WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When he was appointed to replace the late Craig Thomas in June, Sen. John Barrasso made a commitment to return to Wyoming often, to check the pulse of the people he'd be representing for the next 2 1/2 years.

The orthopedic surgeon has made good on his promise, returning to Wyoming every weekend and spent almost all of August, the Senate's summer recess, hosting town meetings around the state. Sixty-nine of his first 100 days were spent in the state, his office said.

This past weekend, he went to a meeting of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association's Public Lands Council in Jackson, attended a Wyoming Health Fair in Lovell, toured the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area with a county commissioner and a state legislator, went to Riverton and then on to Casper, he said.

"I promised a town meeting in each of the 23 counties before Labor Day and in fact I had 30 town meetings before Labor Day," he said.

The travel back and forth to Washington - when "the phone isn't ringing, there aren't any distractions" - gives him a chance to read and catch up on issues he can't get to during the week, he said.

Appointed after Thomas's death, Barrasso had to jump in mid-session. "Normally you get elected in November and they have kind of a new student orientation," he said. "I didn't have any of that I was off and running."

A big change from his time in the state Legislature is voting on bills that cover a wide range of topics. Some Senate bills can be 600 or 800 pages long, with parts that would benefit Wyoming and parts that might not, he said.

"You don't get a chance to vote individually on each of the sections," he said. "You take it all or you don't take any of it A lot of these things don't even relate to the topic of the bill. That's one of the things Washington could learn a lot from Wyoming."

Constituent service has emerged as a priority. Since taking office, Barrasso has sent out 3,871 letters to Wyoming constituents, his office said.

Barrasso also has attended his share of committee meetings, sitting on three panels: Indian Affairs, Energy and Natural Resources, and Environment and Public Works.

He gave his maiden speech on the Senate floor on Sept. 10, outlining his vision for his work and Wyoming's future.

He has fought for Abandoned Mine Land funding and worked on issues including rural health care, country-of-origin labeling and protecting the Wyoming Range.

He has experienced a rare all-night Senate session, when leaders brought in cots to emphasize their willingness to stay and work. Many of his colleagues, glad to have an orthopedic surgeon around, have hit him up for medical advice.

But getting back to the state can come as a relief from city life.

"It's always great to get home to Wyoming because you can breathe and you can see," he said. "Wide open spaces. That's an exciting part every week to get home and see friends and family and visit with people all over the state People are very opinionated and they're willing to share their opinions with you."

But the highlight of the last 100 days was personal, not political. It was, Barrasso notes with happiness, Bobbi Brown saying yes when he asked her to marry him.