Wyoming

It's the least populated state in the USA.  I'd guessed as much.  We drove across the entire state, south to north and are now in Gillette, which is in the southeastern part of the state.  Gotta say this: Wyoming has a whole bunch of nothing much.  Trish calls it a fly-over state.

There are 2 things I really like about WY, though: Devil's Tower and pronghorns.  If we weren't towing the trailer, I'd also like the 80 MPH speed limit on the freeways.  Oh yeah, almost forgot: WY has Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, both awesome

Devil's Tower

One of my favorites scenes in one of my favorite movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, is Richard Dreyfuss sculpting Devil's Tower out of mashed potatoes at the dinner table while his family looks on in amazement.  

The Tower is an anomaly with several different theories on how it was formed.  Most likely it was caused by volcanic action: magma pushed up slowly through the earth's crust cooling on all sides as it rose up.  It didn't have enough oomph (I just love using those esoteric scientific terms!) to become a full fledged volcano.  So, in essence it's simply a volcanic zit.

Beautiful, graceful animals are pronghorns.

WY ranks first in coal production by a considerable margin, produces more than 3 times as much as West Virginia, which is ranked number 2.  Therefor, it is logical to assume that WY is also first in the production of coal miners' daughters.

Two other WY first place awards: business and personal income taxes.  Admit it, you were just dying to know that weren't you?  Hey, work with me here.  I'm doing the best I can, given the subject matter.

WY ranks second in average elevation: 6700'.  CO is first, at 6800, which isn't surprising since it has 53 'fourteeners' (WY has nary a one).