Like many, we’ve been on the road over the past couple weeks. It wasn’t a planned vacation per se–we were helping someone move across country and along the way, there was some wonderful scenery.

Our path followed the old Oregon Trail from Missouri through Nebraska and on into Wyoming. We reached Chimney Rock about the time we needed to stretch and spent a pleasant half hour in the Visitor Center. (Note the sign in the foreground–needless to say, we stuck to the sidewalks!)

The transition from plains to semi-arid scrub to mountain impressed us “flat-landers” as my husband called us. I thought often of how the American Indians and the settlers viewed the land they lived in and passed through. We had the luxury of an air-conditioned vehicle and could travel from state to state within two days. It took them many hot, long days by foot, horseback, or wagon.

We stood in awe at the foot of bluffs and mountain streams. I could have sat for hours soaking in the rock formations, the colors, the sounds. The Sinks State Park in Wyoming is worth the visit. The Popo Agie River “sinks” below the surface for 1/4 mile before “rising” back up and along its way to the Wind River. It was a lovely outing close to where we were staying and a hint of the grandeur further on down the road. We didn’t get to Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons on this trip but we’ll go back many times, I’m sure.

Now that I’m home, I’m pondering how to translate all of that beauty into fiber. I’m not a tapestry weaver but nature still influences what I weave. The play of color across the cliff face, the expanse of sagebrush, the shape of rock formations, all of these will echo in my mind as I plan new projects. Hopefully I can share something of the area’s beauty through weaving.