on August 11, 2016

'Virgin River’ Meets ‘Gilmore Girls’ At These Top 7 Hometown Inns To Pop The Question “Will You Marry Me?”

Do you ever feel the need to put your smartphone down and disconnect, wishing you could escape the city, Facebook, and the hustle and bustle of the daily grind? I’ve been introduced to a piece of heaven on earth in the Wyoming mountains. A place everyone should experience at least once. The perfect place to step back in time where cell phones and internet can be put on hold while you take much needed “me” time.

Saratoga Wyoming, with a population of approximately 1,700, is a mountain town located approximately two hours west of Cheyenne. The wildlife is a song for the eyes, and the natural hot spring holds sacred history for Native American Indian Tribes. Once used for healing, this safe-haven has been preserved for all to enjoy, steps from the North Platte River.

The downtown reminds of a John Wayne western movie, and a place you never want to change. If the bar at the Rustic could talk, it would have decades of fish and hunting stories and white lies to share. Historic Wolf Lodge, built 1893, has preserved its original structure and serves what might be the best prime rib in the West.

Just beyond the city limits, is Medicine Bow National Forest, home to my accommodations – an heirloom 1920’s cabin. Campfire and laughter is a perfect way to let go of all worldly things and appreciate time, friends, and family. Spying on moose, elk, owls, and more as you are in their presence at 11,000 feet. Touring trails on ATV’s and hiking to places few humans have ever stepped foot on, created connection of what truly matters in this world.

Towards the top of the mountain peak, the pristine glacier waters of Lake Marie touch your soul. The transcendent blues remind me of the waters of Zermatt in the Swiss Alps. The majestic snow-capped mountains of this remote spot of Wyoming beckon you, and is a place I could spend hours writing, walking, hiking, reflecting, or falling deeper in love.

For the outdoor sports enthusiast, this place is a dream come true, and for the fisherman, it is paradise. Every corner of the North Platte river feels like Christmas morning, with eight pound brown trout playing hide and seek. Most never feel more with nature than sliding across the river water that has been flowing here for 30,000 years.

Saratoga Lake is Wyoming’s shoreline. A perfect afternoon day at the beach, fishing the shoreline with your dad, or letting the water carry your boat as you cast your line to hook the fish for dinner. The lake is stocked with trout from the Fish Hatchery, established in 1911. Brook, rainbow, brown, golden, and cutthroat trout are raised to fill needs for Federal, State, and Tribal waters across America.

Saratoga is a landmark in the preservation of nature and self. A perfect harmony in the balance of life. My vacations tend to be filled with turquoise Caribbean waters, yet something happened in the mountains of Saratoga, Wyoming. It offered something deeper. Perhaps it was mother nature showing me a different canvas to explore. A transformation of expansion. A place where borrowed time can be spent in the conversation of memories new and old.