Gluttony and bliss

Every year in D.C., Jeff M. and I would organize an outing to Sushi Taro's crazy amazing all-you-can-eat sushi day that the restaurant hosted as part of the Cherry Blossom Celebration.

For $32, which includes tax and tip, you get to enter a sushi wonderland where you have your pick of nearly any kind of roll you could dream of, and where tray after tray of sashimi lines the bar. There are endless plates of tempura veggies (which I'm not a fan of), piles of soba noodles, stacks of tofu cakes, tubs of miso...you name it, they have it.

(I'm dying as I write this!)

And you can go up as many times as you like. It's total gluttony - and total bliss!

Jeff and I would get in line an hour and a half early. That sounds crazy, I get it, but if you didn't make the first wave in when the doors opened at 12 p.m., you'd be stuck in a line that wrapped around the block waiting for other gorgers to trickle out.

Thursday night, the Nagel-Warren Mansion here in town hosted an all-u-can-eat sushi night also for $32. A group of us went to check it out.

We had a blast, and it was good. We got plate after plate of some very nice fish. But there were hardly any rolls - which are my favorite. And there weren't any of the fixins - like soup, edamame, or dumplings. And I ended up paying a LOT more when it was all said and done.

It was a fun first-time event for the inn to hold, but at the end of the day I'd be happier going to my beloved Tokyo Bowl (a.k.a. Burger King sushi). You get more for your money and I leave more satisfied.

The cast of characters: Me, Don, Todd...

Cast 2: Molly, Brandon, Annie...

Cast 3: Salmon, white tuna, tuna...


I have NO idea what I'm talking about here...


Um...yeah. You can't take this group anywhere! We have Angry Walrus, Happy Walrus, and Goofy Walrus. The fam's all here!


The Mansion's owner took us on a tour of the place later. It was awesome! I LOVE, LOVED this painting...

Choppers and chai

On my way to City News for coffee with Annie yesterday I had a D.C. flashback...

Two helicopters came out of nowhere, flying together across the open sky.

It was JUST like when the president flies in and out of D.C. There are three helicopters that go up - and come down - at the same time for security purposes: presumably so you don't know which one he's in when they're up.

I can't tell you how many times on my morning run, just past the Lincoln monument, I would be detoured because one of the helicopters was supposed to come down in the "grassy knoll" right alongside my route. The place would be crawling with cops and barricades creating this strangely busy scene on my otherwise peaceful and pretty little route.

There were always three helicopters flying around D.C.'s airspace it seemed. And it was always cool. Every time. Without fail.

Annie nicely informed me - after I gasped and made some weirdo comment like, "It's the president," - that it was just the base practicing.

I then explained why this seemingly everyday thing around Cheyenne was so like an everyday thing around D.C.

We admired it for a moment then we went happily along to our lattes.

Cap Grille here and there

I went with my friend Brandon to the Capitol Grille tonight for a beer. There's a Cap Grille in D.C., that I never really warmed to, but I really like the (unrelated) bar here.

It's part of the Historic Plains Hotel downtown, which is full of cool old tiled floors and neat Western-y furniture.

The bar is seldom packed (unless there's an event like the Wyoming Press Association), and you kind of feel like you've got the place to yourself - and that you can really get to know the bartenders. However, my only complaint is the service isn't as stellar as it should/could be, given that there are rarely enough people there at once to overwhelm the bartender's time.

Here are a few pics from the bar and, while I'm at it, the hotel.

Walking in from the hotel lobby...


The bar and restaurant. Ok, not the best picture, but you get the idea. You can see Brandon in the red vest trying to pretend that I'm not taking a picture...


The cool old tiles and booths in the Grille...


If you look closely you'll see the address is 1600...my old D.C., apt. building number! It was meant to be...


A mural painted on tile above the salad bar...


The cool stained glass ceiling in the hotel lobby complete with buffalo chandelier...

Part of the hotel lobby...


