

On to the kitten...I was finishing up out front last Friday when a little black kitten from a few doors down came over to hang out. It was probably the friendliest kitten I have ever met. My first thought was to go put it in John's house as a prank but Mickey sadly said no (side note--our BFF John lives across from us and we like to "decorate" his house with old stuff we don't want anymore when he's out of town). It stayed with me while I finished weeding in the front and then followed me to the back when I went to do some more back there.  I tried to take him home a few times but each time he just followed me back. Eventually we had to go back inside and that little kitten was not too pleased about it.

It meowed outside our back door for awhile. Kind of the saddest thing ever. But anyways, we left the kitchen area and went into our computer room so it couldn't see us anymore, hoping it would leave and go home. Then, what do we hear out the computer room window (which faces the front)??

It followed us to the front! And as soon as it saw me taking pictures of it...THIS HAPPENED!

Spider-Cat!!

Eventually, the kitten went home...but I hope it comes back to visit soon! (and watch out John, I may put it in your house this time)

It's Getting Mild in Here.

What do these two pictures have in common?

You may be thinking: They're both made by hatch or they're both enchilada sauce, in which case you would be right. But what I really want to point out is they are both MILD. Everything here is MILD!!!! I can't find a jar of "hot" anything to save my life. Taco seasoning, two choices--regular or mild. Same with chili. I'm going to have to find some creative ways to spice things up around here.

In other news I have stumbled upon one of the greatest things ever. There's one radio station here in Pinedale, the wonderful 101.1 KPIN and every day from 10:30 to 11:30 they have a show called "Post It and Sell" which is basically Pinedale's radio version of Craig's List. For an hour every day two women read off lists of things that are for sale, up coming garage sales, missing animals, items that are wanted, etc. I've heard everything from people needing guns to goats for sale. The best part of the show though is the two ladies who read off the items. I've tried to find audio of them online with no success so the best way I can describe them is to tell you they are pretty much just like this:

Last but not least, we found out on Friday we are having a boy! Isn't he cute??

So Long Texas Plates

A very big thing happened today. We no longer have Texas license plates! So long, (dirty) old plates!

The best part of the whole experience was that it took me less than 2 hours to have both cars VIN numbers inspected, switch the car titles to Wyoming (where I was given the new titles right away),  get new Wyoming plates (again, I already have them they just need to be put on), get registered to vote AND get a Wyoming driver's license. I'm pretty sure if I was in Texas I would still be waiting in line at the DMV........

Green River Lake

On Sunday we drove to the Green River Lake to hike up to the Clear Creek Falls. It was a great short (~3 hr) hike and I didn't get too out of breath. Emphasis on the TOO though because breathing in this thin air is tough work for a pregnant lady!

These "Be Bear Aware" signs are all over the place in Wyoming and are quite scary.

Don't worry though, I got a "Hiking in Bear Country" pamphlet from the forrest service and now know that if a black bear is charging you you should shout NO GO AWAY in a loud firm voice. If a grizzly bear is charging you you should stand still. Hopefully, in all the excitement I will be able to tell if its a black or grizzly bear.







Just in case we can't tell. we got a bottle of this:

Watch out bears! We have bear spray!
That whole bottle only sprays out for 7 seconds so you really have to make sure your aim is correct.......












Now onto the hike pictures. And thankfully, we didn't see any bears!

Green River Lake.

Another view of the lake with the mountains in the back. I think that one is called Flat Top Mountain. (I may have made that up but I think I heard it somewhere)

Some of the Green River. The waterfall we saw emptied out right here.

Here's the waterfall! It was kind of hard to get a good shot because we were standing at the top of it looking down.

Not long after that we saw a huge elk (I think) carcass. The legs still had the fur and hooves on them so I'm thinking that was a recently enjoyed bear snack. It was really gross so I didn't take a picture.

Happy trails! P.S. Notice the bear spray strapped to the front if him for easy access!

Wyoming the Beautiful

On the day I drove around taking pictures of town I also made an excursion up Freemont Lake Road to show you the beauty that's right in our backyard. Freemont Lake Road starts right in the middle of town and goes for about 10 miles into the mountains. Along the way you pass two big lakes, a ski lodge and a great view of the Wind River Mountain Range. You end up in part of the Bridger National Forrest (the national forrest is all around us and you can access it from many different places near us) at the Elkhart Park Trailhead where you can hike into the mountains. Hikers/bikers beware! This trail STARTS at 9,350 feet!

The red road to the right of the biggest lake is the road I drove up.

Great view of Freemont Lake at the beginning of my drive.

Some antelope having lunch by the road!

Beautiful view of Half Moon Lake.

Not exactly wildlife but there are cows all over this road!

Another view of Freemont Lake. It's a big lake!

The Wind River Mountains!

And if you are hiking through those mountains you may want to consider renting some of these:

Seriously people rent llamas to carry their stuff for them while they hike through the mountains! If you dont believe me just check out Llama Adventures!











And last but not least, a little chipmunk!!! We one of these living under our house (I caught him running under the porch one day) and I named that one Alvin. So we will call this one Simon or Theodore!

Our Town

I'm finally doing a Pinedale post! YAY! In this installment I am going to show you around town. (Just an FYI, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)

Yes, our elevation is higher than our population.

Here's the sign you see as you turn onto our street. Thank you Wildwood Carving Works for donating this sign!

Here's a shot looking down the main street of "downtown" Pinedale. 

Here's the lovely post office where we get our mail because they don't deliver mail in Pinedale! Thankfully we were able to get a PO Box here. We were on a waiting list for about a month. Some people in town have to drive to the next town to use their PO boxes. 

Next up is the Wind River Brewing Co. which is our favorite restaurant here. They have good food and good beers (not that I would know because I'm pregnant. FINE I've tried a few sips). Also notice their signpost is made of kegs. 

Just past the WRBC we have the Great Outdoors Shop which is the Pinedale equivalent of Houston's REI. But on a much, much smaller scale. Side note-- See the pedestrian crossing sign with the orange flags hanging below it? That's because there are no stop lights in Pinedale, but it's a law that you have to stop for all pedestrians crossing the street. So when you cross the street you are supposed to walk while waving one of those orange flags so the cars see you (I've only actually seen a man doing this once). So while you are driving not only do you have to look out for antelope, moose, deer, buffalo, bears, etc, you also have to look out for humans. Good thing the speed limit is 25. 

Ahhh, the Cowboy Shop. My favorite. This is your one stop shop if you need a lasso, saddle, boots, or hat! 

What town is complete without a Chinese Restaurant? It's actually really good and you can't beat the life-size moose statue outside it. It's rumored that in the winter you may see an actual moose checking out this fake moose. 

Two of the local bars. We've never been to either but we probably should as one is "World Famous" and the other is open every day. 

This may look like a boring building but its one of my favorite places, the library! The library here is AWESOME. It's huge and you can check out movies, TV seasons on DVD, Wii games, etc. That will probably come very handy in the winter. Also, you can check out books, obviously.  

The Rock Rabbit is our local "Starbucks". As well as being a coffee house it serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and turns into a bar at night. It's a jack(rabbit) of all trades! Please also notice the antlers on the roof. That is not uncommon here. Most houses have antlers somewhere on them. Don't worry, we have some and plan to hang them up. 

Our last stop on this photo tour is the local General Store, Ridley's. As you can see on the sign its our one stop shop for groceries, ATM, sporting goods, licenses, and pharmacy. They also sell clothes inside. AND it's also connected to an Ace Hardware. 

There's a lot more to Pinedale but if you want to see you'll just have to come visit! 

P.S. Happy 6th Birthday to my beautiful niece Audrey!