Living in the opposite

It’s been a few months months since my husband and I and our dogs moved to Cody, Wyoming. In that time, I’ve started to process the change. That always takes a while for me to figure out, but here is an early attempt at it.

So far living in Cody has been the exact opposite of living in Las Vegas.

First off, there are way less people. The state of Wyoming has fewer than 600,000 people living in it. Cody has about 10,000. The Las Vegas Valley alone has millions of people living in it. Not going to lie. I really like the smaller number of people.

Second thing is the weather. There hasn’t been a heat advisory since we moved here, and the temperature has never hit triple digits. It’s been close a time or two, but that’s it. We’ve also had some cool rainy days that feel like fall. I’ve even had to wear a hoodie to stay warm. The grass is also green and thick and our dogs love rolling around in it.

I’m worried about the winter weather though. I haven’t lived anyplace with snow or below freezing temperatures in more than a decade.

Third, I’ve never seen so much bear spray for sale. It’s sold EVERYWHERE. Gas stations, grocery stores, Wal-Mart, gift shops…EVERYWHERE! We also saw it when we did a Costco run to Montana. I think I saw it for sale at one place in Las Vegas, but that’s it. The park rangers at Yellowstone also have a can of it on their equipment belts. Despite bears being a credible threat, I have yet to see one.

Finally, the scenery. We live about an hour from the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Need I say more? No, but I will🙂

I’ve seen some of the most beautiful natural scenery of my life in Yellowstone. I honestly thought the pictures I’d seen before had been heavily photoshopped, but they weren’t. I could get lost in the colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring.

Feeling the ground shake when Old Faithful erupted was exhilarating as well as seeing animals in their natural habitat.

I love that I’ve barely scratched the surface of that park. I can’t imagine what I’ll see on my next trip or when I get a chance to hike some of its trails.

Best part is that Yellowstone isn’t the only pretty scenery out here. In fact, the scenery around Cody and throughout most of Wyoming is beautiful. So, I’m literally surrounded by it, and I’m close enough to get out and see all of it🙂