Sometimes remarkable circumstances bring a delightful chance encounter.
Such was the case on our last morning in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on our continuing road trip west.
It so happened that Jas Barbe was out front of his Nagle Warren Mansion cleaning up the debris from Friday night's fierce storm.
It so happened that the four of us got a recommendation to have breakfast next door at the Omelet House.
Jas started out on a buffalo ranch at Centennial, Wyoming, then he spent four decades as an award-winning chef and boutique hotel manager in Europe.
He returned to the American West just in time to find that the handsome Nagle Warren Mansion was for sale after a long period as a bed and breakfast. Jas assembled a lively staff and is continuing the B&B tradition at the 12-roomed mansion where former Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft stayed.
We stopped to talk and I mentioned that Mert's Great-Grandfather's brother, "Uncle Charley" Harris, was in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show.
I thought Jas was going to hug me he was so excited. It turns out that he is a Buffalo Bill aficionado and is currently working on finding accounts of those who appeared in the famous Western show along with Annie Oakley and others.
"Charley Harris!" he said. "He was in the show for three years."
Later, I will send copies of our family's "Uncle Charley Scrapbook" to Jas, and he can fill us in on what he knows about Charley.
On to the Omelet House and it was every bit as good as billed. We were surfeited with waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, gravy and biscuit and fried potatoes.
There was a long ride on 80 West through the remainder of the length of Wyoming - mostly arid with some scrub trees and interesting buttes from time to time.
As we turned southwest toward Park City the forest became more lush, and expensive homes began to appear on distant peaks. A few times snow-capped peaks had been in sight on our trip, though our temp was around 84.
There was no snow yet in sight in Park City, but it is surely on the way. The fire hydrants are all outfitted with attached poles so they can be located when the snow piles up.
We could see from our Park Plaza Resort the nearby ski slopes.
A patio table was our card playing scenario. Zef and I won handily at Hand and Foot using the "narrow cards." It's the narrow cards going forward.
Next on the ambitious schedule is an Airbnb in the lovely state of Idaho.