Sheep meat is tasty.

Yes friends, Paul and I are the proud owners of this here big horn sheep, that we affectionately like to call Elmer:
I hate to be proud and post too many photos of our new possession, but I feel like I just can't help but show off his massive horns and stately jaw line. All I want to do is just sit on the couch under his watchful gaze, admire his shiny coat and paint our fingernails, but alas, there are things to be done here at the Mitt. I present his elegant profile:
Here is a shot that better shows his scale in our living room, above the mantel, where every home needs a fine piece of taxidermy:You may think we are joking, but I am far from it. After grandpa died, it took me awhile to get up the courage to tell Grandma (and the fam) that I wanted his big horn sheep head. Paul was more than supportive (he designed a hotel second year in architecture school that was based on a concept of a big horn sheep) so we decided that if we couldn't pack it in the car we would attempt to ship it. Thankfully it fit in the back of the Ford Freestyle and made it safely to the midwest after 24+ hours of driving. Grandpa shot the sheep in '94, we have his freshly killed photo and license to prove it. Elmer's namesake and one of Grandpa's best friends has been waiting to win a license for 30 years to get his sheep, and thankfully was just awarded it this season. The big horn herd in near Dubois is the largest in the lower 48 states, and it takes a lot of skill and patience to find/kill one. We think our "little" Elmer is between 7-10 years old. They live to be about 15 years old and have a pretty good size set of horns by about 7 years. His are almost a full turn. They use their horns to fight other sheep in the pack to obtain dominance and ranking order to win over the ladies. The horns are pretty much useless in defense against predators, their best weapons being their excellent eyesight and super-duper speed. How, I am sure you are wondering, do I know so stinking much about these sheep? Why, we visited the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center while in Dubois. See photo below of the door handles into the building... nice.
When I spoke with Grandma tonight, she asked right away if we had hung up the sheep head. I proudly said YES and that he seems quite happy here in Cincinnati. He's excited to educate us midwesterners about his herd back west. I asked her if people eat sheep, and she claimed the meat was "very good."

Since I haven't posted much on the Wyoming trip yet, I thought I would show a few pics of the gorgeous landscape. People seem to be very intrigued about this area of the country, and for good reason.

Downtown Dubois as seen from the cemetery. There are 900 nice folks who live there. I think I met them all at Grandma's yard sale. Check out the gorgeous snow capped peaks in the background.

I did not take this shot, but found it online. I didn't have my camera out much in the car, but you drive through this nifty canyon when driving from Riverton to Dubois. The landscape is 100% different on each side of the road after you round this bend. Its breathtaking.

We went to the rodeo on friday night - these cool flags hang over the main street in town, appropriately named Ramshorn St.

Sorry for the long post (Mike). Feel free to stop by at any time to meet Elmer. He loves visitors. And Graeter's black raspberry chip.