The "branded" tables in the lobby and the piano that plays on its own. I'm sure there's an actual name for those...

The front desk in the lobby. You can see the restaurant entrance in the back. I have no idea who that man is...


Some Western window art...


Cool tiled picture on the sidewalk outside the hotel...

Walk This Way!

(Yes, you're supposed to hear Aerosmith in your head as you read the title.)

I braved the cold (hurricane-like) wind today and walked back to work from lunch. Walking to work more is a New Year's resolution of mine. I'm trying to treat it like D.C. - where anything but walking isn't an option.

On my walkabouts there is one thing I've noticed: my pedestrian etiquette has changed. Meaning, I have some.

In D.C., you cross outside the crosswalk, you don't wait for walk lights, and you yell at cars, cabs, messenger bikes and anything else that doesn't ''yield the right of way." Ok...I still (somewhat) do all these things, just to a much lesser and cognizant-of-my-behavior way.

What is really noticeable, however, is the respect DRIVERS give to PEDESTRIANS here. They wave at you to "have the right of way" at a stop sign. They don't try to pressure you to run-or-be-runover at an intersection you are crossing where they want to turn either left or right. And, remarkably, when there is a crosswalk (and no lights to dictate what to do) drivers heed it. They heed it!!

I was reminded of this at the unlit crosswalk in front of the Capitol tonight. One car coming from my right saw me at the crosswalk and slowed well in advance to let me cross. Another car, coming from my left, came charging down the road, but once aware that there was a pedestrian came to a stop.

I gave a thank you wave to that one because they could've easily charged ahead, but instead followed the rules and stopped. On countless, truly countless occasions, I risked life and limb trying to cross my street in D.C. at the appropriate cross. And, on countless, truly countless occasions I dared cars, Metro buses, bikers, cabs, and whatnot to plow me down - playing "Frogger" and daring them to not stop.

You know, I'm getting pretty used to not yelling both ways before crossing the street...

A Christmas Comparison

I have a lot of posts about the differences between D.C., and living in the West.

Today, I have a comparison.

I made a rather huge mistake in going to Wal-Mart today. Yeah, I know...Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve day. Not smart.

But I needed to get groceries for when my family comes tomorrow and I thought Wal-Mart would be the most cost effective place to get this done. It was. But it was also the most out-of-control location in the whole town, I think.

Traffic was bad, drivers were bad, crowds were bad - all like D.C.

And then it happened. I nearly had an altercation in the parking lot. Like an I-want-to-get-out-of-my-car-and-get-in-your-face altercation. The kind of feelings/incidents I would have in D.C., on nearly a daily basis.

No matter what those of you who know me might believe, I HAVE become a more lenient, nicer person since being here. I let things slide much, much more than I ever, ever did in D.C.

Today? Nope, couldn't do it. It is the first time I actually leaned long and hard on my car horn with some very choice words for the idiot driver. Now, I had actual words in Colorado Springs earlier this year with another idiot driver, but it had yet to happen here.

So, I left Wal-Mart feeling decisively un-Christmassy, and wishing very un-Christmassy things on that driver.

I am over it now, and very much in the mood to celebrate Christmas, as you will soon see in my next post...

Road Kill - Something Squirrley Going On

I would like to share an observation I realize is rather odd:

There are lots of dead squirrels in Cheyenne.

Don't get the wrong idea - it's not like piles of dead squirrels are just lying on the sidewalks. It's that they just don't seem to be able to make it across the street. Ever.

I never really noticed this to be an issue in D.C., where with so much traffic you'd think it might be. Here, however, I noticed probably no less than one squished squirrel a day last week alone.

And yes, I know I have now solidified any speculation that there are less things here to occupy my time...

Tempting Fate

Last week I did something crazy. Something I would never do (except once - accidentally) in D.C.:

I left my car running while I ran into a store.

And it wasn't just any store. It was a liquor store. I needed to pick up a bottle of wine...

