Homeless - Part 5

One of our favorite places to walk, explore, and let Kory run was just on the edge of town in Meeteetsee.

When we first entered this area we were greeted by a huge sign that told us that this was a residential development area.

Land was cordoned off in sections, each one of them numbered, and each one of them containing power.

Gravel roads meandered in a couple of different directions.

The sign also indicated that this was a golf course residential community.

Somebody had invested a whole lot of money and effort in this area.

The sign was weathered and faded, and it obviously had been standing guard at the entrance for a number of years.

Only.................nothing made any sense.

The land was beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful, with steep hills in back and snow covered mountains in the distance in front.
Each numbered lot was filled with small rises, interesting rock formations, wild grasses and cedar trees.

Some of the numbered lots had the word SOLD attached to poles, but there was no evidence of any development beyond the initial power installation.

Just as importantly, there was no golf course..............

We called the two posted numbers (one a Wyoming area code and one a Montana area code), and left two messages.

In the meantime, we drove deep into the hills, parked the Tahoe off to the side of the road, and opened the back door so as to allow an almost hysterical dog to leap out into the freedom of the hills.

Go run, puppy...................

 

While Kory terrorized rabbits, LC and I wandered from one side of the road to the next, excitedly looking over different pieces of property.

Looking at views, exploring boundaries, pointing out drainage points and the best location for a house and driveway.

On and on in a harmless exercise in escapism and day dreaming.

What the heck was the deal with these properties?

We didn't know but resolved to try and find out (starting with the phone messages and research once we got back to the hotel).

Beautiful pieces of land.................

Pictures taken while climbing to the top of one piece of land.

Surprisingly, on the back side of this hill we saw a completed home hidden among the rocks.

Somebody had built in this subdivision after all...................

A week later we still had no definitive information.

There was nothing posted on line about the subdivision-that-wasn't.

Nobody had returned our calls.

Someone who lived in town told us that a golf course had opened (where???) but had then quickly closed.

One piece of land closer to the road was listed online but that was the only piece.

The price was reasonable, the lot overlooked the mountains in the distance but also overlooked a slew of power poles in the foreground................

 A few days after we moved into the cottage in Cody somebody finally returned our call.

There were building issues with the City of Meeteetse.

What were the issues?  He didn't know but would find out.

What were the prices of the lots?  He didn't know but would find out.

We have not heard back from the guy since then.

Truthfully if we were determined to find out more we could.  

We could do our own research.   

Contact the city ourselves.  

Drive down and talk to the owners of the one house we saw.  

Contact a real estate agent who could do some leg work.  

Something. 

We haven't yet.  But we may in the near future.................

Kory waiting patiently for us to catch up with her.............

We spent a lot of time at this reservoir during our week in this small cowboy town.

The reservoir was only a few miles outside of Meeteetsee and we all three loved it there.

A place for us to walk and explore.  A place for Kory to run and chase rabbits.  A place to be close to water and the mountains.

In winter they ice fish here.

In summer fishing both from the shore and in boats is a popular recreational activity.

The fishing must be good.  On this day we ran in to fisherman from Thermopolis and Greybull (both of which were 50 miles away in different directions).

On this day we actually went to the reservoir twice - once mid morning and then a second time about 4 hours later.

The first time we visited the lake we noticed a newer model red truck and very nice boat parked in the overflow parking area.

An old dog was sitting underneath the boat with no human in sight.

That was strange.

Nice truck and boat, 5 miles from the nearest town, nobody around, dog left alone with no food or water.

All very strange.

As we left the reservoir we deliberately drove past the boat/truck and beeped the horn (thinking that the owner may be sleeping).

No response.............

Four hours later we drove out to the reservoir again.

I brought water and a bowl with me, as well as some dog food.

The dog was old and I had no idea whether he was capable of walking the roads all the way down to the water.

Certainly I doubted that he could navigate the steep hills and climb DOWN to the water.

If the boat, truck and dog were all still there, and there was still no signs of life, we would call the police.

Just so they could figure out if all was well.

When we arrived at the reservoir for the second time that day we quickly realized that everything was still in the same place it had been four hours prior.

Truck parked in the same place.  Boat parked in the same place.  Dog sitting in same place.

We beeped the horn one more time.

Nothing.

Just as I was about to climb out of the Tahoe to see if the pup needed food or water we saw a couple of older men securing their boat down by the ramp, after a (hopefully) successful fishing trip.

We'd ask them if they knew anything about the owner.

They did.

Long story short was that the boat/truck/dog owner had decided to take a nap under the canopy of the boat.

Old man was OK.  Old dog was OK.  

We could sense that there was more to the story than anyone was telling us, but the men did not care to tell us and we did not care to ask.

We had done our Boy Scout and Girl Scout good deed for the day, by trying hard to ensure that a stranger was alright, and that all was well with him.
That was good enough................

Organizing the back of the short bus..............

He's like a moth to a flame.

During our stay in Meeteetsee we made a quick out and back trip to Cody to tie up some business.

On the highway there was a new gun store.

It hadn't been there four years ago when we last lived in Cody but it was there now, and of course LC had to check it out.

While he did so I wandered the grounds with Kory.

The gun store was attached to a camp ground that was now empty.

The weather was changing.  The kids were back in school.  Winter was fast approaching.  The tourists were gone.

As I looked at these colorful structures I could easily imagine tourists from places like Bakersfield California or Chicago Illinois or Hartford Connecticut taking great pleasure in sleeping in a "For-Real Indian Tee Pee".

There were now a few campgrounds that provided this novelty.

Just like those same California, Illinois and Connecticut tourists might enjoy shooting firearms ("just like in the movies") in some of the "shootin' places" that had sprung up like sunflowers on the outskirts of Cody............

These teepees were lovely, and overlooked the beautiful Shoshone River.

Not a bad place to sleep at all.

Certainly not a bad place to wander with a dog while waiting for a man to finish drooling in a gun store..............

As I grew up I only had two dreams.  One was to be a cowboy and another was to be in the military.  I grew up extremely patriotic and riding horses............Chris Kyle (American Sniper)