Friends in High Places

We found Wyoming (the equality state oddly enough...quiz us on any of them, there's a LOT of car time and some fun facts in the Atlas) to be the friendly state. Although our political views may not be eye-to-eye with many of the only 680,000 inhabitants of the state (that's 50th of 50), our sense of hospitality, goodwill, karma, pay it forward, call it what you will, really jived with the Wyomingites (?).

After leaving Yellowstone we headed for a quick whirlwind tour of the Tetons. We intend to spend more time in this truly Grand place at a moment when Yellowstone hasn't thoroughly kicked our...

Some much needed car-time and resting got us to Lander, WY, the climbing destination of the state, nay the world. Zaks led us to this magical liberal oasis where hunters, climbers, vegans, cattle ranchers, cowboys and tree-huggers co-exist happily in one small town of less than 7,000. Here we made many friends. There was Vance, the seeming keystone of the community, and climbing legend, who lent us his book (yes, he wrote it), rented us gear, pointed us toward friendly guides, and offered reassurance to the newbies of the group. And then there was Jake, our friend made via Jameson, with whom we celebrated his birthday, and who took us climbing, not for a charge, just to share his love of the sport, the state, the country. Over the course of the next couple days, we spent a fair amount of time with these two and they out-lived every expectation.

But these weren't our only friends, or the most spectacular by far. While camping in City Park (free of charge and including an offer of a shower in the Jr. High...we did not partake), Zaks and M'er met a lady in need. Her tennis ball was sadly lodged in the fence and they happily offered (and spent a slightly pathetic 15 min. doing so) to retrieve it. After this small gesture of kindness she felt she owed these travelers. Later that evening, after having refused extravagant offers of dinner, and chuckling with a bartender at John McCain's speech (yep, they think it's funny out here too!), we returned to our campsite to find some fresh baked cookies...and a pamphlet on finding Jesus. Rather than resent the hint that we were in fact godless Jezebels, we genuinely appreciated, and indulged in the gift left by tennis ball lady. We also wished we'd cashed in on that lasagna, those cookies were good!

But Lander wasn't the last place in Wyoming we made friends. 40 miles outside Jasper, our gas light went on...uuuuuh, it's only got 25 miles left. Cell service? Nope! But never fear, gas man was there! When we stopped at a rest stop, in desperate hope of a pay phone, we found something far superior than AAA...another Wyoming citizen willing to help. He quickly saw our predicament and offered his 5-gallon gas container in addition to cold beverages. We soon learned he was a light and sound man who'd toured with Sesame Street and was now running routes for the oil companies in Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado...and of course he lived just 15 miles away and was awaiting a visit from his grandkids, and had just sent a son to Iraq (um, extreme home makeover, where are you?). All we could think to do was pay it forward. After refusing our offer of cash, M'er started in with: "We have some delicious chocolate chip cookies..." It just seemed like what Jesus would do. Four cookies, five gallons of gas, and several friends later, we left Wyoming for Utah. We can only hope it lives up to its neighbor!

Sorry guys, not many pics of this one. Check the next post for a few from the Canyon we climbed in.