Our final guest host for the month of July is Ana Campo of Anvica’s Gallery. Her challenge is Postcards. She writes about thinking about how many postcards were used in the past “to congratulate, as a souvenir of the places we visited or simply as collectibles.” The above image is a real post card I brought back from our trip to Hawaii.
Once upon a time, when long distance phone calls were too expensive, before Facebook, Instagram, WordPress blogs, and many other internet options were available, travelers would mail postcards to their friends and family back home.
I love receiving postcards so when we were planning our first RV trip across the U.S. and Canada I knew I wanted to send postcards to our grand children. I have kept up that tradition for all our trips, whether we were gone for a few months or just a few days. I enjoy picking out the cards, writing to them about our adventures on the back of the card, and even searching for a mailbox to mail them.
The cards usually were 25 cents each and sometimes I could get 5 for a dollar. I still have a collection of extra cards that never got mailed.
Sometimes as I edited photos from a trip I would find one almost identical to a postcard I had purchased! For this challenge I chose to show three postcards and my similar photos. The cards are in the left column with my photos in the right.
I hope my grandkids had as much fun receiving the postcards as I had picking them out, writing them, and searching for a mailbox to mail them.
It was my pleasure to host last week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge #158: Along Back Country Roads. Thank you Tina, Ann-Christine, Patti and Amy for inviting me to host. Many thanks to every one who contributed to the challenge. Your beautiful photos took me along back roads of the United States and Canada, and around the world to South America, Europe, the U.K, India, Kuwait and many more amazing places. Thank you!
Welcome to the last post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I have only featured 45 of our beautiful United States because our wandering has never taken us to Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island or Vermont.
I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next and final state of my series is
Wyoming
Wyoming became the 44th state on July 10, 1890. The Capital is Cheyenne.
Welcome to Wyoming
The Wyoming welcome signs feature the copyrighted symbol of a Bucking Horse and Rider that has been used on Wyoming license plates since 1936. According to legend the Bucking Horse and Rider is based on the early 1900’s horse Steamboat, “the horse that couldn’t be ridden”.
My husband and I are huge fans of the Longmire mysteries by Craig Johnson. I’ve read all of them except his latest The Western Star (I’m on the waiting list at the library). Set in the small fictional town of Durant in Absaroka County somewhere near Sheridan and the Montana border, the stories feature Sheriff Walt Longmire and a wonderful cast of characters. With beautiful descriptions of Wyoming and the Bighorn Mountains, page turning mysteries, and great dialog Johnson’s books are hard to put down. Boy Howdy!
Bighorn mountains in Wyoming
Storm over the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park is the world’s first national park and is one of the most popular national parks in the U. S. The national park covers over 3,000 square miles. We spent several days exploring and as we drove through the park we stopped to explore the geysers, natural formations, hot springs, rivers, waterfalls, lakes and so much more.
Geysers, Yellowstone National Park
Hot Spring, Yellowstone National Park
Along Yellowstone Lower Loop Road
Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park
Mud geyser, Yellowstone National Park
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone is famous for it’s wildlife. Huge bison herds roam freely through the park and often stop traffic. Elk and many other animals are frequently seen.
Bison in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Elk in Yellowstone National Park (Woming)
Elk, Yellowstone National Park
Bison along Yellowstone Lower Loop Road
Elk beside a river on the Yellowstone Upper Loop
If you love waterfalls you won’t be disappointed in Yellowstone.
Moose Falls, Yellowstone National Park
Lower Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Waterfall along Yellowstone Lower Loop Road
Waterfall along the Yellowstone Upper Loop Road
Waterfall along the Yellowstone Upper Loop Road
Our time was limited in Grand Teton National Park but we were able to take in the majesty of the spectacular landscape.
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Grand Teton National Park
On one of our trips we left the Black Hills of South Dakota and traveled into Wyoming to see the Devils Tower. As we drove along we could see the tower jutting up from the prairie. Our campsite at Devils Tower KOA had a great view of the tower.
As we took a hike around the base of the tower images from the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” popped into my head. There were climbers on the tower and some had made it all the way to the top.
We stopped in Alladin, Wyoming on the way to the Devils Tower
The Devils Tower can be seen from the highway
We loved seeing the Devils Tower from our campsite
There was a car show going on just out side the Devils Tower National Monument when we arrived
Devils Tower National Monument
We watched climbers making their way up the tower
We passed a prairie dog town on the way to the tower
Devils Tower at sunset
Devils Tower at sunrise
We enjoyed our stay at Peter D’s RV Park in Sheridan on our way to Alaska in 2013 so much that we stopped there again on our return trip. With a view of the Bighorn mountains, a historic town to explore, and dinner at the Wyoming Rib and Chop House it was a worth a return visit.
Buffalo Bill Cody stayed here when he was in Cody
Beautiful Sculpture in front of the Sheridan Inn
Mule deer walking through the campground in Sheridan, Wyoming
View of Bighorn Mountains from Peter D’s RV Park in Sheridan, WY
On our return trip from Alaska, we drove south from Sheridan through the high plains where we saw ranches, several herds of pronghorn antelope, and prairie dogs beside the road. We spent a night in Casper, Wyoming at Ft. Caspar RV Park where we visited Fort Caspar on the North Platte River.
America’s National Parks are some of the most beautiful places on earth. Our wandering has taken us to many of them over the years. These are a few of our favorite national parks.
The Grand Canyon, Arizona
Grand Canyon North Rim Point Imperial
Denali National Park, Alaska
Polychrome Overlook, Denali National Park, Alaska
Yosemite National Park, California
Overhanging Rock with Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Lower Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Everglades National Park, Florida
Everglades National Park, Florida
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Cataloochee Valley Overlook Great Smoky Mountains
This is my contribution to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge. For more interpretations of earth visit WordPress Photo Challenge: Earth
Has it really been eight years since we bought our RV and took off on our first adventure across our beautiful country?
We purchased our Titanium fifth wheel on June 29, 2006 and spent a couple of nights in the dealer’s lot to get familiar with our new home on wheels. After returning home to Georgia it took about two weeks to pack and get ready for our maiden voyage. With no reservations and no set itinerary we set out on our two month adventure across America and into the Canadian Rockies.
Here are a few highlights of that first amazing journey:
Grand Canyon North Rim – Vista Encantada (Arizona)
Bryce Canyon Hoodoos (Utah)
Capitol Reef National Park (Utah)
Canyonlands National Park (Utah)
Arches National Park – Delicate Arch (Utah)
Elk in Yellowstone National Park (Woming)
Old Faithful (Wyoming)
Lower Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Bison in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
Glacier National Park, Montana
Columbia Icefields, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
Devil’s Tower National Monument (Wyoming)
Mount Rushmore National Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota
We were hooked! We knew this was the first of many amazing trips to come.
Wandering Dawgs 
You must be logged in to post a comment.