Casper, The Friendly

One of my favorite things to do is to go antique shopping at quirky out-of-the way flea markets, thrift stores, and vintage shops. It's a real thrill to spot someting fantastic hidden in the middle of all of the junk-- A bit like treasure hunting. Or an archaeological dig. Or playing the slots, maybe. You walk in a store, and never quite know what you're going to find. Even on days when I don't find anything at all, it's still fun to poke around the shops, looking at all of the little curiosities.

I haven't been able to do much thrifting out in England. The part of the country we live in doesn't really have very many antique stores, and the shops that I have found don't really seem to have many mid-century (50s, 60s) things. It's all Victorian, which is nice but not really my scene.

To get my antique fix, I took a jaunt up through Wyoming with my friend Lisa. We traveled  a few hours north on I-25 and stopped in all kinds of little towns along the way: Cheyenne, Chugwater, Wheatland, and Douglas. Lisa is the only person I know that loves antique shopping as much as (maybe more?) then me. Her house is filled with fantastic vintage treasures, and she has a great ability to spot interesting, beautiful, and often valuable things buried in the shelves and cases. It's great fun to shop with her.

By the time the trip was over, we had nearly filled the Element with all of our booty. It was a really fun and interesting trip. The best place by far was a little antique shop we popped into in Wheatland, WY called "Muriel's Treasures." It had an upstairs and a basement, and every booth had something interesting. And *cheap*! I got Matt a fistfull of amazing vintage belt buckles, all $2 each. I also found a few Christmas presents for my brother that there's no way I can possibly wait until Christmas to give him. (I think I might lure him over to the house tonight to give him one.)

Casper, the end destination of the trip, was a little sad. We had a list of maybe ten different antique shops to visit, but when we got there we realized that all but two were out of business. The town seemed a little depressed, a little on the skids. Still, everyone we met was very nice, incredibly friendly, and helpful.

Here are a few snapshots of the great retro neon signs in downtown Casper:

It took us so long to get up to Casper that we decided to stay the night at a bed and breakfast called the “Sunburst Lodge.” When we called, the woman who runs the place said the lodge was about 20 minutes outside of town, up Wyoming mountain. We headed up to the lodge as the sun was setting, and we incredibly glad that we hadn’t waited any longer, as the place turned out to be waaaaay up in the mountains and pretty tricky to find. The GPS we were using gave us bad directions up the mountains and ended up bringing us up on this narrow, twisty dirt road in the middle of nowhere. (Side note: I have had a falling out with Lisa’s GPS. That machine and I have a very turbulent relationship. There are very few things I hate more than frustrating, unreliable technology. I feel sorry for Lisa, who had to bear witness to me yelling and cursing at the GPS as we drove.)

The mountain road that we got lost on was only wide enough for one car, and took us through some pretty deep forest. It was like the opening scene of some sort of horror movie—Lost in the mountains, non-functioning GPS, terrorized by Hill People.

Lisa drove (yay Lisa!) while I navigated, and eventually we were able to re-orient ourselves and find our way to the lodge. It was a harrowing drive, but once we got there, the lodge was pretty darn spectacular. It was really new, huge, and all of the furnishings and finishes were swanky and luxurious. The beds, I must say, were incredible. Lisa slept on a temperpedic mattress, and I got to try out a really fancy “sleep number” bed. (Which I now covet, and really want for my own house.) Although Lisa and I both had a vague fear of a dead of night bear attack, we slept really well. Cozy and comfortable.

Here are a few snaps from the lodge:

Sunset on the mountain.

Lodge great room.

Second floor deck.

View from the lodge.

Nancy, the innkeeper, was a real character. Maybe she had been up on the mountain too long, or maybe she was just tired of playing hostess to strangers every night? She was very gruff… almost grumpy. Kind of a prickly, don’t-mess-with-me Mountain Woman vibe. Lisa and I arrived about a half an hour later from the time we originally estimated arriving at the lodge and Nancy seemed pretty miffed at us. Even when we explained that we had gotten lost on the mountain, her reaction was definitely less than sympathetic. She seemed tired, harried, and about to snap at us at any moment. But, weirdly, it didn’t make me angry. Normally, I’m really put off by unfriendly people, especially in the service industry. But she was so gruff, it was almost adorable. She was a cartoon character come to life. It’s hard to explain. Lisa and I both talked about it later… It’s like we both really wanted Nancy to like us. As though we could crack through that gruff exterior to reveal the creampuff inside.

As it turned out, Nancy was much friendly in the morning. We must have won her over somehow. We sat down to breakfast together, and she told us stories of going UFO hunting on the mountain. It was a really interesting experience, much more memorable than staying at a Motel 6.