The Snowy Range, Wyoming

When my husband I traveled back from visiting the Yellowstone National Park, and The Grand Teton National Park on a trip to the state of Wyoming, we drove along The Snowy Range Road, which is highway 130.  It connects Laramie to the Upper Platte River Valley. Begun in 1920, it took 6 years to complete and was called the "Great Skyroad."  It was designated the Second National Forest Scenic Byway in the United States.

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An informational placard at a rest stop along The Snowy Range Scenic Byway which passes through the heart of the Medicine Bow National Forest and is peppered with crystal blue lakes and jagged gray granite peaks. The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend for 100-miles from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming.  Wyoming's northern portion of the range is often referred to as The Snowy Range.

The views of Snowy range Mountains is breathtakingly beautiful!  I was amazed by the large numbers of enormous boulders and stones that were scattered on both sides of the road way and on the valley floor, the result of glacier movement over the ages.

The grey mountain peaks are composed of Sherman Granite that dates back nearly 1.5 billion years. Due to the grandeur of these rock formations, many Native American people once revered this place as sacred.

We stopped at the Libby Flats Observation Point where we saw other visitors who were also viewing the beautiful scenery. 

Although the Libby Flats Observation Tower was only a few feet high, it was located at an elevation of 10,885 feet, and the town of Laramie, approximately 40 miles distant, was visible as were various lakes and mountain ranges.

Our view for the tower looking south toward Colorado.  With high power binoculars one could see Pike's Peak in the distance!

A sunny cup of coffee latte I had in a cafe in Laramie, Wyoming.

It's a beautiful country, and the Western part of the USA holds views that never cease to amaze and delight this East coast New York City girl!

Please come back Friday as I will have a special spring give away on my blog!

Linking this post to Susan blog's A Southern Daydreamer"Outdoor Wednesday" event.  Thanks Susan!

Lincoln Memorial Monument, Wyoming

For this President's Day holiday I thought it would be nice to show a special memorial dedicated to the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. This memorial was made to commemorate Lincoln's150th birthday and is located on a section of Interstate Highway 80 in the state of Wyoming.  My husband and I traveled on I-80, that is also know as the Lincoln Highway, during a trip we took to the beautiful state of Wyoming to see Yellowstone National Park, among other sights. (Click on this link  "Wyoming" to see more about this trip).

(All photos can be enlarged by clicking on once, and then clicked on again when they open on a new page)

The original Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental 3,500 mile automobile route to connect New York City with San Francisco, California. Much of the original Lincoln Highway evolved into US 30 in the 1920's and Interstate 80 in the 1950's. The entire history of the Lincoln Highway can be read on this Federal Highway history link. You can double click to enlarge the photo above to read about Henry Bourne Joy, the first present of the Lincoln Highway association in1913. Joy, also president of the Packard Motor Car Company, is sometimes called the father of the nation’s modern highway system. Joy said that his effort to create the Lincoln Highway was his greatest accomplishment.

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The Lincoln Highway Historic Monument lies 10 miles SE of Laramie, on exit 323 on Interstate 80 at the edge of Summit Rest Area. It marks the highest point on Interstate 80, with an elevation of 8,640 feet. This historic monument was designed and created in 1959 by Robert Russin, who was an art professor at the University of Wyoming. The bronze bust of Lincoln's head is thirteen-and-a-half feet tall on top of a thirty five foot tall base, composed of Wyoming granite. The head of Lincoln was cast in 30 pieces and is bolted together much like the inside of the Statue of Liberty. It is the only monument to Abraham Lincoln along the Lincoln Highway and is the largest bronze head sculpture of him in the U.S.  Originally the Lincoln Memorial Monument was located about a half mile west at Sherman Hill on the original Lincoln Highway, but was moved to this location in 1969 when Interstate 80 opened.

Taking a road trip in Wyoming was a thrilling experience for my husband and I as we passed the most spectacular scenery along the way. Come back Wednesday and I'll show you a magnificent view of the Snowy Range of the Medicine Bow Mountains.

Linking to "Mosaic Monday" on Mary's blog Little Red House, "Blue Monday" on the Smiling Sally blog, and My World Tuesday hosted by Klaus, and the My World team.

Thanks to all for hosting such nice events for us to join every week!