Thus, when I read LIKE MANDARIN, I fell in love with the setting: the badlands of Wyoming. It's not your typical setting, but it is gorgeous--and it becomes a character all it's own. I've driven through Wyoming, and it is breathtaking in it's own way.
Let me illustrate:
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| The badlands |
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| LOVE this barn! |
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| Okay, this makes me like winter a little more. |
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| This is the road to anywhere. |
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| Okay, so I like cowboys. Sue me. |
And be sure to read Kirsten's post on The Serendipity of Setting. It's beyond awesome.
Where do you love to visit? If you could go anywhere, where would it be?
Leave a comment with you answer and you could win this:
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| That's right! MANDARIN lip gloss for those blistery Wyoming winds. I just want you to know the label says "super shiny tasty lip gloss." That's a selling point right there. |
Oh! And I've been tagged on Christine's blog. So go check that action out.
You know, I was just thinking recently about how vast spaces creep me out and make me uncomfortable because I start to think how minuscule and insignificant we are and the universe is so vast, and then I start to feel all of SPACE pressing on me and I hyperventilate a little. So, while it's pretty, maybe I'll just look at the pictures of Wyoming and all that open space. (The sad part is I'm not a fan of cities/cramped spaces, EITHER.)
ReplyDeleteBeing a farmer and an outdoor person I love these open spaces too.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos!
Bringing up Wyoming made me think of this Garfield clip:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRhVAE952v8
Also love Pusan, South Korea. Tree lines mountains in 3 directions, ocean in the other.
The only place I've ever been to the in the Midwestern US is Utah, which is gorgeous. My best friend lived outside of Salt Lake City and it was very cool to see such huge mountains everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThat said, if I could go absolutely anywhere, I think I'd like to go to Machu Picchu or the Great Wall of China.
I don't like winter, but that photo of snow covered mountains is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite place to be is in the middle of the woods. I love the way sunlight trickles through the leaves, leaving this wonderful subdued hue. The absolute best place is in the middle of the woods by a bubbling brook. GORGEOUS.
ReplyDeleteSigh. I want spring so badly.
I love open spaces too. I'd love to go back to China with my daughter and show her the town she's from and hopefully her orphanage. She and I may just do that in the next few years because she wants to go.
ReplyDeleteYou need to fix your link to Christine's blog. It wouldn't go to her blog. Just so you know.
ReplyDeleteComplete with lip gloss, what's not to love!
ReplyDeleteI love the photos and I'm in love with LIKE MANDARIN, I'm about 100 pages in and couldn't be happier with picking it up the other day!
Wyoming's pretty in its own way. I like the western part better than the eastern part, though. More trees, and Yellowstone is gorgeous. If I remember correctly, eastern Wyoming looks a lot like eastern Colorado, and I'm living it.
ReplyDeleteI always thought I'd like to visit Australia someday. And maybe Alaska (in the summer). Or a quick trip to the UK might be fun.
The Badlands...that sounds so familiar........
ReplyDeletehm.
I love the ocean and for me that means Cape Cod. I love staring at the horizon, listening to the rhythm of the waves washing up on the sand, and feeling the wind on my cheeks. Absolute heaven!
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to go to Alaska or New Zealand, both are supposed to have amazing natural beauty.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle used to live in Wyoming, and I don't remember it looking a thing like that. Okay, maybe like that long road in picture 7, but that's it.
ReplyDeleteThis also looks like where I live: Alberta, Canada. We have the mountains and badlands, too. :D
ReplyDeleteWow. Those are great pictures!! Love the colors. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Wyoming! We visited the Jackson Hole and Yellowstone areas about 5 years ago. The Tetons are amazing (and I love that barn too:)
ReplyDeleteas is the Snake River...sigh, I could go on...so, yes, this is where I want to go. Again. And then some more.
Thanks for the links.
Happy Tuesday,
Karen
I've never been to Wyoming, but it boggles my mind that there's a state in this country still so open. I live in DC, so I'm used to it taking an hour to go five miles. I think living in Wyoming would be so freeing in a way. Plus, the state's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI've lived in either NY or MA my whole life, so I've had little contact with open space. And I've never been out west, but I'd like to visit. I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon and see the giant forests in the north west.
ReplyDeleteBut my dream place(s) would be to tour around Italy and/or France.
Living in Wyoming here. :) I just recently read a book that has some great settings of Wyoming- though it is sad- the name of the book is called "The Legend of Colton Bryant" this is a nonfiction book and even talks about Casper- where I live.
ReplyDeleteI don't leave the state much, but I really like Utah in the summer time.
Sorry to say, vast spaces make me worried to be so far from the ocean...I like to be on the "edge."
ReplyDeleteI think Iceland is probably the place I want to see most on my bucket list. I'm hoping I get a chance to go before we move back to the states in 15 months.
