City of Cowboys: Cheyenne, WY
We weren’t sure what to expect from Wyoming. Our starting point is Cheyenne, quiet as it sits on the cusp of Cheyenne Frontier Days, which more than doubles the size of the town as people flood in for the world’s largest outdoor rodeo. Sadly we’ll miss it, having not planned a year in advance to attend - the way one must if they wish to go.
This park has the honor of being at the end of the shortest travel day we had since leaving Oregon - 20 minutes and we were in a new state! We’re staying at the Terry Bison Ranch, the last remnant of a ranching empire that once stretched 300,000 acres across most of Wyoming. It’s now 1/10th that size, which is still a big ranch but not like, “I own a state” big. The RV park in it is… ok, a bit crowded, definitely making most of its income crowding people in for Frontier Days. I think they attract folks with the “feed the bison from the train” tours on the property, the horse boarding on site, and the guiding horse rides. I can’t say I would trust the folks there with my animal, given the uneven care conditions we saw, but maybe standards are different in Wyoming.
That said, watching the goat kids run around and the ostriches preen made for good entertainment, and the park was overall a much more interesting place than the smelly KOA we came from. We took the feed-the-bison train, because I mean, if you’re there you might as well. Bison are… big. And not exactly tame, though these would eat out of your hand. They also didn’t look very healthy. I suspect bison are a bit like orcas, and captivity doesn’t suit them well. (I can’t comment on how their taste compares, though.)
On Friday Solomon went in for a little surgery - new leaf springs! It’s incredibly strange to drop off our entire home and all our possessions… for service. But in he went for fresh and safe springs to finish the trip with. We spent the day at the wonderful library in Cheyenne, which was spacious and well-stocked. Lunch was at a place called Korean House, with a genuine Korean grandmother making everything, and then standing next to us making sure we had enough. It was adorable and the food was abundant and delicious. Not at all the local specialty I thought I’d be eating in Cheyenne, but I’ll take it!
Tomorrow we’ll head east to Rawlins, which has little to recommend it except for being “about halfway to Fort Bridger.”
