Leslie sold her old place in Thermopolis, Wyoming. She just couldn't stand the thought of not owning property in Wyoming. So we began a search for a new place to buy. We had plenty of time while stuck at home in Florida during the Corona virus lockdown to scour the internet for properties for sale in The Cowboy State. Eventually we found this one. it's smack dab in the middle of nowhere, just the way we like it, We pooled our cash and bought it outright, sight-unseen. Well, sort of sight-unseen. We did have a real estate agent friend of ours in Wyoming go look at the place and send us lots of photos and videos of it. We both loved it. It's a 40 acre ranch with a two bedroom house, a studio and several other out-buildings, including an observatory. It has wonderful views of The Wind River Mountains, The Owl Creek Mountains and Ocean Lake. It's everything we could have hoped for.

Eventually Leslie got to go out there for a couple of days and check the place out in person after closing. We already knew from the inspection report that several of the buildings were going to need new roofs and some painting. In person some other problems were obvious. The place needed some work. This page will chronicle all the repairs, upgrades an additions we make to the property.

Newer entries are at the top. Scroll to the bottom for the earliest entries.

Some photos can be clicked for a larger version.

03/02/21 - The studio at our Wyoming Ranch has been painted.
The studio / bunkhouse / guesthouse at our Wyoming ranch has been painted. Leslie and I were originally planning on painting the inside of the multi-use building ourselves on our next trip out there, to save a little money. Then we got to thinking about just how much other work needs to be done to the place. There's hanging curtains, assembling the bed frame so we aren't sleeping on a mattress on the floor, installing new kitchen cabinets and a counter-top, installing the cook-top, doing landscaping, working on the irrigation, etc., etc. We decided it would be nice to actually have some time out there to relax and enjoy the place some, while we are there, and not just be working on it full time. So we found the money to have our contractor paint the inside for us. There's still plenty for us to do, but at least that one big job is crossed off the list. We might even manage to have a little fun while we are there.

So here is a view looking toward the front door. The contractor also installed my old wood-burning stove I brought up from my cabin in Arizona (I replaced it with a propane furnace). I think the paint, trim, flooring and stove look great and the colors work well together.

Here is a similar view to the one above, but looking down from the loft of the studio. the railing at the edge of the loft had not yet been installed when this photo was taken.

The loft is really cool. It has twin skylights that let us look out at the stars at night.

Here is a view looking back toward the loft, ground floor sleeping area and bathroom. Here the wood railing on the loft edge has been installed, but not yet stained. I think job one for us when we get back out there in the spring will be assembling the bed frame so we aren't sleeping on the floor this time. We didn't want to do that until after the inside was painted so there wouldn't be any risk of getting paint on the fine Amish-made furniture. Now that the walls are painted, we'll be able to move a lot of other stuff in too.

We can't wait to get back out there. We just love the place.

09/24/20 - I just got back from visiting our Wyoming Ranch.
Since Leslie and I aren't thrilled about getting on planes during the pandemic if we don't have too, I drove out to the ranch, with a week-long stop at our Arizona ranch on the way. The first thing I did when I arrived at our Wyoming ranch was hang the sign I made with my home-made CNC router on the gate. There, now it's official.

I absolutely love the place. This was my first look at it. We bought it sight-unseen. Leslie was able to go visit the ranch for a couple of days right after closing, but I couldn't get away at that time. So finally I got to visit and check out the place. It's even nicer than I expected. The photos don't do it justice.

The construction on our guest house/bunkhouse/studio is coming along nicely. They were just finishing up the sheetrock when I arrived. They textured the walls the day after I left. Next comes flooring and bathroom tile. Then all that is left is plumbing, electrical and some finish work. Leslie and I will paint the place ourselves when we visit in the spring. We've had plenty of practice lately. We painted our entire house, inside and out, during the Covid lockdown in the spring.

Here is another view of the guest house under construction. Here you can see the loft with the skylights installed, and the unfinished bathroom.

I had a lot of fun tearing around the property and local farm roads on our ATV. It's a great way to get around such a large piece of property, and go exploring. I rode all the way around the property looking at the state of the fences. We will need to do some repairs soon. I also checked out the irrigation canals. Plus I noted where the game trails are on and around the property so we can place trail cams on future visits to get neat photos of the local wildlife. We have deer, coyotes, foxes, rabbits, pheasants, sandhill cranes, geese and hawks. Along with lots of other birds and small critters. I love the ATV.

