Wyoming Factoid…

[Ivan the Butcher]

When I was 13 or 14, and on a family vacation, I was walking on the boardwalk of THE street in Chyanne. As I pass an honest to God saloon, a huge man bust through the double swinging shudders and knocks me into the street about 10 feet! He had "Fire in his eyes, and steam shooting out his ears!!" When he saw that He'd knocked me over, he ran into the street and help me up all apologetic and concerned for my wellbeing! He wouldn't leave me until I convinced him I was fine! Are you sure you're OK, Yes, I'm fine. Well, Ok then, you be careful now. I gotta go now, I need to go kill somebody!

That is my encounter with Wyoming wildlife!

Ivan

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Factoid: Wyoming has no income on individuals or businesses.

 

[Skeet 028]

Factoid: Wyoming has no income(TAX) on individuals or businesses.

Fixed that.

And the answer to that statement is....AHHHHH!...but they make up for it in other ways such as auto tag fees...but I have a farm/ranch here and I can go to Montana and do a business corporation and tag vehicles with a one time fee. Worth it in the long run I guess. And another perk living here..There are some places where there are no curves in the road. I know of one where the road is straight for over 11 miles. I fell asleep at the wheel for 6 miles of it one time!! And yeah...not many people is great...but I have a friend back in Md who thinks I should know one of his former students from 30 years ago who lives "somewhere in Wyoming"!

 

[Tom S.]

Actually, the state's name used to be "Oming" but so many people said "Why Oming?" that it kind of stuck...


(I'm here all week!)

 

[Ranger514]

From what I've heard the wind in Wyoming won't let you construct buildings tall enough to warrant an escalator.

The Wyoming windsock is a 10-foot logging chain attached to a flagpole.

 

[625-10scc]

Antelope falling over has nothing to do with the wind , they were frozen

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Way back, spent a couple of years in Ft. Collins.
Often Went up to Cheyenne- F E Warren AFB.
Seemed like about the time you could see Gangplank Formation the Wind hit you.
Beautiful place, delightful people, weather challenged.

 

[steelslaver]

Our total population is about 570,000 so, yes, there are lots of cities that are bigger. One wag said we’re really just one large town with very long streets, and there’s a certain amount of truth to that. This can be a harsh, isolated place sometimes and I’m fine with that. Keeps the riff raff out.

That is so true of the area. No matter where I go in this state much conversation will turn up some mutual relative or acquaintance. When I first move hers I ran into a neighbor at the mail box. When I told him I was originally from a town 210 miles away, He said do you know so and so? I looked at him and said,, Ya, he used to be married to one of my sisters.

Not only the weather and the isolation keep out riff raff, but, in small towns in a state with a low population it don't take long before people know and their wear out their welcome.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Fixed that.

And the answer to that statement is....AHHHHH!...but they make up for it in other ways such as auto tag fees...but I have a farm/ranch here and I can go to Montana and do a business corporation and tag vehicles with a one time fee. Worth it in the long run I guess. And another perk living here..There are some places where there are no curves in the road. I know of one where the road is straight for over 11 miles. I fell asleep at the wheel for 6 miles of it one time!! And yeah...not many people is great...but I have a friend back in Md who thinks I should know one of his former students from 30 years ago who lives "somewhere in Wyoming"!

Thank you, yeah tax!

 

[16thVACav]

Courtesy of 21st century factoid man.

Dang! Now I'm going to keep hearing that song in my head all day long!

 

[Rustyt1953]

Dang! Now I'm going to keep hearing that song in my head all day long!

I knew that'd get ya.

 

[LVSteve]

And another perk living here..There are some places where there are no curves in the road. I know of one where the road is straight for over 11 miles.

On US 95 in Nevada there is a 15 mile run between mile markers 88 and 103 that is dead straight across a featureless shallow valley. Visitors unused to the distances you can see in this state say they get a sensation in the car of engine noise but no actual progress.

I heard from NHP that the stretch of US 95 from Tonopah to the Pahrump turn near Mercury has the highest frequency of single vehicle rollovers in the state, and possibly the US. People just zone out.

There is a similar 15 mile straight on Highway 375 (the ET highway) through Rachel.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I got stuck on an escalator until the back up power kicked in. I was terrified.

