"Hey, check this out," Heather said to me and pointed into her backyard.

Just across the fence in her neighbor's yard was a group of deer hanging out.

They looked like they were relaxing and enjoying the sun.

Deer in the neighbor's yard.

Deer in the neighbor's yard.

Deer in the neighbor's yard.

This guy seemed to be smaller than the others.

Deer in the neighbor's yard.

Further to the left was another guy relaxing at the fence.

He was sitting away from the others, closer to the neighbor's house.

And there was another guy lounging under the trampoline.

So there were four deer hanging out in the neighbor's yard.

I made my way out on to Heather's back deck to try and get a few more shots.

My 35x zoom lens works better when it doesn't have to focus through the windows.

Just hangin' out, enjoying life.

I think they heard me.

Still hanging out by the fence.

At this point, one of the deer noticed me.

Deer in the neighbor's yard.

Then another one noticed me.

They didn't seem to be too bothered, though.

They kept an eye on me.

Now they've all noticed me.

I kept my distance and let them enjoy the sun.

It was time to feed the chickens and change their water bowl.

The chickens make a great garbage disposal.

Enjoying some fresh water.

Enjoying some fresh water.

Whatever Heather has left over from the previous evening's dinner goes into a bowl for the chicken's breakfast.

The chickens are definitely not picky at all ! They'll eat just about anything, even the asparagus.

After breakfast, the chickens wandered around the yard for a bit.

Still enjoying some fresh water.

The chickens will peck at anything that they think might be food, such as any spec of anything stuck on the end of your shoe or leg of your pants.

The deer kept an eye on us while we fed the chickens.

Deer is not amused, apparently.

The chickens continued to enjoy their breakfast.

Miles then made an appearance.

Hello Miles.

Soon the chickens were on the deck.

Miles finds the chickens somewhat annoying.

Heather's chickens being chickens.

Doing chicken things.

On the agenda for today was a bunch of local sightseeing. In addition to where she works, Heather also wanted to show me a neighborhood on the southeastern side of Gillette. She looked at a couple of houses near this area, but decided against them. One of her concerns was that this area might be a little too remote for her taste despite only being a few miles away from the city.

While there was some snow on the ground in Heather's backyard, there seemed to be a lot more of it here. I didn't expect to have to deal with actual snow. But I just installed the new tires on the Z4 two weeks ago and didn't have any problems getting around.

I use the term "neighborhood" loosely here. The standard lot size seems to hover around 10 acres. Some lots are smaller, (Heather looked at a couple of places that sat on 5 acre lots), some are larger having 20 or more acres. I love the idea that your neighbors are probably going to be a good distance away from you.

But as with anything related to real estate, this comes at a price. The Gillette, Wyoming housing market seems to be much more expensive than what I'm used to in Athens, Georgia.

I took a series of three pictures to stitch together for a panorama. This is picture #1 of 3.

Panorama picture #2 of 3.

Panorama picture #3 of 3.

Three-picture panorama of the Hayfield Place neighborhood of Gillette, Wyoming looking north.