So, why in the WORLD would *I* ever do such a thing? Me who has three stolen car incidents to my name?

Well, because it was freakin' freezing cold, that's why, and I wanted my car to run a few minutes more before I forced it home.

Sure, I've taken some risks since being here...I've left my apartment unlocked, my car unlocked...but I had yet to leave it ready and waiting for someone to just take.

This is something I wouldn't advise doing in D.C., or most other places for that matter. But here...eh. I wasn't that concerned. And I wasn't the only one. There were any number of cars left running while their owners ran inside.

I figured safety in numbers, right? It worked this time, but I'm not sure how soon I'll be doing this again. It's probably still a good idea for me to not tempt fate.

Office Antics and a Random Comment

When I worked for the Senator I was the office photographer. I took tons of stupid, crazy, funny pictures of all the stupid, crazy, funny things people did in the office. And there was lots of that going on!

I'm happy that in my new job we also have "office antics." I haven't formally started documenting them - until today.

I was inspired when I came back from lunch and this random back scratcher was sticking like a creepy skeleton arm out of my desk drawer. Still don't know who's responsible for this...

Here's a picture of a picture of me that is now hanging on our marketing shop wall. It's from pumpkin picking this year. Another colleague took precious time out of their busy day to make it...


No idea which coworker this mug belongs to, but I seriously wanted to just take it. And I must go to Dirty Sally's. Must.


And this might be my favorite. If you are an animal rights activist you might not want to look. The same demented colleague who made the pumpkin photo "slaughtered" this poor foam animal a while back. Somehow Matt, my office mate, was able to produce the crime scene tape. He still won't say how. He's sketchy like that...


Ok, my random comment that pretty much everyone already knows: A bagel with cream cheese and lox (and tomatoes, capers and onions) is maybe my most favorite dish in the universe. It brings me complete and total happiness. After my ghetto Beaujolais celebration last night this sandwich was all my tummy desired. Bliss...

Happy Beaujolais Nouveau!

Right now, on the third Thursday of November, people everywhere are celebrating the release of Beaujolais Nouveau!

Beaujolais Nouveau is an old fashioned, French peasant wine that is derived from an early, unfermented harvest. Why do I care on my Trails West website, you ask?

Well, because D.C., makes a big ordeal out of this event. French restaurants everywhere in town get their shipment of Beaujolais early, even though French law states Beaujolais must not be uncorked until at least midnight of the third Thursday of November.

Each year, I bring a group of no less than 15 to Bistro du Coin (Quwah) in Dupont Circle, D.C. We eat French food at the late seating, mill around for an hour or so, and then party it up for the Beaujolais release at midnight. Inevitably, the mayor of D.C., always kicks off the city's Beaujolais events at our lil' bistro. After he uncorks the first bottle a disco ball drops down, a French DJ starts up, and the bar starts passing out free bottles of Beaujolais for the "peasants" to enjoy.

And boy do we. This year, the lady that takes reservations for the Bistro actually emailed me to let me know her plans for this year. I, shamefully, forgot tonight was the big night until a friend emailed me lamenting my absence at the Bistro this year.

Reminded, I was on a mission: I called two French restaurants in Ft. Collins, Colo., and three liquour stores in Cheyenne to find out if there were any Beaujolais events anywhere. The answer being "no" I decided to put together my own impromptu Beaujolais Nouveau event.

It was rather ghetto in comparison to the pre-drinks at the Russia House and the fancy- schmancy French food we'd get at the Bistro.

I did the best I could: I bought a cheap bottle of French red without even reading the label, made French toast bites, and cut a loaf of French baguette into slices for bread and butter.

Ghetto.

But it was something. I celebrated Beaujolais, darn it. And still am - seeing as how it's only half past uncorking time in good ol' Wyo.

Beaujolais c'est arrive!

