Miss Edith: Saratoga is a small community rather high in the mountains at about 7,000 feet, in Wyoming near the snowy range. So the scenery is really gorgeous because on the horizon, we always have the mountain range. And, for example, in the morning when my husband and I walk our dog in the dog park--which is really quite a generous layout--it's above the town, so we can look down on it as we walk. And there are some nice walking paths. And like I said, mountains are always in the background, on the horizon, so it's really pretty.   Right now, it rains a little, but this morning it was nice. It was sunny and warm.

Nancy: How did you make your way to Saratoga?

Miss Edith: Well, I lived in another town in Wyoming and a friend of mine moved to Saratoga and I visited her. She started a bed and breakfast and I stayed a couple of times, and she encouraged me to move here. So I did. And bought a house here after selling my previous one. One day, I was mowing the lawn out in front with an electric lawnmower when a man stopped by and said, “Hey, how do you like your electric lawnmower?”

And we got to talking. And to make a long story short, he is now my husband of six months. He's lived here much longer than I have. He and his late wife moved here 25 years ago from   Nebraska. Then his wife passed away five years ago. He was kind of at loose ends, often traveling back to Nebraska to visit his adult children, but he didn't want to go back there to live, so he just kind of managed to get by here as best as he could.

Nancy: Was your marriage ceremony held in Saratoga?

Miss Edith: Yes, it was. And my neighbor--the neighbor where I had my first house--was an ordained pastor. We didn't want a church service per se, but we wanted a ceremony. Saratoga has a nice community center, so we arranged it there. We had people that we invited, and we had a nice ceremony. Afterwards we went to a place called The Grumpy Italian. The Grumpy Italian. It's a local eatery, and my husband knows the owner quite well. They are friends. So we went there for dinner.

In the meantime, I've gotten acquainted with various organizations in Saratoga that have helped me getting to know the society. There is a really active garden club that I joined. You can rent a plot there and do your own gardening, or you can do community gardening and harvesting and so forth.

I've also joined the winter choral, which always prepares for a winter festival. It's rather religiously oriented, you know, at Christmas time. Before I moved here [from Cheyenne], I was active in a hiking club called the Wednesday Walkers. I invited them to come here one time, and my husband, who knows the area much better than I do, knew of a place called “Indian Bathtubs.” It's a series of granite  washouts. They're hollowed out, and they look like bathtubs, sort of. So we all hiked up there and it was very nice.

Nancy: Are the Indian bathtubs similar to the hot springs there in Saratoga?

Miss Edith: No, the Indian tubs are just depressions in granite that have happened over the millennia through rain. When we went there, they didn't hold any water. I imagine that in the winter they are full of snow. The hot springs in Saratoga are quite apart from that.

The hot springs are popular with practically everybody here, and there are also tourists and visitor iIn the summertime who have learned about them. They are completely free and open 24/7. My understanding is that way back they were the territory of an Indian tribe and the Indians used them When the city took over, they had to sign some sort of agreement that they would never charge for it. That the springs would always be free. And then the city  made certain improvements. They added changing rooms, showers, and so forth. So it's really quite nice to go there. My husband and I go there regularly. He tries to go every day. I might go every other day. But he is adamant that he just really wants to have that experience every day.

I think I already mentioned the hiking club. That I was in the Wednesday walkers in Cheyenne when I lived there. They came here and we hiked. I invited a friend who is French by birth and who hasn't lived here very long. Some neighbors of mine were coming also to that hike up in the Snowy Mountains. It was in the summer and nice weather. As we were driving to our destination--we were already in the mountains--a moose crossed the road.  My friend was just ecstatic. She said that, in all of her time, hoping to see a moose and now there is one just parading right in front of us! That was really something. I had seen moose in the wild here, but for her that was something. Then there also are elk here, you know, and   various other wildlife. My eldest son was a wildlife veterinarian at one time here in Wyoming. He was quite familiar with flora and fauna, and he'd have stories to tell or he'd mention an outlet where we could go with a bus tour or something and various things [to see wildlife].

It's quite an experience. Those animals are so big, and you don't think about that. It's the same with elk. You know, elk are much larger than deer, for example. And deer are fairly common here. Even in Saratoga, they often come right into town and graze on people's lawns. But that's quite different from actually seeing an elk in the wild. 

Nancy: What else do you enjoy or what is special about living in Saratoga?

Miss Edith: Well, it's ready access to mountains, to hiking trails, and in the winter, I suppose, to snowshoeing. I haven't done that yet, but my husband has, and he has a bunch of snow shoes in his garage, so we'll see.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.