While tearing around on the ATV, or walking around on foot, I was always on the lookout for any fossils, artifacts or bones. It's a habit I've had for years. There is quite a lot of petrified wood on the property. Small shards of it abound anywhere there are rocky areas. I collected this bunch in only a couple of minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't larger pieces buried in the ground. I found no artifacts on this trip. There were a lot of bones though, including a whole deer skeleton, still mostly articulated.

I also keep my eyes open for footprints and scat from the local critters. I found plenty of both. I am convinced we have foxes on the property, even though I haven't seen any there yet. I have seen them in the area though.

The one unpleasant aspect of this visit was all the smoke from the west coast wildfires blowing in. The sunrises and sunsets were dim and blood red. The visibility was terrible. The mountains, and even nearby Ocean Lake were invisible most of the time. The days were gloomy even when they were cloud-free. Plus the air couldn't have been terribly healthy to breath. There was no hope of using either of the telescopes at the below observatory under those conditions. Fortunately, near the end of my stay, a front came through and blew most of the smoke away. It never totally went away, but at least the sky became blue and I could see the mountains and Ocean Lake again. The last two nights I spent at the ranch were clear enough to use the telescopes and do some serious astronomy. I stayed up way too late both nights.

There was much work and maintenance needing to be done at the ranch. There were lots of little jobs that needed doing, and one big job I really wanted to tackle. Here is a video of me repairing the roll-off roof on our observatory at our Wyoming ranch. The roof was stuck tight. It took me a while to figure out the problem, and a couple of days to work out a fix. Eventually though, I got the roof rolling again and was able to use the 14 inch SCT telescope inside. I'm going to have a lot of fun using this observatory over the coming years.

The apple tree on our ranch was just loaded with little apples. I tried one, and they are tart and not terribly sweet, but not so tart as to be unpleasant. I was happy to see that we had an apple tree and that it was doing so well. We own a palm tree farm in Florida. I was thinking that a tree farm in Wyoming might be a nice source of extra income. I had zeroed in on several types of fruit trees, including apples, as possibilities if we decide go through with the idea.

I picked a bunch of the apples to take with me back to Florida so Leslie could try them too. They are a nice taste of Wyoming. They'll go well diced up and mixed in with our morning yogurt.

My visit to the ranch was brief, unfortunately. Leslie and I will both be back out there together soon, but unfortunately for only another brief stay as we pass through on our way to and from two weeks of fossil hunting in the Nebraska Badlands. I look forward to the day we can spend some serious time at our wonderful Wyoming ranch.

08/31/20 - A sign for the gate of our Wyoming ranch.
I carved this sign for the gate of our new Wyoming Ranch. L & M for Leslie and Mike. We'd been kind of jokingly calling the place The L&M ranch since we bought it. I decided to make it official and make a sign. I'll actually be able to hang this sign on the front gate in a couple of weeks. I'm heading out there soon. It will be my first in-person look at it. The new studio should be done by the time I get there. Later in October both Leslie and I will be able to go out together for a while.

I used my home-made CNC router to make the sign. I carved the lettering with a 90 degree V bit and filled it in with black paint. Then I covered the entire sign with several coats of satin polyurethane to make it durable and weather-resistant. It turned out really nice. I have ideas for more signs too. I put together a web page showing how I made this sign in greater detail. Check it out.

08/15/20 - Out with the old studio, and in with the new studio/guest house/bunkhouse.
After having a contractor look at the studio building, it was determined that fixing it up wasn't cost effective. It would be cheaper to demolish it and build a new building. So that's what we did. The contractor salvaged a few doors, windows and fixtures that could be reused in a new studio, then brought in the heavy equipment to knock down and haul away the building.

Eventually, there was nothing but an empty lot where the old studio used to be.

Starting over with a blank slate, Leslie designed a new multi-purpose building that would be a combination studio, bunkhouse and guest house. It would serve as a studio for yoga or whatever once we are living there. It would serve as a guest house for us when we go to visit while the main house is occupied by tenants. Later it would serve as a guest house for friends who come to visit us once we are living in the main house. Lastly, it could serve as a bunkhouse we could rent out to hunters during hunting season. We never miss an opportunity to turn our properties into income-producing rentals.

