Rawlins, Wyoming

Last weekend was Jon's 10 year high school reunion in his hometown, Rawlins, Wyoming. To those who have never been to Rawlins, or driven the I-80 corridor through Wyoming, it is hard to describe Rawlins. To my east coast friends who are used to lush landscapes of greenery, bustling metropolises and hoards of people, it is hard to describe Rawlins. Wait...I have it...think of these places, these green cities of activity, and then think of the exact opposite. Rawlins is a railroad town, and the railroad hasn't been doing so well the past few decades. It is a prison town. It is an oil refinery town. The people we met were so nice, everyone at the reunion was incredibly friendly to me, and I think if you grow up in Rawlins you have to develop a level of niceness or else you'd go crazy. It is brown and flat and dusty, half the storefronts are abandoned, the town itself is disappearing.

It was an interesting trip, seeing Jon's old neighborhood (I should admit, some of the older neighborhoods were nice and had trees and grass and stuff), the cemetary where his dad and grandfather are buried, his high school, his dad's old optometry practice, his favorite childhood restaurant, his first job. I met his grandmother and two of his uncles on his dad's side. I met some of his high school friends. I think seeing Rawlins from a vantage point other than the McDonald's by the freeway (the only place I'd ever been in Rawlins before this weekend), I got to know Jon a little better. It was a nice trip.


I keep wanting to post a few pictures of me all big and pregnant, but Jon has taken to running 35mm film through his Holga camera (which takes 120mm...or something) and he has no way of scanning the negatives he gets developed. He only caries his Holga with him most of the time because he looooooves it so much, but it is harder to get the pictures off of it and onto the interwebs. I will continue to try.

No big baby stuff going on right now. I'm big. I'm hot. Evelyn is a kicking machine. Everything is good. :)