Prairie Dogs

"What are YOU lookin' at?"

taken by our new friends from California.

I have no great love for prairie dogs.  They are an extremely prolific animal that take over vast quantities of space making it dangerous for horses and every time I see a colony of them, they make me want to play "whack a mole".

However, on our drive from Denver to our destination of Lyman, WY, we stopped at a rest area that featured a whole colony of prairie dogs who are extremely tame.  It made time at the rest stop much more enjoyable as my boys scampered all over the place trying to see where the next one would pop up.

There was a large van full of people there dressed in lovely billowing clothing with lots of jewelry hung on hemp.  Without censoring myself for judgement, I immediately thought, "THOSE people are from No. California."  A glance at the license plate confirmed it and they all decided to make friends with my children and me as we watched prairie dogs.  It was very amusing to explain to them, that, yes, it is okay to pick a sprig of sage brush.  Sage brush can more than take care of itself.  If it can survive the winters of Wyoming and poison every plant around it, some California hippie wasn't going to hurt it.  (Keep in mind that I and two of my children were dressed in tie-dye that day and I would move to northern California in a heartbeat if given the option, but for some reason, that day, I was feeling smug about knowing so much about Wyoming, a state that I normally make fun of whenever possible.)

We had a fun time chatting about life while the kids and a few of the adults ran around chasing prairie dogs and had an all around pleasant time with one another.

If you ever get the chance, stop by.  It's the Bitter Creek rest stop at mile 144 on I-80 west bound.