Here the floor of the new building is just starting to go in.

Here is a closer view of the floor for the new studio going in. That's some nice thick insulation between the floor joists to keep it warm during the Wyoming winters.

Here one of the end walls of the building has been stood up.

Here the center beam for the roof has been installed.

Here the walls and roof of the new studio are roughed in. It's going together quickly.

08/01/20 - The ranch is rented!
Well that was quick. The property manager we hired advertised the heck out of the place, and in no time we had tenants for the main house. No sooner was the new roof on the place and they were ready to move in. That's great. The rent they are paying covers the property manager's fee, the taxes and insurance, with some left over for us. Plus they will be doing the yard work, and the place won't just be sitting empty until we are ready to retire and move out there. Excellent!

07/02/20 - New roofs on the house and main garage. When we bought the ranch, we knew in advance from the inspection report, that some of the buildings would need their roofs replaced. We used that fact as a negotiating point with the owner to bring the price down. So job one during Leslie's earlier visit to the property had been to find a roofing contractor and schedule the work to be started. We wanted to get it done quickly so we could rent out the property as soon as possible. We also wanted to get it done before another rough Wyoming winter set in.

Here work is nearly completed on the new roof for the house.

Here is a view of work on the new roof on the main garage from the nearly completed house roof.

06/22/20 - First in-person look, petrified wood, a comet, and painting.
A few days after we closed on the ranch, Leslie was able to get away and go out to get a good look at it in person. Her son Joe and his friend Johnathan went along. I unfortunately could not get away to join them. Leslie worked on getting the main house into shape so we could rent it out until we are ready to move out there in a few years. She also lined up contractors to replace the roofs on the house and main garage. She also got a contractor to come out and look at the studio to give her an estimate on needed repairs. Plus she found someone to remove a trash pile at the north end of the property. She's a real dynamo and got a lot done in a short time.

Meanwhile, she put the boys to work trimming trees, clearing brush and painting. Leslie could only stay a few days, but the boys were there longer. They got the trim on the house painted, and painted the garage that will eventually be my workshop.

While they were out there exploring the property, the boys (both seasoned fossil hunters) found lots of bits of petrified wood.

While the boys were still at the property painting, Comet Neowise became quite prominent in the nice, dark Wyoming sky. They got this great photo of it one night.

06/18/20 - We Bought A Ranch In Wyoming!
Leslie sold her old place in Thermopolis Wyoming. She just couldn't stand the thought of not owning property in Wyoming. So we began a search for a new place to buy. We had plenty of time while stuck at home in Florida during the Corona virus lockdown to scour the internet for properties for sale in The Cowboy State. Eventually we found this one. We pooled our cash and bought it outright, sight-unseen. Well, sort of sight-unseen. We did have a real estate agent friend of ours in Wyoming go look at the place and send us lots of photos and videos of it. We both loved it. It's a 40 acre ranch with a two bedroom house, a studio and several other out-buildings, including an observatory. It has wonderful views of The Wind River Mountains, The Owl Creek Mountains and Ocean Lake. It's everything we could have hoped for.

Our plan is to eventually retire to the property in a few years. Until then, we plan on renting out the property. That way it won't be sitting empty, and it will more than pay for itself until we are ready to move in.

Here is an overview of the ranch buildings. The house and main garage are in the center. The big garage is on the far left. The workshop is to the right of the house. The observatory is to the far right. The studio is out of view behind the house.

Here is another view of some of the ranch buildings. On the left is the garage that is going to be my workshop. On the right is the studio. The main house is behind the trees in the middle.

Here is another view from a different angle. The big garage is on the right. The main house is in the middle. The studio is in the trees on the right. There is a lovely view of the mountains in the background.

Here is a close-up of my favorite building on the property, the observatory. It has a roll off roof and a permanently mounted SCT telescope inside. I will be spending a lot of time in this building once we are living out there full time.

Here is a view looking across the property looking toward the front gate onto the property, with Ocean Lake in the background.

Here is a view of the Wind River Mountains as seen from the property. Lovely!

Here is a view toward the Owl Creek Mountains from another area of the property.

Here is a view toward nearby Ocean Lake.