The Home Place

Yesterday we had the privilege of taking a tour of the area where my mother-in-law grew up. This area is between Pinedale and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the scenery can't be beat. It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, which makes it even better.

Our first stop was the home of her aunt Mamie and uncle Judd. It was in very good condition, considering.

Here are my Mother and Father in law surveying the house. We were able to walk around inside ... carefully.

Our next stop was a homestead known as the Franz place. They were Germans who originally homesteaded the area. There are a lot of buildings around, including this nicer house.

The house was very interesting. Here is my 17 year old daughter in the kitchen. She loved it because it seemed to be made just for her - the bottom counter was probably under 3 feet tall. She is 5' 1". We also both loved the stove, which is a combination of wood and gas burning.

Here is a closer view of the wallpaper. I just love old wallpaper!

And here is the amazing kitchen sink. This whole unit (the top section) is one solid piece. I'd love to have that sink!

This is a cook stove that was in one of the bunk houses. I'm sure glad we have modern conveniences, but I would love to try cooking on one of these old stoves.

These flowers were growing out behind the main house. If you look close, there are at least 5 butterflies in this picture. They were all over the place in these flowers.

Then we were on to my Mother-in-law's place. This is all that remains of the house. They removed the logs and reused them to build a different house closer to Pinedale ... the ultimate recycling.

This was all part of the house, and there are some bed frames in the middle two. My Father-in-law is on the right, and my husband is farther is checking out the end.

Here my daughter is appreciating the modern convenience of washing machines. This old one would have been a lot of work. The wringer is on the ground in front of it.

This old car was there when my Mother-in-law lived there. She was born on this ranch when her grandparents lived there, then her family moved in when she was 3 and lived there until she was a teenager. She tells about playing on the old car with her older brother.

This stock chute was another original. She told of playing a lot on there too, so of course my six-year-old had to play on it too.

Can you see this amazing view? It doesn't come out as well on the camera, but the Wind River Mountains are big and visible from the front porch of the old homestead. They are clear and much bigger when you are there. Pictures never do them justice.

Out the back is another great view of the Hoback range and Sawtooth mountains. If you go in that direction, you get to Jackson Hole - about 45 minutes up the road.

It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. I'm so glad she took us out and showed us around. I love family history like this. By the way, her brother now has all of this land leased for his cattle and haying. The homestead is basically on the edge of a hay field, and is mostly grown over, so it would be difficult to treasure hunt. Not much left there to find, but a lot of fun to see and hear her stories of where they played and how they entertained themselves. Oh and by the way, there were never any modern bathroom facilities here.