The drive here was very nice - wide open spaces and big sky providing a very different perspective from the jam-packed urban life that was a background for everything happening before. There is a LOT of open space away from urban centers. What population there is calls you "Honey" a lot.


At an RV park in Winnemucca. We passed on the offer of a free shuttle to the casino with the Elvis museum.

About an hour out from Wheatland.

Life here in Wheatland is pretty good. When we finally decided what we were actually going to do and headed East for Denver with a stop at the Double MD ranch, we hoped we could have a break here from all the stress of uncertainty and change that wound up to a fever pitch over the last few weeks and months in California. And that's the way it has worked out.


Note the Buddhist prayer flags flying in the foreground.

We set up our tent in the yard next to the house here at the ranch, and use it like and extra bedroom. When you get up in the middle of the night to take a leak over by the fence, the clarity and brightness of the stars and that glowing band of the Milky Way is startling. Last night when I went out to sleep I heard a bunch of coyotes in the distance howling and yelping.


The tent next to the house.

Pat and the dog walking around the "back yard".

What we do a lot while here is cook and eat. Mona (my sister) graciously shares her Kitchen and lets me help out.

Yesterday I went to town and got a haircut at the only barbershop. Besides the haircut I expected a good experience with a local character barber, and was not disappointed. We talked about his days as a soldier in occupied Japan under General Macarthur, local ladies, flying and airplanes, the economy, and a little politics. You want to tread lightly on politics here, as this is the state Cheney held office from, and he has had lunch in the cafe where my sister waits tables.


Wheatland's only barber shop.

Today we're going to town to buy a new TV and DVD player for MOna and Clark to replace the 1960's-vintage console TV they have been watching. This is not the kind of luxury they would indulge in with all the other demands of the ranch, so it's a good place to help out.


Text © 2003-2004 Stanley J. Wolf