325 Miles (plus or minus)

Before we hit the road this morning, The Husband and I took a quick tour of Cheyenne, WY. What a neat town! We plan to return in the future and spend a couple of days exploring. In the mean time, a few of our highlights:

The State Capital

 The State Capital Sign

The art project in Cheyenne is eight foot tall cowboy boots. How fun!

This is a portrait of the fish that got away from The Husband in New Mexico

We saw the Wrangler store

They also had a very cool, automated sign

I should have taken a video of the sign movement, but I didn't think of it. Duh. Don't judge, I'm on vacation! Isn't it a neat sign? We both loved it.

We left Cheyenne and drove north on I25 towards Sheridan, WY.

Oh. My. Goodness!

As I tweeted during the drive, do you have any idea how big & empty & beautiful the Wyoming landscape is? It is magnificent!

We have lovely, big open spaces in Oklahoma. But they are much different than Wyoming. And smaller. 

The Husband and I lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 1998 to 1999. Today's scenery reminded us of our weekend drives through the remote areas of the Alberta province. Endless open vistas, bounded on the west by imposing mountains. Lovely and restful.

We ended our drive by arriving in the cute town of Sheridan, WY. We checked into our hotel, got settled, and took a drive. Everyone we spoke to around town was friendly and helpful. Again, this is another place we would love to return to and explore further in the future.

We are looking forward to exploring The Little Big Horn Battlefield tomorrow even though the forecast is for rain and cool temperatures. Mid fifties for a high, anyone?

Have any of you been to The Little Big Horn Battlefield? If yes, what did you think?

The Wild, Wild West

Cheyenne, WY is proving to be exciting.

Typically when we travel, we seek out locally owned establishments in which to spend our money. However, we were both tired tonight after the day of driving and decided to go to the Outback Steakhouse across the street from our hotel.

We arrive and, lo and behold, there were five grown men in the parking lot circling each other, as two of them were swinging at each other. At least one of them had a bloody nose.

Now these weren't guys in the 20's or 30's. These were middle-aged, ought to know better, men. Probably on the high side of 40, if I were a betting woman.

We went to the side door where you pick up "to go" orders and entered the restaurant there. Of course, the staff was huddled at the front doors and the windows watching the action.

I told The Husband I thought Wyoming was going to be fun!

425 Miles (plus or minus)

The Husband and I drove from Las Vegas, NM to Cheyenne, WY on I25 today. We were on the road 8+ hours, due to various spots of highway construction and terrible traffic in Denver. It tooks us an hour to get through the city. Even after leaving Denver proper, the traffic on I25 through Ft Collins was very heavy. It was a good driving day, even though we only had two brief stops.

The scenery was so different from our daily dose of Oklahoma, that I couldn't even read a book. I was too busy gazing at the mountains. Okay, I confess, I was also too busy getting my fill of the internet, since we had connectivity on our I-phones (unlike most of our time in New Mexico).

The only jarring note to the day was when we were in the hotel lobby in Cheyenne. There was a line at the desk and the clerk looked up at us and asked if we had a reservation. We said "no" and she advised they only had a couple of rooms left and what the rate would be. As she was making this statement, a man walked up behind us. She then asked for assistance at the front desk. When the second clerk came out, she said "Who's next?" Neither The Husband or I spoke up, but we were moving toward the clerk, when the man behind us said "I guess I am."

ARRRRRGGGHHHH...I hate it when people do that.

I hate that we didn't step up and say "No, we are."

I hate that the first clerk didn't say to the second clerk "These people are next."

I hate that the second clerk didn't realize the man BEHIND us could not be next.

He told the clerk he was by himself and needed a room with one bed for one night.

The two clerks had a problem with the system assigning the same room to the individual reservations they were working on. There were jokes back and forth between them, the ladies the first clerk was helping and the man that the room had double beds and they would have to share. He said he didn't want to share, but would if they would pay half.

The clerks finally got it straightened out, but by this time I was getting really irritated because they were all joking and the line was growing behind us. The man kept asking questions about "where are the luggage carts", "what is the closest restuarant", "oh, I don't know my license plate number, I'll have to go get it" which meant his transaction could not be closed out until he returned, which meant everyone in line had to wait on him.

Anyway, we finally got a room assigned to us and went to the car to retrieve our things. He was in the parking lot, unloading luggage onto the cart with a woman helping him.

Huh? He said he was alone. Did he think he'd get a better room rate by saying he was by himself?

I'll never understand why some people act they way they do.

Anyway, I'm glad to be in Wyoming. I've never been to this state, so I'm anxious to see what it is like. I'll keep you posted.