Sheridan   With a half-million people when folks mention Wyoming other than Yellowstone Park, the rest of the country doesn’t much care.   Let Dick Chaney rant from somewhere near Jackson Hole and restrict his travel.  Are there any Democrats here or is it just roaming antelopes and armed to the teeth Republicans?

Having been born in Laramie, I’m still soft on the state and its bigger than life stature in so many areas, so I have to apologize for perhaps bending over backwards too far sometimes in hoping that, well, you know, there’s hope….

In the Casper Tribune today there was an op-ed column by Ann Coulter, but there was also Doonesbury.  There was a front page article about the postponement of the Affordable Care Act, but the hotel owner quoted actually wanted to provide coverage, but was in his words, “struggling to survive.”

In the capital in Cheyenne last year where Republicans have 3 to 1 lead on the dozen Democratic disciples, marriage equality came within a hair of passage.   Well, maybe a lot of hair, but it did get out of committee by a 7-2 vote and did come within a dozen votes of passage, which means a whole lot of Republicans were voting “yes.”   Remember, they are ornery here, but unpredictable.   Wyoming was the first state to give women the vote as I hope everyone remembers.

In Sheridan, world famous as the home of Twin Ropes ranch supply store, friends talk about the town gentrifying and becoming the Berkley of Wyoming, though I’m sure everything is relative.   Part of this reputation may be based on the fact that there is one Starbucks near the Walmart.  There’s a fist at the ready, but it’s finding a glove.  The note in the bathroom at the Quality Inn citing the “popularity of our guest room amenities” gave an exorbitant price list for all of the items in the room with $50 for the 2 cup coffee maker, $80 for a comforter (where was that?), $60 the sheets, etc, and at the bottom of the price list the comment that: “Should you decide to take these articles from your room instead of obtaining them from the Executive Housekeeper, we will assume you approve a corresponding charge to your account.”

I was so delighted that they were not deducting any room thefts from the housekeeper’s paycheck that it made me giddy to think of the changes that are coming to Wyoming!