ReplyDeleteI read the title of your post and couldn't help but comment. I grew up just 50 miles from your Wyoming sign picture. The badlands of Wyoming are home to me, and no matter how ugly everyone else thinks they are, I'm in love.
ReplyDeleteHence, as a writer, try as I might, I can't get my characters out of that place! My first published novel Growing Up Gracie was set in Cody, Wyoming, and my current WIP is set in Greybull, Wyoming.
Thanks for your appreciate of the wide open spaces of my home state.
I LOVE those pictures. And I agree with you, wide open spaces are full of amazing.
ReplyDeleteIf I could go anywhere in the world, it would be Ireland. My second choice would be an Alaskan cruise. :)
Those are gorgeous pictures! I wouldn't mind hanging out in Hawaii or Athens. It's not too much to ask. =)
ReplyDeleteI've never been there but it looks SO pretty!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures. I love me some wide open spaces :) There are a lot of places I'd love to visit. Can I cheat and pick more than one?
ReplyDeleteHawaii and Alaska so I can finally say I've visited all 50 states.
Australia and New Zealand because they are far away and unknown to me...and I love the accents.
A little town in Mexico called Akumal. It's small and has great snorkeling.
Wow, those are beautiful pictures. I've never been there but maybe some day. Who knows?
ReplyDeleteI'm one of your lurkers that doesn't comment very often, but of course being from Wyoming I have to comment! Wonderful pictures! A great representation of our state.
ReplyDeleteI moved here 16 years ago for the mountains and the sky-scapes. The sky is a whole "landscape" in itself. Of course you are from Utah so I'm sure you get what I mean.
There is traffic occasionally when a herd of cattle or sheep block the road or when you have to slow down for an antelope crossing.
I just started Like Mandarin. I've been waiting FOREVER for it!
Those pics remind me of Alberta -- Rocky Mountains, badlands, prairie. :)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to go back up north again to the Yukon, or back to Newfoundland. If I were to travel out of the country, I'd love to go to Russia -- so much interesting history!
A few years ago after reading a bunch of non-fiction, I freaked out about the world's supposedly-dwindling food supply.
ReplyDeleteBut, on the drive on I-5 from Oregon to Baja, we passed miles and miles and miles of nothing, of apple trees, of strawberry fields, and I felt a little better.
I loved your Wyoming pictures. I lived there for several years and loved it. It still feels like home.
ReplyDeleteWhat boggles my mind is how many people actually LIVE in WY and commented on this post. . .
ReplyDeleteYeah, another Wyomingite here. Actually from NYC, but have family out here and it's where I live now.
And I live around LIKE MANDARIN's setting. :)
I want to go everywhere: Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Africa. . . especially South America. I love Spanish, and would love to see those countries.
I am from Jackson Hole, WY and it is GORGEOUS!!! I love the Tetons and guess what? That barn belonged to my great-grandfather!
ReplyDeleteI started reading this over the weekend, and I just love the setting. I've never been that far out west (okay, I've never been farther west than Austin). I love the way Kirsten ties in the wind to the very first pages, and how that affected her main character.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to visit the desert—somewhere with those big awesome saguaro cacti—because I've always lived in very damp, rainy climates.
Outside the US? Morocco, or maybe the South of France.
Fun post!
Thanks for hanging out on my blog today. You're so awesome!!
ReplyDeleteI really want to visit Venice in Italy. I'm from Germany, but have yet to see Venice. I think it's an absolutely gorgeous city, from the pictures I've seen, and would love to visit at least once. I love Europe!
ReplyDeleteVivien
deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com
I love going to the beach, preferably a tropical one. The one place I've always wanted to go that I haven't made it to yet is Ireland. Since this book had such a profound impact on you I'm going to have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteThose images are beautiful! I really want to go to Yellowstone and see Old Faithful. And Mount Rushmore, and, and, and!
ReplyDeleteJackson Hole is probably my favorite place on earth. I even use one of the photos I took there as a header on my blog!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to visit, or live in, Spain.
ReplyDelete~Amanda~
I want to visit (or just live in!) Albuquerque, and Seattle. Because ABQ is beautiful, and Seattle is caffeinated. :)
ReplyDeleteI was so taken with BROKEBACK, the film and Proulx's short story, that I took a BROKEBACKAVACATION to Wyoming where I hiked, rode horses and slept in a tent. Covered wagons carried our provisions. Wolves howled at night.
ReplyDeleteDon't think I need the mandarin, but I would live in Scotland, in a quaint town (they have lots of those) near a castle and at a high altitude so I see snow often. (Hey, if I can afford to live there, I won't need to leave the house for work or anything else!)
ReplyDeleteAlaska, Australia or even Switzerland would be awesome to visit.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of that much uninterrupted space makes me nervous. I remember feeling very exposed in Colorado. Gorgeous country in the west, but a bit too wide open for me!
