This year has been confusing, wild, unnerving, crazy, scary, and even fun. The coronavirus literally shut down my city overnight. One day I'm in the classroom helping students edit and the next I'm packing up my office for the semester 8 weeks early. My boyfriend and I were fortunate enough to still be working through this craziness, but in June we deiced we needed to get away somewhere for the week. The beach was out considering cases were spiking there and we have high-risk loved ones. Then, in the span of about 2 days, we had made plans to go to Wyoming and it was the best decision we ever made.
My boyfriend's family was already out there for about a month at their vacation home and told us we should come. They agreed to pick us up at the Denver airport and the next thing I knew we were booking flights and packing for the trip! Now I've never been that far out west, heck I've only ever been in the central timezone. I've also never flown over 2 and half hours, so this trip was a lot of firsts for me!
The scenery and wildlife out in Wyoming are unlike anything I've ever seen in Pennsylvania. Every mountain is picturesque, the animals are 10 times the size of ours, and there isn't much cell reception (I loved that!).
Top things to do on our trip to Wyoming:
1. Laramie Peak
I was skeptical about how great this place would be. I mean it's just a peak, how great could it be? Oh I was so wrong. It was breathtaking between the views, the ranches you pass on the way, and the deer that walk through the path like they own the place.
2. Snowy Mountain
This place was fantastic. It was the first destination spot of our trip and I loved it. There's two lakes with huge mountains over top of them with snow covering them, even in the hot July weather! It's a really popular place to fly fish for tourists and locals. Just be prepared for a snowball that might come your way.
3. Saratoga Natural Hot Springs
This place was a diamond in the rough! From the parking lot you can see a full-size in ground pool but behind that there are three natural hot springs ranging from 120 degrees to 80 degrees. The biggest hot spring is about 120 degrees and was way to hot for me, but it was great for a picture on the rocks! Just make sure you hold onto the railings because it is very slick on their steps in it.
4. Cody
This has to be a must stop when you're in Wyoming because its a mix of old western and new city. This city is literally built into the mountains and it's home of the largest rodeo in the world. There's great food, views, and people. Definitely worth a stop!
5. Yellowstone National Park
I highly recommend going to Yellowstone National Park when you're in Wyoming no matter how far away you are from it. My boyfriend was so kind to drive us the 6 hours there and left at 3am with me on Saturday! I would suggest spending the night there though and then making your trip back home the next day. You can see everything touristy in Yellowstone in two days. We did! Unless you're hiking then maybe spend a couple of days here. Make sure you grab a map of the park because we found it was easier to circle and figure out what we want to see instead of just driving around. We also brought several snacks (protein bars, granola bars, packs of crackers) see we didn't have to waste our time stopping to get something to eat and waiting in long lines. Be careful though, bison walk out in the middle of the road, the side of the road, anywhere they really feel like it!
Overall Wyoming is great trip for couples or families. I would recommend taking your children that are older (ages 8+) because it is a lot of walking and I would want to remember this scenery. Have a great trip!
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