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Wednesday, April 25, 2018

A chilly day exploring Cheyenne, Wyoming

Up early, and our Verizon cellular internet ran out and I'm not going to renew it because we're only six more days in the United States. If the price was reasonable, I would... but at $35 USD for 2 GB of data, they can keep it!

So we got up and drove into Pine Bluffs, NE where we parked outside the library and used the free library wifi while sitting in the motorhome and having breakfast.

Cold and windy day yesterday! And with that strong north wind, we had to drive on the Interstate 80 west into Cheyenne. Not a fun drive, and eventually we got on the side access road where we could safely drive slower. Man, those trucks fly by on the Interstate. Not enjoyable at all.

View from the Interstate 80 highway.
Eventually, we got off and drove on that access road.

Coming in to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

We've been to Cheyenne before, when we were driving the little blue car north in the spring of 2013. We stayed with a couchsurfing host at the time and we were on a schedule so we never did go walk around downtown. This time, despite the wind and the cold, we parked at the Cheyenne Civic Center, got bundled up, and walked downtown.

The Trivoli Building, built in 1892.
Originally a saloon on the bottom, and a brothel up top!


The Wrangler Building. Selling western wear since 1943.

Cheyenne has these big painted boots all over town.

See Ruth in her winter clothes?! Temperature was only 41F (5C) with a cold north wind. Fortunately, that was a one day event and we are back to normal 72F (22C) today!

The Albany Restaurant, Bar, and Liquor Store.
Since 1942.

The fancy train depot.

The Iron Horse.

Built to honor railway workers.

The historic Plains Hotel built in 1911.

Ruth, signing the guest book in the lobby.

The Plains Hotel lobby.

Cheyenne Depot Plaza.

The Nagle-Warren Mansion, built in 1888.
Now a Bed and Breakfast.

What it looked like 120 or so years ago.

Lots of these guys buzzing around.
Cheyenne is home to the F. E. Warren Air Force Base.

The Historic Governor's Mansion.
Cheyenne is the state capitol of Wyoming.

But, we couldn't hang around. Plus, it was still so cold and windy and we simply weren't used to that! We had made a booking with a Boondockers Welcome host near Wheatland, Wyoming another 75 miles (120 kms) north.

It was windy, but at least now we had a direct head wind instead of a cross wind. Not ideal for fuel mileage, but at least it's an easier drive.

Scenery along the way.

Horse statue on the hill.

On the I-25 north.

At least it's a little more scenic.

Wyoming scenery. That's a long train.

Just west of Wheatland there are mountains!

Yesterday's drive, 125 miles (200 kms).

We pulled in and our Boondockers Welcome host Sally came out to greet us. She runs a small vineyard here with about 600 plants. She walked us around the property and gave us some parking choices. We chose to be sheltered from the wind, so ended up in front of a building where she also said we could plug in. Good thing because the temperature went down to 26F (-4C) last night!

Sherman.
The clouds look dark, but it never did rain.

Enjoying a glass of wine by the vineyards.

Not sure what's going on today because we're waiting for a package to be delivered here. So it depends on when that shows up. We might stay another night, or we might do a bit of driving if it shows up this morning. 

Nice blue sky today, with a forecast high of 72F (22C), but there's still a bit of a wind.

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The Instant Pot Mini is on Deal of the Day today. Great for 2-3 people.


And in Canada...








26 comments:

  1. The Governor's mansion was closed for repairs/renovation when we went through. We saw buffalos along I-25 as we drove back south.

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    1. It was closed while we were there too and so was the State Capitol building. We couldn't even get a nice picture of the Capitol building because it was a total construction zone and won't reopen until sometime in 2019.

      Delete
  2. Interstate or US 85? Or did you mean I-80?

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  3. Thank you for the tip on the Instant Pot Mini. Bought one....hope this helps you! I've been waiting for them to be on sale. Need a take along one for camping!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much, I am sure that we got credit for the sale. :-)

      We have never tried one but only because we are rarely hooked up to power and I would assume that it would still use too much power for our batteries and inverter. We'll have to check into that and see exactly how much power they use. Glad that you love it.

      Delete
  4. That instant mini pot looks like a great idea!

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  5. I just love these old buildings. But it sure looks cold there still.

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    1. We do too and it was nice to see a city with an active downtown area.

      It was cold but it was a one day anomaly, the wind was what made it feel really cold though.

      Delete
  6. What a difference in the weather! Same here -2 in the morning 18 in the afternoon. Today we have rain. I really love those old buildings!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, definitely a big difference between the two days. Yesterday afternoon was absolutely gorgeous out.

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  7. So nice to see the old buildings kept in good repair.

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    1. It really is nice to see. We enjoyed our afternoon wandering around the downtown area. Too bad the State Capitol building was under major renovation, it would have been nice to see what it looked like inside and out.

      Delete
  8. Nice to see the old buildings well taken care of. does look kinda chilly there though at least warm during the day.

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    1. Cheyene has a really interesting downtown and lots of history to go with it.

      The cold and wind only lasted that day and night by yesterday late morning it was beautiful out again.

      Delete
  9. Love all the older buildings being used instead of being torn down. Cheyenne looks like an interesting town.

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    1. So do we! Lots of history here so it is nice to see many of them still standing and plaques explaining about the history of the buildings, the city and some of the people that lived in here so many years ago. We easily could have stayed a day or two here and not been bored.

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  10. We went thru Cheyenne one time after a long drive, couldn't find a campsite after a long day..Gave up and spent the night in a rest area on the way to Thermopolis..Maybe I'll give it a shot if ever back that way..I too love old buildings!
    Upriver

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    1. We found what we thought would have been a few good places to boondock for the night that were pretty much in the city itself. The Civic Center for one but of course we would have needed to go in and ask if that was even a possibility. They let us park there for a few hours so that we could explore the downtown area when we asked but never ask about overnighting there.

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  11. I know you guys can always find a free place to park, but not always a plugin and a warm welcome greeting. So thank you for using and mentioning Boondockers Welcome and appreciating our hosts. (We love them too.)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Yes, we do love finding our own places but it is also nice to meet with local people and this is definitely the best way to do it. Hopefully we will be using Boondockers Welcome more this summer as we travel up north and then back down again. Thanks Marianne.

      Delete
  12. Looks like an interesting city with lots of historical buildings. Glad the weather is warming up for you guys a bit. Glad you were able to plug in as well to keep warm. Enjoy your wine and the view! Drive safe.

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    1. It is an interesting city, we could easily spend a couple days here exploring it. The weather has actually been great for the most part.

      This was just an abnormally cold day, we are now back to normal temperatures for this time of year, which happens to be very spring like. :-)

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  13. Really enjoyed Cheyenne and the pictures....hope to visit there someday, thanks to your blog! Safe travels.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, we also enjoyed Cheyenne and could easily have spent one or two full days there.

      Delete

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