ReplyDeleteIreland. Hands down. Been once and long to go back.
Hey, that's where I live! I pass that sign a lot, as Billings MT is the nearest shopping mecca I've got. I love that you see the beauty in its ruggedness. I love wide open spaces and mountains.
ReplyDeleteI would go to Wales in a heartbeat. It's my heritage. Then I may as well see the rest of Great Britain while I'm at it.
Loved the photo of the barn with the snow-capped mountains in the background. I love visiting wide-open places, and Wyoming is truly gorgous. But, right now, if I could go anywhere, it would be to Sendai, Japan, with jugs of fresh water.
ReplyDeleteWe used to go and stay with my aunt for summers in Wyoming. We'd visit the big touristy places like Jackson Hole, etc... but she lived in a t-tiny little town called Pinedale. So different from crowded So. Cal where we grew up. Thanks for reminding me of so many good memories with this post! :)
ReplyDeleteSomeone mentioned Albuquerque - I'd love to live there again! Not right now, as it's too vast an area to cover for speaking gigs. (That's why I love the East Coast!)
ReplyDeleteAnd last time I drove across Wyoming, my friend and I counted flattened fauna. There were at least 50 small, furry, round Frizbees!
Elana - I lived in Cheyenne, Wyo for many years. After than Green River and Rock Springs. I've never seen pics as beautiful as what you've shown. Just saying. LOL
ReplyDeleteOne awesome about Wyo is the clear skies. At night, you can see the Milky Way. And stars look so bright there you'd swear you could reach out and touch them. Breathtaking.
I'd love to visit Italy! The food!!! The cities!!! The food!!! =D
Those photos are breathtaking!!
ReplyDeleteIf I could go anywhere?.... hmmm - bottom of the ocean to see what it's really like!
Beautiful pics. Wyoming is beautiful. I love to visit any outdoor nature type place.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pics! I am so looking forward to reading Like Mandarin!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the photos!
Martina
Florence, Italy. No question.
ReplyDeleteI spent a lot of time in the midwest--Missouri/Kansas--and loved it. It's so green and the land is so different from Utah where I grew up. My favorite place in the whole world is there, in Northern Missouri. If I can't go there, though, the red rocks of Southern Utah have a place in my heart.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on a ranch along the Utah-Idaho border. My husband grew up near Jackson WY. ONe of the most beautiful places in the world I love it.
ReplyDeleteI love Wyoming, too, especially northern Wyoming. Got family up there. Some gorgeous country.
ReplyDeleteI love Wyoming! My father spent all his summers as a boy in Jackson Hole herding cattle. He had the stories! Thanks for the pictures and a trip down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pix!!! I've never been to Wyoming, but I do love to travel. Next week, I'll be in New Mexico. In July NYC. In September I'm returning to Italy for a month. And if I can manage it, Massachusetts and Connecticut in November. But my favorite place is the West Coast. Not the dull boring beaches of Southern California but the rugged coasts of far Northern California and Oregon. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures. If I could go anywhere today, I think it would be to Ireland or Scotland - somewhere really green with cool castles!
ReplyDeleteLove Wyoming SOO much. Can't wait to read this book--I love when the setting becomes a character itself! I've been wanting to see Santa Fe recently. I may be roadtripping out there this summer!
ReplyDeleteThe gorgeous photos make me want to be a homesteader out there. Haul water from my own well and plow up the field with my tiller and horse. But I can't ride a horse, and I have no idea if there is such a thing as a tiller. Heck, I'm afraid to give a horse a carrot. So I guess the homesteading isn't going to happen. Reading LIKE MANDARIN though, yeah. That I can do.
ReplyDeleteMountains. I love visiting the Rocky Mountains. There is nothing like sitting on top of a mountain and looking out upon the world.
ReplyDeleteI love horseback riding. I think I would adore living in Wyoming.
ReplyDeleteThese images are just lovely! I love landscapes - the world wide open. The English countryside was gorgeous! I'd love to go to Tuscany, or France - outside of Paris. I do have a trip planned to Canada this summer that should offer some pretty awesome eye-candy open spaces. Can't wait! :)
ReplyDeleteThose are stunning photographs. Going to read article now!
ReplyDeleteRight now I would like be sailing on smooth waters from one Hawaiian Island to another, headed to a beach accessible only by water. The sun would be hot but the breeze would cool my face. Maybe a dolphin or two would race along side the boat. I'd sleep on the beach under the stars and swim in my birthday suit.
ReplyDeleteI love Wyoming! I used to dream about having a horse ranch there someday. :]
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I would love to go to Ireland. My sister and I are saving for a trip there.
I grew up in Wyoming and you are making me homesick! Like Mandarin sounds great!
ReplyDeleteMy family Irish dances, so I definately want to go to Ireland someday!