Cheyenne, Wyoming, 4 August

Model RRs, trolley rides, and huge cowboy boots. We departed our Rapid City, SD campground mid-morning on 3 August, picked up SD State Hiway 79 and headed south to Hot Springs, driving thru the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.  Pretty sparse landscape, but one can only imagine what these grasslands looked like 200 years ago.  We crossed into Wyoming, driving thru Lusk and continuing on to I-25 and turned south toward Cheyenne.  We saw some signs along the interstate - and also read some literature - about some Oregon Trail wagon ruts near the town of Guernsey on the North Platte River.  We took the exit, drove the 12 miles due east, found Guernsey, but never found the wagon ruts.  Later found out the ruts might have been just a little beyond the town, but we turned around after crossing the river and headed back to I-25.  Pulled into Cheyenne around 4:30 and are staying a couple nights in the AB Camping campground.  Very nice, and comes with its own BBQ dinner (which we tried tonight...pulled BBQ and pork rs were quite tasty).

Decided to do a little sightseeing in Cheyenne this morning and headed for the old downtown area.  Cheyenne was settled in the mid-1800's, coming into its own when the US Calvary surveyed this area for the coming of the railroad.  Crow Creek became a temporary "fort" for the US Army, and this later became Ft Russell.  Cheyenne grew as the Union Pacific grew...and grow it did.  The old downtown area still shows much of the very large Union Pacific presence.

The old town square includes a museum dedicated to the Union Pacific in Cheyenne and the surrounding area, and includes a model railroad display.  Very impressive and very interesting, especially for me since I "dabbled" in model RR (N scale) while stationed in Germany back in the early '70's.  I've handed the trains and models on to our son, Kip, and his girls.  To hopefully instill some enthusiasm, here are some photos of a couple of their very detailed layouts (most were HO scale, with narrow gauge rails).  The photos almost look real!

We eat lunch at the Shadows Pub & Grill, which is located in one end of the old, but restored, Union Pacific station.  Here's a couple photos of the station.











After lunch we bought tickets for a trolley tour of old town Cheyenne, which include a stop at a museum at the Cheyenne Frontier Days (which we just missed).  Most of this museum consisted of old buggies and statecoaches, some original, some restored.



 Here's a shot of Lynette by the trolley and one of me with one of the numerous gigantic cowboy boots that one sees throughout Cheyenne's old town.










The trolley tour was narrated by a local woman who was terrific and full of any number of odd-ball story about Cheyenne's early beginnings.  Well worth the $10 price per ticket.

Tomorrow morning we head south to the Denver area, about two hours away, so a short drive.  We'll stay at Chatfield State Park, very near my sister, Sandi, for several days of visiting with family and maybe some sightseeing.  Cheers to all....more later.