Cheyenne, Wyoming

12th June Cowgirls of the West Museum

We chatted with Bev over coffee and then headed into Cheyenne.  We visited the Cowgirls of the West Museum, an organisation which Bev is very involved with.  Here we learnt that men and women used to compete on equal level at the rodeos; bronco riding and calf roping.  One year a woman came within one point of winning the Championship (and beating the men) so the next year the rules were changed and women competed in separate events to the men.  After a fatal incident, when a woman was killed in a competition, the rules were changed again and the only events open to women now are the Barrel Racing competitions.  (Who wants to ride a bucking old bull anyway?!). “No rude comments please”.

Then Bev took Alison shopping for …. Cowboy Boots!  (Yep, I’ve got me some cowboy boots at last!)  This is definitely the town for Cowboy Kit – it’s great!  If we had more space in the RV Alison would have a whole wardrobe full of western kit.

13^th June Laramie

We drove to Laramie for lunch.  This town is the base for the Wyoming University. We also went to see the Lincoln Monument. We then went for a hike in the Medicine Bow National Forest around Turtle Rock.  Apparently these are very unusual rock formations and we could see a couple of rock climbers.  There were many Cottonwood trees and the blowing downy seeds looked like snow drifts.

14^th June Friday

We enjoy a day at the ranch.  It is around 83 acres of rolling grassland.  It reminds us of Salisbury Plain as the land stretches as far as you can see, gently rolling up and down.  The grass is not close   When it rains the water is channelled around and towards the grass roots.

set like the grassy mat in UK but it grows in clumps.
In the evening we all go out for a meal were we have Rocky Mountain Oysters and Bear Balls for dessert! 

15^th June  Medicine Bow National Forest

Bev and Dave often go camping in the Medicine Bow forest with two of their horses.  Their friends Grace and Bill also join them with two of their horses.  We join them for the weekend in our RV.  The area is busy with other campers at the weekend; many of them have 4WD or quad bikes.  Most are respectful of the horses and slow down when they pass our camp site.

 

After they have been out riding we all sit around the camp fire for the evening.  The day temperature is lovely but once the sun goes down we need jackets.

16^th June Sunday

Alison takes Bev’s horse, Rocky, out on the ride in the morning and Bev and Paul have a relaxing time in camp.  The horses are out for nearly 4 hours.  It has been 10 years since the last time Alison was on a horse so a hot bath, in Bev’s house when we got home, was greatly appreciated.

17^th June Monday

Alison is surprised she can walk and doesn’t ache as she thought she might.

We went into town for some shopping as Paul wants to do some alterations inside the RV – he loves putting up shelves ….!(Thought I had retired?)

Every evening we watched the clouds build up and lightening lights up the sky in the distance.  However it never seems to rain here.  It is just the warm air creating the static in the clouds.  It is fun

to watch.

18^th June  Tuesday

Bev saddled up the horses and the three of us took a ride around the ranch; Paul on Travis and Alison on Pewee.  Two of the dogs tried to follow us.  Duke gave up after one field but Dewey the corgi followed – but on an inner circle to our wider circle.

 

In the evening we all went over to Grace and Bills for a lovely meal.

19^th June Wednesday

The RV is booked into the Repairs garage for 9am in the morning to replace the slide awnings and then the afternoon to the garage for an oil change and A/C maintenance.  We did some shopping and then visited the Frontier Museum.  This museum is full of wagons, buggies, buckboards, etc from the 19^th century.  It even had a Surrey with a Fringe on Top!

When we got back to the Repairs garage to pay the bill at 3.30pm we discovered they were only half way through the work and the RV had yet to be taken up to the other garage for the rest of the work.  We were not too pleased with this and saying we can leave the RV there over night and they’ll finish in the morning was not the “right” answer, as we need it to sleep in.  Fortunately the garage doing the maintenance work, were able to finish the work in 2 hours before they shut at 6pm.

20^th June Thursday

Bev’s daughter and two children arrived yesterday so today they were all off camping.  So we were left in charge overnight.  Alison did some painting in the RV and other domestic chores.  Every   One minute you have all the windows open because it is warm and then suddenly any paperwork is blown everywhere and you have to shut the windows for half an hour or until the wind dies down. 

afternoon the wind picks up and the change can be very sudden.

In the evening, after the wind died down, we had a BBQ outside the RV (Pork Ribs) and the dogs kept us company.    

21^st June Friday

The family all came back in the morning and in the afternoon we went riding again.  Paul rode Rocky

this time and Dave rode Poncho the Fox-trotter, which is a horse with a particular ‘gait’ which was favoured by cowboys as a means of covering the distances they travelled daily faster.

In the evening we went out with Grace and Bill to the Pine Bluff Rodeo, which is a small town very close to the Nebraska border.  We watched Bull Riding and calf roping and also the Barrel Racing by women as well as some very young children some of whom looked only 6 or 7 years old.  Later in the evening we could see another lightning storm in the distance.  We were surprised how the horses do

not seem at all bothered by the flashing lightning and thunder but as it seems to happen almost every evening we conclude that they are used to it.

22^nd June Saturday

Alison finished off the painting work she was doing in the RV and then went riding with Dave.  Unfortunately Paul had another headache and wasn’t up for much that day.  He seems to be getting a lot of headache recently and we wonder if the long term exposure to the altitude is contributory as we are at around 8000ft here.  Unfortunately we have to cancel the evening out with Grace and Bill but

promise to join up again with them upon our return to Cheyenne for Frontier Days Rodeo at the end of July.

23^rd June Back to Colorado

We set off again, travelling back into Colorado.  We say our farewells to Bev and Dave and Amy and the children.  However our departure is unexpectedly delayed when we discover Duke hiding under the RV.  He has been frightened by something and it takes Bev 20 mins and half a packet of biscuits to persuade him to come back out.  He is a big Anatolian dog and we cannot even bring up the levelling jacks on the RV as it would lower it too much for him to get back out.

We drive down the I-25 back into Colorado.  We pass Denver on our way to Colorado Springs and then head west, past Pikes Peak Mountain, to Eleven-mile Lake State Park just past Lake George.  Although the journey is only 215 miles it took us nearly 6 hours from when we left the ranch and we didn’t get to camp until after 6pm.