Considering Wyoming (Basin: new home, storage, vs.)

[Froggie Legs]

I'm beginning to think you work for this wind turbine company Chip, buy the number of posts you are making regarding them...

[Happy in Wyoming]

Originally Posted by Chip_Vanilla

You and I must be simpatico: I lived in the same small town as Roy & Dale for a while and I never saw them, as they kept to themselves in their compound.

I was being sarcastic. It's all too common for people to say they're conservatives while in reality they're liberals. Conservatism isn't just about economic freedom; it's about social freedom as well. In both cases it's the freedom not to conform to the dictates of the government and the media.

Originally Posted by Chip_Vanilla

Colorado isn't all that appealing now, after the influx of refugees over the last couple of decades. It's a bit warmer in winter, true, but much of Wyoming receives less snowfall. The Tetons, to me, are every bit as attractive as the Rockies and less crowded. Then there's that Yellowstone! The only qualms I feel about your state involve the caldera. I'd still trade much lower taxes, crime, and unemployment for a postcard picture anyway.

The OP would be far more comfortable in Colorado where her views have now sadly become the norm. No conservative who had parents like hers would admit it. I can speak from terrible experience on this subject as I'm a refugee from Colorado but now happy and comfortable in Wyoming.

Now, I'm sure we'll here from the liberal claque. (Look it up)

[Chip_Vanilla]

I'm not much into political tags; all parlortitians are scoundrels in my experience, and their followers are playing a vain ego game. But that's just me.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Chip_Vanilla

You and I must be simpatico: I lived in the same small town as Roy & Dale for a while and I never saw them, as they kept to themselves in their compound.

Colorado isn't all that appealing now, after the influx of refugees over the last couple of decades. It's a bit warmer in winter, true, but much of Wyoming receives less snowfall. The Tetons, to me, are every bit as attractive as the Rockies and less crowded. Then there's that Yellowstone! The only qualms I feel about your state involve the caldera. I'd still trade much lower taxes, crime, and unemployment for a postcard picture anyway.

That's ok, the last time the caldera spoke, it covered the ground with feet of rock, all the way to Mississippi. Can't very well hide.

[AlisonA]

Hello, OP here! Thought I would write a short follow-up to our saga.

We moved to Wyoming in July after purchasing a small modular home on the outskirts of Buffalo. So far, we love it here! During last week's snowstorm and power outage, we were pleasantly surprised at how warm our house stayed (thanks to my husband's skills with the generator that kept our heater running). Be that as it may, we are now shopping for a natural-gas fireplace heater that will require no electricity to run, unlike our natural gas forced-air heater.

Before we moved, we put together a long list of things to get done before winter arrived, such as deer-fencing the small garden area and putting up the greenhouse. Sadly, my father-in-law, who moved with us, suffered from sudden-onset dementia that required my husband to care for him almost 24/7. Just a few weeks ago, we got him into Beehive Homes here in Buffalo. He's happy as a clam there, the staff is really good to him, and we are slowly recovering from the exhaustion of caring for an aging parent with dementia. Whew!

It may be too late now to get all the pre-winter work done, but maybe not... this town is such a great community where neighbors help neighbors. My husband has already become friends with some men who showed up on moving day to help us unpack the UHaul, and have also helped with other projects since then. And my husband has been happy to return the favor when he's been able to do that. Honestly, we've met nothing but salt-of-the-earth people since we arrived.

I've enjoyed the crisp fall weather, something we didn't get where we lived before. Even the snow was refreshing, once the power was restored The only thing I miss about California so far are my friends, my family, and the abundance and variety of just-picked produce. But I'm learning my way around and have found a few local farms (Golden Rule Produce, for instance) for veggies, fresh eggs, etc.

An earlier post on this thread said something to the effect that the OP (me) would be happier with the politics in (more liberal) Colorado than in (more conservative) Wyoming. This statement seemed to be based on the facts that my parents adopted a lot of children from other countries and of diverse races. I found interesting the assumption that conservative values somehow include racial exclusivity. That's certainly not the case in my family (nor have I seen it to be true in Wyoming so far).

So for the record, my parents, my husband, and I are all quite conservative, both fiscally and politically, although we do believe in letting others have and express their own opinions. In fact, one of the reasons my husband and I chose Wyoming over less arduous places to live, like Colorado, is that we appreciate the more conservative values, the live-and-let-live philosophy, and the good work ethic we saw when we visited here. We have no desire to impose any of the big-government laws or taxes from which we just fled, and we sure hope that Wyoming stands strong in the face of pressures to conform to what other states may be doing.

Of course, I haven't traveled far from Buffalo (Casper to the south, Billings to the north), so maybe my thoughts about how welcoming Wyoming folks are will change as I settle in here. But from what I see now, I believe my mixed-race siblings would be welcomed by all our new friends and acquaintances in Buffalo - conservatives that they are!

Bottom line - we have no regrets about moving to Wyoming, and we are so grateful to all of you who gave us such incredible insight into this area. Coming prepared for reality was the best way to make such a huge transition, and so we thank you!

[Froggie Legs]

Awesome story! glad you've settled in and are finding Wyoming to be as wonderful as the rest of us have (I still miss it!)

Have you thought of planting small veggies inside in pots? Short carrots, lettuces, radishes and herbs to name a few can thrive with a bit of sun lamps, good potting soil and water. Check out "indoor winter gardening" on a search engine and you'll find many hints.

[volosong]

Cool story, AlisonA. Did you get any acreage with your modular, or is it on a small lot?

[ElkHunter]

Outstanding AllisonA, glad you got settled in.

I know it's been said on here about Bountiful Baskets, which is a food co-op of veggies and fruits. Where I live, they come every other week, not sure about Buffalo. Each time they deliver, it is something different. I was told about it over and over, and finally, last week I went ahead and ordered, and on Sunday, I picked up my basket. I was pleasantly surprised. It was $15 for the basket, a one time charge of $3. and a $1.50 processing fee. So from now on, it will be $16.50 for each basket I order. This goes on all year long, so it's a shot at some fresh fruits and veggies, even in the dead of winter. It's also a challeng because I am sure we'll get things I have never cooked before, so I'll have to figure them out and be able to try new things that I wouldn't normally purchase. They also have side items you can buy. I bought 5 loaves of Honey Wheat Bread for $12. Excellent bread, and low in calories at 60 per slice.

By the way, I haven't been able to identify those root looking things. We cut one up and the neighbors and I tasted it raw and we still can't identify it. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

It's at Bountiful Baskets

Here is a picture of what I got.

[Froggie Legs]

Locations « Bountiful Baskets

here's the list of the days/times for the drops... wish we had that here!

and is it a yam or sweet potato? what color is the inside flesh? It looks like a sweet potato to me. But if it's white inside it could be a rutabaga. Chop it up and add to soup/stew... or roast it along with a beef/elk/venison roast.

[WyoNewk]

EH, I showed my wife the picture. She's somewhat of a food guru. She said it looks like a jicama to her (pronounced hik-uh-muh). She said they taste good, a little like an artichoke. Boil them up like a potato. She says there's probably recipes online.

Well, I looked online, and the jicamas pictured have more of a turnip shape, so I'm not sure if she's right or not. If not, YOU can tell her, 'cause I don't argue with her about food!


jicama |ˈhikəmə; ˈhē-|
noun
the crisp, white-fleshed, edible tuber of a Central American climbing plant of the pea family ( Pachyrhizus erosus, family Leguminosae), cultivated since pre-Columbian times and used esp. in Mexican cooking.