Diary for Harry and Judy's RV Trip


Day 26-July 1, 2013-Cheyenne, WY

2013-07-01

Day 26-July 1, 2013-Cheyenne, WY
It was really cool last night-was only 59 at 10:00 this morning. Got up to 78, really sunny and great weather. We must be in a pocket of nice weather, the whole country is either really hot (Vegas is 117), or wet, like Florida. And then there’s the horrible fires in AZ that killed 19 firefighters.
We took the RV and truck in to Graber’s Diesel and they adjusted the RV brakes and checked out the truck, which needs an alignment but can wait ‘til we get home. Nice mechanic, Brian, recommended a lot of places to see in downtown Cheyenne so after we brought the RV back to the campground and had some lunch we drove into town-only a 10 minute ride.
Cheyenne is the capitol of WY, surprising because it’s not near the middle of the state and sort of small with only 59,000 people. It started with the Union Pacific RR and mushroomed from there. Seems it started as a rather wild place with cowboys, gamblers, speculators and ladies of the evening until the railroad men settled down and the politicians came into town. All the people I spoke with said it’s nice here from May (maybe) to Sept. (or Oct.) but then watch out-not much snow but lots of cold, cold winds. They all said it’s especially calm now and you can tell it’s usually a lot windier here because of all the leaves and branches on the ground. The whole town is gearing up for the 117th year of “Frontier Days”-a ten day celebration starting in two weeks of their Wild West heritage with parades, livestock auctions, entertainment, horse races and the world’s largest outdoor rodeo “the daddy of ‘em all”-we saw the arena-it’s huge! There’s a pancake breakfast every day in town where they serve 33,000 pancakes every morning and they use a cement mixer to mix the batter. Everybody we talked to said we have to stay around for it (or come back-it’s the in July every year) but they also said all the hotels and campgrounds are reserved a year in advance.
At the visitor’s center there’s a free horse and buggy ride around town but we opted for the trolley that goes to the outskirts of town and to more of the sights we wanted to see. Had buy one/get one free tickets in a booklet they gave us at the visitor center. The driver/narrator was great-she knew a lot of history, showed us the Botanic Gardens, Governors’ Mansion, State Capitol and a lot of museums. Historical houses and pretty green parks all through the tour, which is surprising seeing that Cheyenne is in the middle of the plains and all the trees and flowers had to be imported. The last place was Holliday Park where there was the Big Boy, a steam locomotive, one of only eight left. It’s one of the world’s largest at 1.2 million pounds. Got a burger at Shadow’s Pub and Grille (also had a buy one entrée/get one free coupon) which is also a micro-brewery so we had to sample some of their beers. Met and talked to “Indiana Bones” and his wife, an entertainer on tour who tells stories at libraries, schools, etc. about folklore, myths and legends, mostly to kids 6-15. Stopped and got some groceries on the way back while we had a grocery store nearby, they’re far and few between out here.
Cheyenne was a really nice place, we had some great experiences here and met some nice people, but we’re off again tomorrow.