Annie, my coworker, and her husband Don who I knew in college helped me celebrate. Yes, I know my walls are bare:


French toast for my guests:



What I finally resorted to buying as a cheap French red:

Round, Round, Get Around - I Get Around

In D.C., it is easier and most times necessary to just walk everywhere.

In Wyoming it is not. Everything here is too spread out and there isn't a major transit system in town to take you where you want to go.

But I still do it. Particularly since I don't live that far from downtown or my office. Walking just seems logical to me.

Friends here have commented or asked about my desire to, "just walk there." I get a lot of "Crimeny, Kim," or "Why do you want to walk everywhere?" Well, because getting in a car to drive three blocks doesn't register in my brain.

I was thinking about all this on my walk home from work tonight. When I would normally be one of hundreds walking after work, I was one of, well maybe the only one, walking that wasn't headed to a car.

Admittedly, walking doesn't always work out for me like I hope it to. I always start my morning with the goal to walk to work that day, but usually only accomplish it on my way back from lunch. That's because walking makes the most sense when you aren't perpetually late for work...

Cloud 9

One of the reasons I liked D.C. as a big city so much is there is so much sky. Since no building can be taller than the highest point on the Capitol, the town is built "out" and not "up" like other cities, i.e., New York with its skyscrapers.

This makes D.C. much more full of light, and you can actually see the sky and clouds. It just makes it nice.

But if you think seeing the clouds there is cool, check out how close the clouds are here. Looks like you could actually touch them...I've always loved that.

Above a house on the outskirts of town...

Bringing new meaning to "skyline..."

Super Bowl

I've thought all day how I may just ignore the returns tonight and wake up tomorrow morning with a new president - kind of like Christmas morning!

In reality, I knew I couldn't help myself and I would flip them on to at least listen.

I was more interested, however, after a friend texted me from the Hawk & Dove bar in D.C., an old watering hole for me. Suddenly I really wanted to be there too.

Politics is a sporting event in D.C., and this is the Super Bowl. People are packed into bars across the city right now, gathered around televisions, drinking, discussing strategy, and cheering for their "team."

It's exciting. So exciting. After my friend's text I was a little sad - and very jealous - because I also wanted to be in the thick of things with everyone!

Don't misunderstand - people care here too. It's just different in D.C. - there it's politics on steroids.

I admit though, since being out here I've generally cared less about the details of what's going on there. So, I guess it's most appropriate that I'm not at some bar with a bunch of political fanatics, but on my couch with a glass of wine and my pj's.

Top o' the Mornin'

Between Union Station and the intersection every Senate staffer uses on their way to work from the Metro, there was a man who used to stand nearly every morning playing the saxophone.

It wasn't just the sound of his sax playing over rush hour traffic and mute Hill staffers who awkwardly pretend they aren't standing on a median with throngs of others that made him notable. It was also that he would stop playing periodically to yell, "Good morning, good MORNING, GOOD MORNING!" as we all stood there waiting for the light to change so we could rush by.

I called him the Good Morning Man. And I loved him. He was one of my many favorite, quirky things about D.C.

He always made me smile, and I was happy to see he generally got a positive response from others too. You couldn't help but say good morning back - whether you meant it, or it was frightened out of you.

I figure he's about one of the only people in the city that says good morning to people whether he knows them or not.

I did for a time. When I first moved there I'd say it to people I passed on my morning run, or on my way to the Metro, or to get coffee...exchanging good mornings is what I'd always done. But generally the person would be visibly surprised a stranger was talking to them and their attempt to respond would be too late - if they responded at all.

I finally caught on. You just don't do that in the "big city." People have no expectations of others being friendly, so why should they?

It's not like that here. You can hardly be out before noon without getting good morninged every where you go.

And I'm back to being one of the culprits. I pretty much good morning every one I see. Particularly on my morning run.

The East Coast may have it's lone Good Morning guy, but the West just got back another Good Morning Gal.

Speaking of Worlds...

Yesterday was a whole new one.

