Laradise #6: LaBonte Park

Laramie has several nice city parks, including LaBonte Park.  It is not particularly noteworthy overall: it has a stinky lake (creatively nicknamed "Stink Lake" by the locals), a few trees, and a somewhat odd jungle gym-type exercise circuit for adults that seems a questionable use of taxpayer monies.  

However, it does have a very nice community garden, and we were lucky enough to get a plot this season!  

We've learned that Laramie only has a 56-day growing season, so things are off to a slow start, but we're still very excited to learn about high-altitude, short season gardening!  

While we wait for things to warm a bit, we've broken up the soil and applied some fertilizer courtesy of the garden coordinator, who happens to have a llama farm (the polite term for it is "llama beans").  Fun!

More updates to follow, and until then, we hope you've managed to beat the heat wherever this may find you!

What's north of Laramie?

Quite a lot, as it turns out!  In hopes of getting Charlotte's field research season kicked off, we left Laramie late last week for the first of her Montana field sites.  Our trip started off rather chilly and damp (and, as it turned out, stayed that way!).  

Leaving snowy Wyoming behind, we reached Montana!  Montana, as we discovered, is an absolutely gorgeous state, and thanks to exceptionally high speed limits (generally 75!), we were able to see a lot of it in short order.  

We adjusted to the openness of the landscape and came to appreciate its beauty.  We also found folks in Montana to be exceptionally friendly.  All in all, we enjoyed our completely arid surroundings...or at least we would have, if F.D.R. hadn't come through the area in the 1930s.

During the New Deal, F.D.R. took a look at the landscape above, and decided that it would be the perfect place to put an unfathomably huge lake.  As a result, when we reached our Day #1 destination (Fort Peck, MT), we were able to spend two nights camping next to the largest earthen embankment dam in the US (and a lake with a coastline longer than California's, or so they claim).  

It was huge!

Anyway, we were there to visit much smaller (and sometimes dry) water bodies: wetlands.  Although an unbelievable deluge kept us from visiting about half the sites we'd hoped to visit, we were able to see lots of the landscape and visit lots of Charlotte's field sites.  Here are some of the very first field sites she visited for her PhD!

Anyway, as you can see, her first field sites fell in an extraordinarily gorgeous (and isolated) landscape. If you have the patience and gas money to reach the area north of Glasgow, MT, we highly recommend it!  If not, take our word for it: it's awe-inspiring!

Yesterday it was 78 degrees...

We are experiencing different weather today.

Laradise #5: The Deluge!

We thought you might be amused to see the array of field equipment that is continuing to rain down upon Charlotte.  Today, a typical day, Charlotte received most of the things on this table...

...in addition to everything on this pile....

...which will join everything on this counter that she already had (not including the "frog crossing" sign).  She is quickly amassing one of the largest empty plastic container collections in Laramie!

Writing a blog doesn't requires much less equipment (and no plastic containers).  

Laradise #4: Preparing to saddle up

Well, we haven't been here long, but it's almost time to hit the dusty (literally-check out the crazy tree pollen out here!) trail again.

We're coming to you today live from the Agriculture Building, where Charlotte's lab and office are located! 

In addition to maintaining a PERFECT AND EFFICIENT agriculture, they conduct lots of cutting-edge research here.  It is also where Charlotte has been accumulating lots of her field research equipment as she prepares for her couple months of research.  As you will soon see, we should all hope that she opts to use her knowledge and tools for good, because she could also use most of it to stage a coup of a small government (I haven't been the only one to notice this).  In any event, here are some of her new toys!

A laser rangefinder!

A fancy GPS that appears to do everything except her laundry!

And the piece de resistance: Charlotte's very own field vehicle!  Behind the gleaming metal in the first photo, you can also catch a glimpse of the building where her lab is.  

Anyway, hope all's well where this finds you!  Thanks to Charlotte's wonderful new digital camera (not pictured due to difficulty using camera to take photo of itself) and our increasing knowledge of where to find Internet around these parts, we should have more updates for you as the days roll on.

Laradise #3: Glimpses of Everyday Life!

