A week ago, Friday, I was sitting in my daughter’s backyard in a Dallas suburb. It was 94 degrees, thick with humidity, and still clinging to the dampness of a brief shower. The kind of heat that just wraps around you and won’t let go.
Then came Sunday morning.
We woke up at our home in Lander to a crisp 44 degrees. A 50-degree swing in less than 48 hours. Now that is what I call a welcome home.
My wife Nancy and I love going to Dallas. It has been very good to us, especially because of the outstanding medical facilities there. And, of course, our daughter Amber spoils us shamelessly, which doesn’t hurt one bit.
But there is something special, something almost medicinal, about returning to Wyoming. The cool temperatures, the low humidity, the steady breeze that reminds you you’re alive. You don’t appreciate that until you’ve spent a few days in a Texas summer.
A couple of years ago, we hosted our Dallas granddaughter’s wedding in our backyard. Nearly 100 Texans made the trip, and it was fun just listening to their reactions. The evening temperature hovered around 72 degrees, and several of them described it as “outside air conditioning.” They weren’t kidding. The humidity was about 20 percent. It was one of those perfect Wyoming evenings. Something we take for granted but probably shouldn’t.
Travel Tips
We’ve made that trip to Texas enough times now to know the drill, and it can be a bit of an adventure.
We fly United, and for reasons known only to the airline gods, they often land their Dallas flight at the A concourse in Denver. United’s main hub there is the B concourse. It is a long, long ways away. And wouldn’t you know it, our little regional jet back to Riverton is always parked at the far end, usually around B90.
That means a trek of more than a mile and a half.
Nancy requires a wheelchair, and with my bad hip acting up, this time I did, too. The gentlemen pushing the wheelchairs had their work cut out for them. It is no small haul through that airport. I tipped them $20 each, and it was money well spent. There is no way we could have made that connection on foot in the time we had.
Interestingly, both men were from Africa, one from Ethiopia and the other from Mauritania. They had been in the United States for five and seven years and spoke excellent English. I’ve noticed over time that most of the wheelchair attendants seem to come from that part of the world. They work hard, they are courteous, and they keep things moving.
Whenever Nancy flies, we’ve come to rely on these folks. They make what could be a very stressful situation manageable.
Airports are also great places for Wyoming reunions.
We ran into Dr. Sandy Mossbrook, formerly of Riverton. She is the widow of Wyoming.com founder Steve Mossbrook. Sandy has recently sold her Wyoming home and is now living in California, but she had rented a place in Lander to spend the July 4 holiday with family.
Then there was author Sam Lightner of Lander, just returning from some mountain climbing in Scotland. He looked like a man who had crossed a few time zones, bleary-eyed but still going strong. He had been scaling some world class rock walls with Mike Lilygren of Lander.
And then there was the cowboy hat.
We were having lunch in the Dallas airport next to an older fellow wearing a hat that just didn’t quite look Texan. Sure enough, he turned out to be Chuck Bidonde from Buffalo, traveling with his wife Sandra and her little dog.
They had been in Texas for a week watching their grandson compete in bareback riding at the Texas State High School Rodeo. Small world: he knew Jim Hicks, of course. Wyoming connections are never far away.
Hicks told me: “Chuck is a genuine hand. His dad was Basque and tended bar at one of my favorite watering holes back in the day when 2am bedtime was reasonable a couple of times a week.”
They were on our flight to Denver but then headed on to Gillette, with a drive home to Buffalo waiting for them.
That’s Wyoming travel for you.
When it works, our air service is pretty remarkable. The planes are fast, comfortable, and a real lifeline for a rural state like ours. But it does not come cheap.
Here in Fremont County, voters will soon decide on a three-quarter cent sales tax to help fund revenue guarantees for that air service, along with ambulance and local bus service. These are not glamorous things, but they are essential. In a place like Wyoming, connections, both medical and transportation, can make all the difference.
Wyoming Summer
There is an old joke that Wyoming has four seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction.
Well, folks, we are now officially in construction season.
Orange cones are blooming like wildflowers, and highway crews are making up for lost time. But given the unusually mild winter we just experienced, perhaps some of these projects got a head start. One can hope.
In the meantime, we will take our cool mornings, our breezy afternoons, and those perfect summer evenings that feel like nature’s version of air conditioning.
After all, not everyone gets to come home to that.
Bill can be reached at Bill@cowboystatedaily.com
