I have invited back my amazing young friend, Liz Bowers, to tell us about her adventures this past summer in our beautiful state of Wyoming! This year with all its ups and downs afforded some of us in the West a chance to fall in love all over again with dirt roads, and off-the-grid adventures.
I first met Liz at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. She was an intern in the PR office. During the CFM reinstall I was fortunate enough to be placed in the PR office for a long stint and got to know Liz well. She is a young, beautiful not only outside, but on the inside young woman that is on a mission to forge her own frontier!
Welcome her, as we collaborate occasionally on writing about life and why we love it here on our individual frontiers!
5 Things I've Learned Wandering Wyoming
Hey everyone! Thank you, to Kim for always being such an excellent blog host. Many of you probably don’t know that Kim and I shared an office for a whole year at the museum. She taught me a lot about being a confident out loud sort of woman. She has faced down plenty of challenges her life and continues to fight for a better tomorrow for herself and her son. I can’t think of anything more inspiring. So I’m honored to feature here once more with a few of my adventures Wandering Wyoming!
This last year, with all other vacation options closed, I started wandering all over Wyoming. There are so many incredible things to see beyond the National Parks! I absolutely fell in love with our great state all over again.
Here are 5 things I learned Wandering Wyoming…
Keep a Full Tank
When you travel in Wyoming, you quickly find out that there is a lot more open space than there are gas stations. If you aren’t prepared you easily end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. In the heat of summer or the ice cold of winter that stranding could then turn into a life threatening situation! Thankfully, I didn’t have any troubles this summer but I did come close to the Empty line more than once.
Carry More Water Than You Think You Need
Now this one I did make the mistake of a few times this summer hiking. Wherever you are in Wyoming you need to have access to drinkable water, especially when you’re out there having fun hiking the trails, enjoying the lake, or flying down the mountain on your board. Dehydration is one of the leading causes of death in the wilderness! Yet, amateur hour over here, I put myself in that situation twice this summer.... The friend hiking with me can tell you what a whiny brat I turned into half way through that hike without enough water… it was not attractive. Long story short, always carry more water than you think you need!
Don’t Be Afraid to Get a Little Lost
Ok, this one might seem a little contradictory compared to my last two lessons. Hear me out! If you have that full tank of gas and plenty of water finding yourself on a dirt road you’re not totally sure it goes in the direction you thought it did isn’t the worst thing in the world. As long as you know how to turn around and find the highway and you aren’t trespassing, go ahead and explore the amazing beauty and peace of Wyoming public lands! You may even find that the dirt road is a loop back to the highway anyway. I’ve found some of my favorite place in this state by following a long dirt road to “nowhere”.
Pick a Good Travel Buddy
Traveling the state alone does have its perks, however, the most fun I had this summer was when I was sharing my adventure with a friend or my younger siblings. They give you their own unique perspectives, you have time on those dirt roads to enjoy long therapeutic conversations, and all that quality time builds a strength in your relationships that time at home or the city with all its distractions could never give you. Throughout this year I think we’ve all had enough isolation from our loved ones, that should make it that much easier to pick someone to share the miles with!
Get Out of Wifi
Again with this year, I’ve seen one of the most common complaints being how much social media, entertainment, the news, and just the internet in general are adding to everyone’s poor mental and emotional state. That’s what is so great about wandering Wyoming, often you can’t explore without going out of wifi. Don’t be scared of that, embrace it! Allow yourself to detox from all the things stressing you out online!
I hope you continue to have great adventures as winter falls in Wyoming. You can follow along with mine on Facebook and Instagram @lilmissbearpaw and Subscribe to the blog at www.lilmissbearpaw.com to share your adventures with me use
#findyourfrontier #writethefrontier #roadtripping #wanderwyoming #thatswy #adventurers #lifesjounreys #wanderinginwy
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