Sorry for the radio silence over the past few days!  Charlotte has been extremely busy preparing for the upcoming field season, and we don't have Internet at the apartment we're subleasing until June.  However, we definitely want to post as many updates as possible of our new and unfamiliar surroundings-they're actually pretty nice!

Here's the cute little house we're currently renting an apartment in-we live in the basement!  Our days begin and end here...

...but stop #2 is pretty much always this fantastic library at the University of Wyoming, which has Internet, the New York Times, and really friendly folks!

After stopping at the library, the remainder of our day is spent almost entirely in Charlotte's lab.  However, we're usually working there (and not doing photo shoots), so you'll just have to imagine it for now.  We'll augment this post shortly with some additional photos of the really terrific Western campus buildings.  In the meantime, enjoy a few photos from downtown Laramie, and we'll be back soon with exciting new photos (including of Charlotte's very own fancy-shmancy field research vehicle and GPS)!

Just in case you can't decipher the sign on the bike rack below, it reads, "We still hang bike thieves in Wyoming."  We're pretty sure this is a joke...

Laradise #2: Vedauwoo!

This morning, Charlotte and I headed to Vedauwoo (which, like most places back east with Native American names, is pronounced differently than it's spelled, but we'll need to practice a few more times before we tell you how it's said).

At any rate, Vedauwoo is located only about a 15-20 minute drive from Laramie, at about 8,200', and packs a lot of cool outdoor sights into a small hike!  In only about 4 or so miles, we managed to see:

Aspen and pine forests...

                              

Running water...

               

Several beaver ponds...

              

...and even a flowering cactus!!!

              

We also seemed to notice that they seem to have a few rocks lying around Vedauwoo!

Actually, Vedauwoo is one of the most famous rock climbing spots around, as it turns out.  So, in addition to the amazing rock formations, we were even able to glimpse a couple climbers.  This is definitely a place that we'll be returning to many, many times during our time in the West!

Dispatch #1 From Laradise

Charlotte and I have been busily settling in here on our windswept plain 7,220' above sea level.  It's quite a change from the East Coast, New England, and sea level, but already we're discovering the charm that leads people to call this not Laramie, but LARADISE!

We'll do our best to post some more photos from our new hometown (and of Fort Collins, CO, our other new hometown, once we have the chance to head down towards Colorado State University).  In the meantime, here are a few initial glimpses for our East Coast viewers!  The first shot shows a sort of aerial view of downtown Laramie...

...made possible by standing on this massive (and very cool) pedestrian bridge which crosses the Union Pacific Railroad immediately adjacent to town!

Back at street level, there are plenty of quaint shops, restaurants, and businesses in the main portion of the downtown.  We've been fortunate to join some of Charlotte's labmates, advisors, and fellow grad students at several already!

We have also been easing our way into the local community, which has been super-easy, since everyone is extremely friendly!  Happily, we've already managed to join both the local food co-op and library!

However, what we're very, very excited about (and what everyone has been telling us about) is the proximity of Laramie to some outstanding natural locations and vistas.  So, after doing more serious work and move-in chores early on in the day, we headed to Medicine Bow National Forest for an initial glimpse.

Amazingly, this is literally only 10 minutes by car from our apartment, and so we are very excited by the prospect of hikes, bikes, and more as we settle in!

And, as you can see, the Snowy Range is also extremely close to Laramie, which we hear offers its own set of outdoor activities.  In short, we'll have lots of new sights to share with you on the blog, but we hope that in the meantime you enjoy this initial glimpse, and that you have a wonderful weekend!

Heading west

This update comes to you from Lincoln, NE, which is 1,543 miles from where we started.  We're making lots of headway and seeing lots of new places, including Iowa (see below)!  The state's motto is "Fields of Opportunity," and while we can't confirm there are lots of opportunities there, we can confirm that there are definitely a lot of fields.

We've also encountered lots of wind, and lots of cool wind-related things!

And, best of all, our day ended with yet another nice, open section of parking lot at our hotel in Lincoln.  What more could you ask for?

Well, our adventure gets underway again tomorrow morning bright and early, so we'll end this post here, and see you next in Laramie!