A colleague and I had to meet up with K2 News, a Casper t.v. outlet, for work yesterday, and it just so happens their Cheyenne office is in the capitol building.

My coworker and I walked up the stairs to the front of the building, walked through the big front doors and, interestingly, kept right on walking to the K2 office without having to stop once for security purposes.

There were no metal detectors, no "capitol police," no getting wanded because your high heels set the detectors off, there wasn't even anybody who wanted to peek inside your purse. There was somebody behind a visitor desk, but they didn't say a word to us as we just breezed on by.

I know it's Wyoming 'n all, but still - it's the capitol!

I was amazed at how no one ever asked us our business, even as we went in to each of the chambers and meandered the halls waiting for our meeting to start.

Darn it all - it's things like this that make me love being back here.

It's just SO Wyoming, and sometimes SO a different world.

D.C. Freak?

So, I wrote a check at Target tonight that seemed to cause a system meltdown - at least for the Cheyenne store.

The cashier asked for my I.D., which I haven't changed over yet to Wyoming. Yes, I know I need to do this - and it's not that I don't want to! My current D.C. license is hideous! I had to replace it quickly the morning before I left town because my purse was stolen the night before at my going away party. I was sick, tired, and in work-out clothes, glasses and no make-up because I figured they could just pull my old picture. But, oh no, much to my horror I had to get a new one taken. So, I'm really not holding on to my D.C. license for any particular reason except I just haven't had a chance to get my Wyoming one.

Because of this I have become used to people being thrown off by my I.D. They don't know how to enter it...is D.C. the "state?" In most systems it seems to be.

I handed the Target cashier my I.D., she ran the check, and oddly it didn't seem to be accepted. I didn't really think anything of this until she apologized and then ran to get another associate.

Meanwhile, I'm left wondering why in the world my check wouldn't go through - especially since I just got paid - and the people behind me who had just thrown all their stuff on the counter kept looking at me like I was a villain.

The cashier returned with three other associates in tow. After a call to some secret Target computer headquarters by a totally different clerk everything seemed to be ok.

With some chuckling and apologizing the new clerk informed me that D.C. was under...wait...District of Columbia and not Washington STATE.

Oh? I endured confusion, a fleeting moment of anxiety over availability of funds, and the evil eye from other customers for that?!

I gathered my bags and walked out the door utterly flabbergasted.

Then, as I pulled out of my parking spot a child who couldn't have been more than two-years-old pointed at me through my open window and yelled, "Look at you!"

Yes, look at me! The weird-o girl with a D.C. license!

Alright, alright! I'll change it already!

"I don't think we're in Dupont anymore..."

But you couldn't tell from this picture, which I took on my way home from work last night.

They're actually saloon girls, gearing up for Frontier Days, but if you didn't know better you'd think I was in Dupont!

Compare and Contrast

This weekend is the big annual girls' NYC weekend.

Once a year, a group of about 13 girls head up to NYC from D.C., for a heel-wearing, fancy-dress flaunting, Broadway watching, martini sipping (chugging?), Sex and the City-esq weekend.

I think this is the first NYC weekend I've missed.

I'm both super bummed about missing the trip and happy with my Laramie weekend at the same time, which makes me think of that movie Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Anyone ever see that? It's all about what's happening in her character's "real life" and a parallel "what if" life.

I feel like I'm having a very Sliding Doors weekend. Here's how they compare and contrast:

Friday night the girls loaded the back of the "hell bus" to NYC eventually drinking and gradually becoming more obnoxious as they got closer to the city. They got off at the scheduled rest stops for snacks and mixers, went out on the town and dropped into bed around 5 a.m. (or later). **I packed up the Escape and went to Denver to see Paco, who is moving from D.C. to L.A. I stopped in Cheyenne to drop off some paperwork and a load of belongings at my new apartment. I attended a dinner party at a house in the 'burbs and promptly passed out at 1 a.m. after a long drive back.**

