Finishing my "follow Alfred Jacob Miller's path" plan this morning with a "quick trip" over to the Fort Laramie Visitor Center. It is always nice to see Pronghorn:
Grayrocks Reservoir is on the way to Fort Laramie:
Wyoming Prairie:
Stopping before a turn:
and a close-up:
I'm going to take the "UNPAVED Road" for 7 miles.
It is a GREAT DAY to visit the Fort Laramie National Historic Site:
Um, these are the Cavalry Barracks:
But where's The Fort?
Well, thanks to the exhibit in their Visitor Center, the fort painted by Alfred Jacob Miller was the first fort, and it was actually named "Fort William":
Well, isn't nice to see "pictures of those pictures"!
As well as another nice "picture of a picture":
The two original paintings of Fort Laramie are at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and the 3rd is at the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West up in Cody, Wyoming.
From The Walters Art Museum, the Description of "Interior of Fort Laramie":
"This fort was built by Robert Campbell who named it Fort William in honor of his friend and partner Wm. Sublette. These gentlemen were the earliest pioneers after Messors Lewis and Clarke, and had many battles with the Indians."A.J. Miller, extracted from "The West of Alfred Jacob Miller" (1837). In the spring of 1837, Miller accompanied the Scottish adventurer Captain William Drummond Stewart (died 1871) to the fur traders' rendezvous held that year on the Green River in western Wyoming. At these gatherings trappers and Indians sold their furs and replenished supplies for the following winter. Miller subsequently used the sketches drawn on the trail as the basis for oil paintings for Stewart's ancestral estate, Murthly Castle in Perthshire, Scotland. After returning to Baltimore in 1842, he continued to replicate his sketches in oils and watercolors for American clients. In this scene Miller has provided the only visual record of the first Fort Laramie, erected in 1834. Located in eastern Wyoming, the fort marked the beginning of what would later become the Oregon Trail, the route that was taken by settlers moving west.
Well, now it is time for me to be "moving south". I continue to be STRUCK by the vastness out here - on the road from Fort Laramie, looking behind me:
and looking ahead:
I hit the Colorado State Line at 12:30
and stopped at a Jiffy Lube in Fort Collins for a MAJOR cleanup/oil change. The guys were laughing when they showed me my air filter - "um, I think that's a grasshopper; and how'd those moths get in there?"
I made my way down to Boulder, and the SmithKlein Gallery. Wendy and I are fans of artist Craig Mooney, and I made a map (of course) of Galleries that sell his paintings:
The ones I have visited (and actually this includes ALL galleries I have visited) are Very Gracious, and more than willing to show you pieces of art (and allow you to take "vague" pictures), even when you have said that you are not in a position to actually BUY anything.
Their bio page on Craig Mooney:
and the two pieces they were kind enough to show me were "Drifting Shadows":
and "Sweet Surrender":
Outside the Gallery is "Boulder’s historic Pearl Street Mall", which seems to be a pretty cool place:
I even funded a couple of street musicians.
I then headed south alongside the Mountains:
until I could hop on I-70 West. My "plan" was to drive to the trailhead for Grays and Torreys Peaks (a pair of 14ers) "and do some hiking" (WHAT COULD I BE THINKING), but 2 things happened: 1) I just sort of ran out of time, and 2) I had read trail reports last night, and every single one mentioned HOW AWFUL the 3+ mile "road to the trailhead" was!!
I drove a little bit up it, turned around, and headed west to the Super 8 in Dillon/Breckenridge for a 5:45 check-in:
But we don't end the day there! I headed up the road and got a nice evening shot of Lake Dillon:
and had dinner at Pug Ryan's Brewery in Dillon:
guess what Special I HAD FOR DINNER???
hint:
WOW - Art from the Past - Art from the Present, Forts and Mountains - Thank you God for ALL THESE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES!
Blogging Music:
The Pat Metheny Group - Speaking of Now, 2002
This album won the Grammy in 2003 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
Driving Music:
Spooky Tooth - Spooky Two, 1969
Ten Years After - Ssssh, 1969
Warren Zevon - Stand in the Fire, 1980 live album
Jethro Tull - Stand Up, 1969 second album
Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up, 2005
And then because I'm going through Boulder, Colorado:
Dave Matthews Band - Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado, 2002 double live album, recorded 2001
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