 

[arjay]

There’s a 100 mile stretch of highway between Casper and Shoshoni I’ve travelled many times that I’d bet is a real joy in a ground blizzard ;-)

 

[Wyo]

There’s a 100 mile stretch of highway between Casper and Shoshoni I’ve travelled many times that I’d bet is a real joy in a ground blizzard ;-)

I've probably driven that stretch about a thousand times and it can be awful. There are a few other places, though, that I think are worse. A few that come to mind are Shirley Basin (that picture I posted above was taken out there), mostly because the wind is generally much worse than on the Casper-Shoshone stretch. Another is South Pass. It's always terrible. And, finally, the infamous I-80, the Snow Chi Minh Trail. It's terrible most all winter, especially in the Arlington-Elk Mountain area and over toward Rock Springs. Seems like it's closed more than it's open most winters. I've seen drifts on that road that were 15-20 feet high and a mile long. Lord help you if you get caught in one of those stretches. No doubt about it, winter driving can be a real adventure sometimes.

 

[Skeet 028]

There’s a 100 mile stretch of highway between Casper and Shoshoni I’ve travelled many times that I’d bet is a real joy in a ground blizzard ;-)

On one trip out here before we moved we came across that Shoshoni-Casper stretch. We wanted to see that famous tourista trap called Hell's Half Acre...it is bigger than a 1/2 acre and it is closed these days. About 5 miles out of Shoshoni it started to snow...it didn't snow like it did back east. It was a sideways snow. Roads got covered with small drifts so I stopped and put the truck in 4 wheel..had to get out and lock the hubs. Holy crapo.. Glad I kept my hand on the truck...I'd a got lost in the blizzard. Some drifts were a foot deep in short order. Going along at about 50 in 4 wheel and believe me... I was not going fast 'nuff..not even close. I even got near blown off the road by a mini van and every vehicle that blew by me was a 2 wheel drive ...doing at least 70. Thought those people were crazy. By the time we got to Casper the snow quit and sun came out to melt it. Came across the mountain on South Pass one night..got up on the top and there was 3 ft of snow. Real light stuff. We got through just before they closed the road. Only about 5-6 miles of real snow to get through...And I have been across Shirley Basin...desolate area.

 

[SS336]

When I lived in Colorado I spent a lot of time in Wyoming for some reason.
Hunting and fishing, just messing around it’s still one my favorite states.
Shot my first head of big game in Shirley Basin in 1962.

 

[arjay]

13 yrs ago my sis in Worland rescued a pup she thought would be perfect for grams. So she and her pal Dave (both 80yrs old) figured they would drive up one day,get the dog and head home the next (800 miles round trip) It was January so I checked the forecast. Blizzard warnings were up all the way from Cheyenne to Worland. They were stubborn folk and I couldn’t dissuade them and off they went! Somewhere around Casper they launched the old explorer off of the highway.Dave then convinced someone to weld the front end back together and they were on their way the next morning to get the pup. When they got back to Denver the insurance adjuster put the Ford up on a lift and yelled Totalled!!
(Raising kids was easier than those two lol)

 

[Kinman]

Only part of Wyoming I remember seeing was Evanston, we would roll over there from Odgen, Utah to buy kegged Coors for special Keg Parties. I once broke some kind of state law taking my sixteen year old barrel racer girlfriend over to the Evanston Rodeo so we could watch Larry Mahan ride bulls or so the story goes.

 

[Iggy]

I've probably driven that stretch about a thousand times and it can be awful. There are a few other places, though, that I think are worse. A few that come to mind are Shirley Basin (that picture I posted above was taken out there), mostly because the wind is generally much worse than on the Casper-Shoshone stretch. Another is South Pass. It's always terrible. And, finally, the infamous I-80, the Snow Chi Minh Trail. It's terrible most all winter, especially in the Arlington-Elk Mountain area and over toward Rock Springs. Seems like it's closed more than it's open most winters. I've seen drifts on that road that were 15-20 feet high and a mile long. Lord help you if you get caught in one of those stretches. No doubt about it, winter driving can be a real adventure sometimes.

I was the one who named that section of I-80 the Snow Chi Minh Trail.

I was a Highway Patrolman working that road the first winter it was open.

There were no snow fences, and the highway department snow plows weren’t big enough to bust the drifts.

An 18 wheeler slid off road and into the ditch. I took the driver to Laramie.


The next day we went out to see about getting the truck back on the road, but it was buried in the snow. All we could see was a corner of the trailer and one smoke stack.


The next summer the highway department put 80 miles of snow fence along that section of the road to catch the snow. That helped immensely.


I also called it Stapp Boulevard after the head of the highway department much to his displeasure.
I about got fired over that.