Jamie's really good tonight!

[expatinscotland]

Making me homesick, up there in Wyoming.

But bullriders are dumb as a fencepost.

[MmeLindt]

I was just wondering when he is going to actually cook something.

Is that where you are from Expat? Do you miss it a lot?

[cyanarasamba]

I want me some of that steak...

[MmeLindt]

Huh, why did they put subtitles on there? Did they think we would not understand?

[expatinscotland]

those beans are making me hungry.

[Meglet]

yes, better than last week.

[expatinscotland]

oh, the branding's not so bad. doesn't smell very nice, though. like burning hair. but it's done outside so the smell sort of dissipates.

he got me going with the song, though. i know that one well.

i like the other one, too. the willie nelson one.

'you weren't your mama's only boy, but her favorite one it seems. she began to cry when you said the word 'goodbye'.'

[BigGitDad]

We (Mrs BGD and myself) went to Wyoming and Montana a few years back on holiday and loved it. We even went to a rodeo at the same place that was shown on TV tonight. Brought back a lot of good memories of a great holiday. I'd go back there like a shot if I could.
Wished I could have slept out like Jamie did. The scenery looked amazing too. Fancy waking up to that first thing.

[HarrietTheSpy]

Those people outside the rodeo cooking the beans, et all on that dutch oven...definitely re-enactors. Not real, not real at all. Lot of it (not just the branding) smelled suspiciously suspicious...!

Nice to see some positive Yank vibes out there though, I suppose...so keen, you've got love him for it.

[expatinscotland]

I love Wyoming! It's only about an hour and a half from Denver into Cheyenne. Some amazing climbing there. Spent many a long weekend, 4th of July, Memorial Day, holiday there.

It is very rare for it to rain like that, though.

A lot of time the rain evaporates before it hits.

And it doesn't last long when it comes.

Plenty of lightning so you do need to be careful.

Fremont Canyon, Cirque of the Towers/Wind River Range, Devil's Tower, Lander, Dubois, Grand Teton.

Some of the most beautiful country I've ever experienced and ever will.

[expatinscotland]

Well, it should be an hour and half just up to Ft. Collins, but um, that's going the speed limit .

[expatinscotland]

The branding, well, that is about how it goes.

The cutting horse cuts the calf and it's branded.

You will find Rocky Mountain Oysters on the menu in some Denver restaurants. The Fort springs to mind.

A champion cutting horse can fetch A LOT.

I once sat a prize cutting horse called Moon. He was so black he shone and one of the proudest horses I've ever seen. Even when he was older and gelded he was still conceited beyond belief. He was too proud sometimes and prone to kicking other geldings so he was a bitch to stable and expensive.

But all you had to do was turn your head and eyes towards the animal you needed to cut, and the lightest touch on the reins and he was OFF to cut it.

[Highlander]

the branding and ball hacking reminds me of home (Perthshire) - except we didn't have all that lovely steak at the end of the day.

This is a good series, heaps more interesting than the others. I thought he would just be sitting in diners eating burgers.

Wyoming looks gorgeous

[BigGitDad]

I agree with you Expat, is it called the Wind River Reservation? Or maybe that what it was with the Native Americans.
Grand tetons are beautiful, I have whitewatered down the Snake River, it was a blast. Loved Jackson Hole, great bars there. Montana is stunning too. I'd love to live there for a year to see all the seasons. Lovely area, truly stunning.

[PestoSurfMonster]

BigGitDad, whereabouts in Montana did you go? One of my best friends has emigrated out there with her family, and I would like to go out & see her one day.

She's in Bozeman.

[BigGitDad]

To be honest on that trip we covered a lot of ground. We did a fly drive but started from Denver, headed south to Colorado Springs then stayed at Boulder a few days with friends then headed north through Wyoming into Montana and went over the Rockies came back down the other side into the canyonlands and back to Denver. Wew did not go that far north into Monatana but the whole area was beautiful.

[BigGitDad]

Then we had kids.....

[PestoSurfMonster]

Sounds a fab trip. We would probably go with our dds as my friend has 4 dcs who ours would love to see. And we would probably make it a 2 centre trip. Did you go in the Summer? I can't decide whether it would be better to go then, or to go in the winter when we could probably fit in some skiing too.

[BigGitDad]

We went September time. The holiday season is over then in the USA but the weather is still good, also cheaper as out of season and plenty of vacancies etc. It really does change over there after Sept 1st, everyone just goes back to work and kids are back at school. I'd love to go again but would probably stay in one place but do loads of sctivities with the kids. (Must win lottery!)

[expatinscotland]

September/October is my fav time of year in the Rockies.

The lightning storms are gone and you usually get 'Indian summer' - highish temps, blue skies and the sun like a slice of lemon.

For days on end.

And the smells! Of pine and fir, of wood and dirt and just crisp and lovely.

There's generally one big snow storm in the 3rd or last week of September, then another month of spectacular weather before the snow arrives for the season.

Wyoming's enough to melt a heart of stone and make a skeptic believe in God.

[expatinscotland]

Wind River Range, BigGit. It's a beautiful area.

[izyboy]

That is a fab description Expat. Never really wanted to visit America but you are changing my mind!

[expatinscotland]

Henry David Thoreau put it best:
'Heaven is under our feet as well as in the sky above us.'