So there we were, enjoying Easter week in Dallas with our daughter and family. Although we were a long way from Wyoming, headlines in the Dallas newspaper were asking questions about why Gov. Greg Abbott had hidden a horrible accident from constituents for almost a year. This incident occurred in Wyoming last July.

Gov. Abbott, who is wheelchair-bound, somehow scalded himself in the shower of a handicapped room at an unnamed hotel. The second and third degree burns were so serious, he needed to go to St. John’s Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

This occurred at the exact same time when five Dallas police officers were murdered. Gov. Abbott quickly boarded a plane and went back to Dallas and participated in all the necessary events, press conferences and services, never letting on that he was in excruciating pain. And no one knew about the incident until now.

Guess I just cannot get away from news about Wyoming.

While driving around Dallas, I followed a big fifth-wheel RV with the biggest name, “Wyoming,” written on the side of it. 

I had not seen a Wyoming-named RV, which is made by a company called Coachman in Indiana.

While walking through a checkout stand at a grocery store in Dallas, the cover of “OK Magazine” screamed out the big news that Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock is moving to Wyoming!

Wyoming?

Apparently the movie star has had a $1.5 million home in Jackson for some years. It was pictured on the cover of the magazine. The house is somewhat modest for Teton County, which is the most expensive place to live in the country.

The story continued that she was sick of Hollywood and wants to move to Jackson so her two kids can enjoy “a normal childhood.”

They also mentioned rumors she intends to buy the Million-Dollar Cowboy Bar for $10 million. Is it time for that famous watering hole to update its name?

Some years ago, Ms. Bullock made headlines when her private jet slid off the runway at the Jackson Hole airport during a landing on New Year’s weekend. 

While watching CNN, there was former New York City Major Michael Bloomberg touting his book, which proclaimed all the environmental successes the country has enjoyed over the past ten years.

He especially liked to boast that the use of coal for energy in the USA is down to 32 percent compared to 50 percent just four years ago. 

“We’ve managed to close a lot of coal-fired plants,” he boasted.

Again, some economic news that sure sounded like it had Wyoming written all over it.

Nancy and I ended up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with two other brothers and wives, watching my youngest brother Don show his movie short called “Photo Bomb.” It was very funny.

Don graduated from high school in Lander and is also a University of Wyoming graduate. 

Our trips involved flying out of Salt Lake City to Dallas and then on to Atlanta and then back to SLC. 

On the way to Salt Lake, we stopped in Kemmerer to visit an old friend, Vince
Tomassi. Vince is a car dealer and former chairman of the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission. He was svelte, having lost 30 pounds. He is one of the best chefs in Wyoming, and how he could lose weight while preparing those amazing Italian dishes is amazing to me. 

We crossed the Green River between Farson and LaBarge and it sure was running high. We heard that Flaming Gorge Dam, downstream on the Green, is emptying out water as fast as it can getting ready for the huge spring runoff from the Wind River Mountains.

Snowpack is at record levels in our Wind River Mountains. Lander Mayor Del McOmie told me that we are going to have flood level waters and need to be prepared. Jack States, a local weather observer, said this year was an oddity in that the snow contains so much more moisture than normal. This is bad news for flooding prospects. Often, snowpacks will be above average in the mountains but the snow, itself, will be fluffy and dry. 

Tip of the week: I have always used Apple iPhones and here is a plug for a Salt Lake-based store called Bad Apple. They replaced the battery in my iPhone 6 for $40. I had been told it was going to cost $170 plus would involve breaking the screen. 

Check out Bill Sniffin’s columns at
billsniffin.com. He is a longtime Wyoming journalist from Lander who has written six books, which are available at fine stores. His latest is Wyoming at 125. His books are also available at wyomingwonders.com.