Aric and Vicki are friends of a friend of a relative of a friend of a… well I have no idea. They are some kind of connection from back home and I just heard from them a couple of weeks ago. I met up with Aric today for a tour of the Montana Capitol and a driving tour of the city. Aric works for the State of Montana doing insurance type work managing the 4,000-some buildings owned by the state, making sure they are in good working condition. …

I remember when Andrew and I were just 13 years old and terrorizing Baraga every day. Now, ten years later, I’m a guest of his place out in Montana. It’s been about three years since I last saw Andrew, and that was only briefly in the parking lot of the grocery store back home. We’re all growed up now. It’s been over five years since we graduated from Baraga High School together. …

Casper treated me well. They filled me with laugher, smiles, and high school youth. Jette and the Dynamic Five-Some put my energy level to the test. And I survived! I made some great friends this week with my hosts. I’m quite confident to say that we’ll be in touch for years and years to come. Once again it was hard to leave today. It’s impressive how close I can get with my hosts in just a few days. …

Yesterday I was a pretty lucky guy. I got to freeze my butt off while watching the Wyoming Cowboys kick the butts of the Colorado State Rams. The final score was 24-0. The home team was hardly challenged, and that’s who I’m rooting for. I root for the home team no matter where I am (unless it’s against the Red Wings or MSU). I figured if I was cheering for the visiting team somewhere I might get kicked out of town. …

GO TROJANS! The Kelly Walsh Trojans had a joyous victory tonight as the students rushed onto the field after the closing seconds. It was the annual Oil Bowl against the cross-town rival Natrona County High School. It was cold, cold, cold, and windy, windy, windy. But I wasn’t leaving a minute early and I’m happy I stayed. I’ve never seen fans rush the field in person before. It was pretty cool to see. …

Melissa is a 15-year old girl from Casper, WY. She’s full of musical talent, athleticism, spirit and a great smile. She’s involved in her community and adored by all. This morning I talked with Karin*, who told me all about Melissa and her story. I have a great sense of who she is, how strong she, and just how amazing a community can be. It was hard to hold my tears back. …

How lucky am I to hang out with five crazy high school girls for a few days? A lot of my time here in Casper has been spent with Jeanette and her friends. It involved tie-dying with her friends for the big Oil Bowl game they have tomorrow night against their rival school here in town. We also took a trip up to the peak again on a clear night. And the coolest part was hanging out with them in band class yesterday. …

I was hanging out with the high school clan tonight, all friends of Jette. Since it was a clear night we drove up to the top of the peak to get a beautiful overlook of the city once again. This time it was crystal clear, and every star could be seen, and every light in town. Well apparently it’s windy in Casper. It was some very very strong winds up there. …

Tonight, Jette and Rachel guided me around Casper in the snow to see the seven wonders of Casper. I kind of laughed when I first heard that they had seven wonders. It seems to be something that’s passed around in the younger generation, who all seem to know about it. But they were pretty cool! It was a night of laughter spending time with them. It was a great night of exploring, driving in the snow, and I even had to put it into four wheel drive as we went to the top of a little mountain where it was snowing pretty hard, some hairpin turns and everything else. …

This is a perfect moment to take me back to home. Jette is playing the piano, which is one of the biggest tastes of home. Either my brother Adam or Mom would always be playing while dinner was cooking. And dinner is cooking now, and the smell is filling up the house here and it smells delicious. It’s nice and toasty inside like sitting next to the fireplace at home while it’s snowing outside. …