Howdy from Wyoming

Hello Mrs. Gutteridge,

Flat Stanley came to visit us in Cheyenne, Wyoming. We took pictures in front of the Cheyenne Transportation Museum located inside the Union Pacific Railroad depot and the Wyoming State Capitol building. I hope this information will help you see why Wyoming is different.

Heaven, Kenneth, & Vincent

Vincent, Kenneth, and Flat Stanley at the transportation museum

Heaven, Vincent, and Flat Stanley

Union Pacific Depot where the museum is located

Near the capital

At the capital building in Cheyenne

Wyoming State Flag

Capitol: Cheyenne
Origin of Name: A contraction of the Native American word “Mecheweaming” meaning “at the big plains”.
State Motto:  Equal Rights
State Song: Wyoming
Entered the Union: July 10th 1890 (44th State)
Nicknames:  The Equality State, The Cowboy State, and Big Wyoming
State Flower:  Indian Paint Brush
State Tree: Plains Cottonwood
State Bird: Meadowlark
State fish: The Cutthroat Trout
State Mammal: Bison
State Reptile: The Horned Toad (Not actually a toad)
State Gem: Jade

Weather: Elevation is an average of 6,700 ft. above sea level. Because of the elevation Wyoming has a relatively cool climate. Rarely exceeding 100 degrees in the warm months. Summer days humidity is low 25-30% sometimes even as low as 5-10%. Hailstorms and wind storms are the most destructive and common storms in Wyoming. They cause thousands of dollars in damage to crops and properties every year. November through May is the winter season and the yearly snowfall average is approx. 60.3 inches. March being the snowiest month with an average of 11.3 inches.

Local Pastimes are shoveling snow (A little bit of a joke), Shopping at the Frontier mall, Historical landmarks are all over Cheyenne, The Terry Bison Ranch and Senators steakhouse is a popular tourist attraction as well .

Wyoming is famous for Yellowstone National Park, The Devils Tower, Grand Teton National Park, Old Faithful Geyser, Jackson Hole, Flaming Gorge, Union Pacific Railroads, The Atlas Theatre, The largest outdoor rodeo in the US (Cheyenne Frontier Days), F. E. Warren Air Force Base and much more.

Famous Wyomingites: Dick Cheney (46th Vice President), Buffalo Bill (American soldier and Bison hunter), Nellie Tayloe Ross (1st woman governor)

More fun facts: Wyoming license plates feature a man on a bucking bronco formally named "Old Steamboat".
Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote.
The largest Coalmine in the US is Black Thunder near Wright, WY
Cody Wyoming is named after William "Buffalo Bill" Cody

Bibliography: www.thecurrentresult.com/Weather/Wyoming
 www.awesomeamerica.com/Wyoming (this site has a Old Faithful webcam)

Meredith's Stanley in Alaska

Stanley and the beautiful sunrise. In Alaska, winter days are very short. This sunrise was at 10:36am. Sunset on that day was at about 4:25pm.

Today, Stanley visited the Anchorage station for the Alaska Railroad. Here's a brief history: http://www.alaskatrain.com/information/history.html

He also got a look at an Athabascan cache. A cache is a building on stilts used to store food out of the reach of bears. Athabascans are a Native Alaskan tribe. Here's some info on them: http://www.alaskanative.net/en/main-nav/education-and-programs/cultures-of-alaska/athabascan/

Sorry to be keeping him so long. The weather has been very weird, awfully warm and overcast and rainy, so going out to take pictures has not been that easy. Hopefully things will be better over the weekend, so we can get him out to visit a glacier:)

We thought we had a chance to take Stanley to a National Forest that isn't too far from Anchorage, but we got surprised by the weather taking a rough turn after we got down the road. The wind was blowing around 25mhp and we were afraid he would blow out into the water.

The weather finally cooperated enough to get out on Saturday! We took Stanley over to Point Woronzof, a headland around the west side of Anchorage overlooking Cook Inlet, named for Captain Cook. From there you have a great view, on a good day, of stretches of three mountain ranges: the Chugach, the Alaska and the Talkeetnas. If the visibility is really good, you can see Mt McKinley, and we could!

Stanley is by the overlook sign, showing McKinley's height.

Here is Stanley by the other end of the same sign, showing Anchorage and the Chugach behind.

Stanley and the nice view of downtown Anchorage that day.

Stanley and a famous mountain in the area. Mt Susitna, which is also known as the Sleeping Lady, because she looks like a lady asleep on her side. Here is some info about her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Susitna

Flat Stanley in Oregon: A Poem

Flat Stanley arrived in Eugene, Oregon the day before a winter storm.
Eugene's average winter temperature is 40 degrees with little chance of snow.
Last week we had 6 inches and it was -10 below!
Eugene is the second largest city in the state of Oregon.  It's nickname is Emerald Valley (because of all of the trees) and Track City.
The McKenzie River and Willamette River converge near our city.  Nike sports had it's beginning in Eugene.
* Oregon is pronounced:  Ory-gun
* Willamette is pronounced: Will-am-met

He was housebound,
But had fun making snow angels on the ground.

A surprise visit from Ty was special as can be.  This is the two of them by our Christmas tree.

The University of Oregon is the home of the Fighting Ducks.
Stanley will see the campus with any luck.
*The school colors are green and yellow.

It's off to the museum , under sunny skies.
Stanley was happy to be out and about.  He wanted to see more, there was no doubt.
In an instant he was off and away he ran.  Yelling, "You can't catch me I'm Flat Stan!
We looked high, we looked low.
Where or where did Flat Stan go?
We looked to the left, we looked to the right.  We looked all day, we looked all night.
The Eugene police sent out an APB- "Call if you see Flat Stan, he's wearing blue jeans and a red tee.

Someone saw him running between PK and Autzen stadium.
He was spotted in the river floating on a dish,
Just like Ty he likes to fish.
We plucked him out by a bridge for bikes.  He was cold and wet but alright.
He did need to change his clothes.  Cleaned up and dry he was ready to go!

We head east to the mountains,
Two hours away.
The resort at Black Butte is a fun place to stay.
Cabins, snowy peaks and trees.
Hiking trails, bike paths and horses to ride.  But Flat Stanley wanted to play on a slide.

Tonight we went to a basketball game.  Matt Knight arena is the court's name.  We spied Santa's helpers and the Oregon
Duck.  U of O beat BYU with a little luck.

North on I-5, two hours to Portland.  We saw sheep, hawks and even Mt. Hood.
An early Christmas with family-
We had fun, gifts and lots of good food!
*Duane's sister,Rhondie, lives in Portland which is the largest city in Oregon. It's nickname is "Rose City".

Now we're headed west to the coast, only an hour away.
We'll visit with Grandpa and Grandma on a gray, rainy day.
*Ty knows lots about Florence.