The other thing I conveniently forgot to mention was that I got a speeding ticket. It was only for $25 (not counting court costs they add on top of that), but I wasn't going that fast! The cop was this skinny kid that looked to be no more than 16 years old. I cracked a joke when he gave me the ticket, but he was not amused. In fact, he asked if I would like him to write a new ticket at a higher dollar amount. (What happened to a sense of humor?) Oh well. Could have been much worse I suppose...
On the way down to Denver before heading west to Grand Junction, I passed through Wyoming. At night I stayed in Cheyenne, so I decided to spend a few hours in the morning exploring the city. I went off to the Wild West Museum, which was by the arena that hosts rodeo, steer roping, and other western events during Frontier Days. How cool is it to see bull riding statues!! Okay, had it been in season, I would have really enjoyed watching a bull riding event, but the statues just had to suffice...for now. :-) I love the west!
There were a lot of horse drawn carriages and other vehicles in the museum. The first photo below is of a gig, which is used at horse shows and for rides in parks.
For independent women (such as myself), here is a sporty Coal Box Road Wagon. :-)
One of my favorites was the Yellowstone Coach, named appropriately as it was the most popular way to tour Yellowstone Park in the late 1800s. I asked if they still were available to tour in, but sadly newer technology made them obsolete. :-(
The 3 seated canopy top surrey was the most popular family car - similar to minivans or the now stylish SUVs.
And this is a US Army Dougherty, which is a multifunctional wagon that served as an ambulance, mail carrier, transportation for Army personnel (or regular civilians like a taxi or bus), and has even been used as a mobile home.
Many of the wagons had wooden wheels, and most started using elliptical end springs (known today as "suspension") in the late 1800s. Some of these used wire wheels (like bikes) called the wire-wheeled top buggies.
"Horse thou art truly a creature without equal, for thou fliest without wings and conquerest without sword." - The Koran
They had girls who, like today's "Miss America" were crowned "Miss Frontier". :-)
I also had not realized that Studebaker made fashionable horse drawn wagons (1850s) well before they started making cars (1902). Gives new meaning to the term "old Studebaker". :-)
And this is a hose cart, which was used to put out fires before the days of "fire trucks". (There was such a time?)
And here we have what I usually think of as a "House on the Prairie" covered wagon. The other picture looks like the spider cart that took Belle's father away from the beast's castle when they made the trade (her for him) toward the beginning of the movie "Beauty and the Beast".
After the Wild West Museum, I drove to the capital building in Cheyenne. It was cool to see more bulls and rodeo statues by the capital!!!
Do any of you enjoy scavenger hunts? :-) There are 19 large cowboy boots - all 8 feet tall - hidden throughout the city. I was determined to find them all!
In order to do this, I went down to the Depot and obtaining a map of where they are. The 2 at the University were locked in the paint room for another protective clear coat, and a few others were being renovated). Other than that, I found them all.
The boots were all painted by local artists to show Cheyenne's history. Some were indoors and others were outside. One was in a restaurant at the airport. Another was in the show room of a car dealership! Which one is your favorite?
There were C130 Hercules military planes flying around near the airport, which is 36% military. They are quiet, but have such an amazing presence in the sky!
Once I found all of the boots I looked at the time. Uh oh! It was 11:52 AM and the train ride at Terry's Bison Ranch left at noon! Guess I got a little carried away. Well, I drove as swiftly as possible (without breaking any laws of course) and at 11:59, about 2 minutes away, I called them, told them I was there (a little white lie) and was looking for where to buy the tickets for the noon train ride. They told me by the trading post and then said they'd ask the train conductor to wait. By then I actually was in the ranch, parked, ran to buy my ticket, and then ran to the train. :-)
Annie had told me that there was a buffalo ranch in Denver that I may want to go to. I told her I was at a bison ranch. She taught me that buffalo and bison are the same animal. No, I didn't realize that. (Don't I feel silly!) I always thought they were similar, but different types of animal (like different kinds of monkeys). Hopefully, I'm not the only one who didn't know this! LOL
The train went about 2 mph and was quite bumpy, making it a challenge to get good quality pictures. You could easily walk faster, but the ride was fun. There were 4 seniors sharing the train with me and it was windy and cold! The older woman was wearing a yellow jacket and seemed as excited as a young child at all the animals. The 2 of us kept going back and forth to the different sides of the train to take pictures and look at the animals.
On the way to the herd of bison, we passed by camels (one of which followed the train and posed as if he was modeling down a runway), horses, cows, and ostriches (which I feel especially connected to after the last safari incident with the crazy one). There were other trains, a fenced in bull riding area, and farms with stacks of hay. Reminds me of WI! :-)
After a few more minutes we saw the bison. There was a black (and very mean) yak as well. Any time a bison would get close, he would kick and charge to scare him away. When we first arrived, most of the bison were off in the distance minding their own business with a few laying down - all completely ignoring the fact that we were there with food. (I guess the school kids that came before us were too much for them!)
Then slowly, one by one, they started to come down the hill toward us. They were patchy - some much worse than others - since this is the time of year they start to shed their fur. Not very attractive, but I guess it looked better than their behinds, which do not clean up so well after going #2...
Pretty soon all of them were over by the train. Some crossed over to the other side to roll in the mud and water. Others played on the tracks, and others rubbed up on the train to scratch their backs. Most were not interested in food...
Some of the babies came over as well. Although there were no little babies born this year yet, there were a lot of 1 year olds that were adorable (well, as adorable as a baby bison can be). They did NOT like to be pet! Our train conductor fed the ones that were hungry (and brave enough to pass the yak). Then he let me feed them. Lots of slobber! LOL
There were prairie dogs (which I had never seen before) that looked like gophers.
And this was interesting! The track that the Bison Express (my train) was on was the only private railroad that crossed state borders. It was mostly in WY, but also went into CO. :-)
On the way out, I was chased (slowly) by a curious and very large turkey. He wanted to join me in the car, so I had to lure him away until it was safe to open the door and get in without being followed. LOL I seem to attract all the strange ones!!
I left Wyoming at about 3 PM and grabbed a bite to eat before heading to Grand Junction. This is the first sighting of the white capped mountains I would soon be driving through.
The last time I went through the mountain passes there was snow on the ground and my car slid a few times. It was a scary trip with the steep inclines, drop-off cliffs, and tight turns. This time, however, it was very beautiful. There was no snow on the road, just in the mountains, and only a few light showers. These are pictures driving through the Rockies. You can see the changing scenery from snowy wide open hills to tall canyons close to the road to red rocks to brown desert mountains. You can also see me going through the long tunnels. :-)