Today, the girls had brunch at a fancy NYC restaurant, are attending a Tony Award-winning musical and will be having an amazing post-show dinner at a swanky restaurant followed by more going out at uber-cool clubs. **I had a breakfast of yogurt and berries, got my hair cut by a new "cool" guy at a salon in Laramie, am currently watching Yo Gabba Gabba with Linds' son Sam while enjoying an awesome dinner of gourmet turkey burgers, caprese salad and grilled asparagus with Linds. This will be followed by a movie, some more Napa Valley wine, and hitting the hay around 10:30 p.m. fully expecting to be woken up at 2 a.m. by the girls who are either dancing their bums off at a club or eating late night food at Cafeteria.**

Tomorrow the girls will wake, shove their stuff into their weekend bags, run for coffee and a quick breakfast of maybe a Nathan's hotdog before nearly missing the the bus home. They will pass out from exhaustion on the bus, get to their homes and pass out again. **I will get up early and load a few more boxes in my car before heading to Cheyenne with Jonna and J, who has a shooting competition. Jonna and I will go furniture and antique shopping, likely grab lunch somewhere and head home. Since I don't have a job until July 7 I can sleep in Monday morning, unlike the D.C. girls.**

At the end of the movie the two lives kind of meld together showing that no matter what choices she made there was a preordained end that she couldn't have controlled.

I dont' think going to NYC this weekend would have ultimately landed me in Wyoming, but who knows...

Set Forth

I was going to call this post something like The Next Step, or Moving Forward, or something else kind of cheesy. But as I was thinking, the Into the Wild soundtrack came on and the first song is Set Forth. I thought, that's it! That really works!

That's because everything is pretty much lined up now for me to "set forth" with my new life, so to speak. I took a job on Friday and today I took an apartment.

And is it a great apartment! I feel really good about it. It matches me, and importantly, my furniture.

It has hardwood floors, will have a new paint job and carpet in the bedrooms, a nice big bathroom and kitchen, and two bedrooms, which I'm particularly excited about because I hope to have lots of visitors - and because this is the most space I've had in eight years.

And, not to rub it in for my D.C. readers, but Wyoming rent is mind-blowingly cheap! I won't torture you with the financial figures, but let me assure you I'm getting a lot of apartment for my money. To go on would just be mean, so I'll stop gloating. And kicking

up my heels...and secretly smiling to myself over my cheap, cheap rent.

It's in a four-plex, but you can't really tell. It just looks like a big house. Everything from the window right above the rent sign to the left is mine.

I hope I have nice neighbors and get to know them. Like "can I borrow a cup of sugar" or "let's have an apartment building BB-Q" get to know. Knowing your neighbors in D.C. doesn't happen a lot. I "knew" the lady down the hall because I would see her when I left for work in the mornings. I "knew" the girl two doors down because we had oddly similar grocery shopping schedules. And I "knew" the very old gentleman about three doors down because the other tenants on the floor and I were always wondering if he was still alive. Oh man, that sounds horrible, but it's true. We never "knew."

So, that's it! The beginnings of my new life!

Now to load my car down one more time...

Comin' Through

I was driving down Grand Ave. (a main road in Laramie - for those unfamiliar) yesterday afternoon when I saw a fire truck and ambulance coming up the road from several blocks down.

I was impressed with how quickly drivers got over even though it would be several moments before the emergency vehicles got close.

This doesn't happen around D.C. I know, I know, there's more traffic, the streets are narrower, yadda, yadda. But the attitude there is different. People don't seem concerned enough to even try to get over until they absolutely have to.

So, yesterday I joined a long line of cars that got over and parked it until they passed.

Just something that really stood out to me.

Novelty

Today I put a piece of mail...in a mailbox.

This is a real novelty! For the past eight years if I've wanted to send something I've had to either go to a Post Office, put it down a mail chute, or leave it at a front desk. I have not once left a piece of mail in a real, live mailbox complete with little red flag.

Neat!