Tag Archives: Wyoming

Cheyenne Frontier Days

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In October 2007, I found myself in Wyoming. Where did I go first? Cheyenne Frontier Days, of course! Cheyenne Frontier Days is one of the two most popular destinations for the rodeo, besides Calgary.
This rodeo has been going on for a long time. Cheyenne holds a ton of history in the cowboy and cowgirl department. Started in 1987, the Cheyenne Frontier Days is one of the largest and most popular annual rodeo celebrations in the world, drawing in hundreds of thousands of visitors during the 10 day span in July!
Rodeos and concerts – if you are a rodeo star or musician, I would be amazed if you haven’t ridden or played here. Reba McEntire use to ride here before she turned to singing.
When I arrived at Cheyenne Frontier Days, it was obviously not July, and they did not have a rodeo going on. That’s ok – I’ll be back! So I checked out the museum. 🙂
The museum showcases a ton of history. Costumes of cowgirls, cowboys and the rodeo clowns.
 
The museum showcases some many stars including Tuff Hedeman and Lane Frost
 
Something I admire are the photographs. They show the everyday details of the cowboys, cowgirls and their loved ones, not only in the arena, but off as well. These are hard workers, who appreciate and challenge themselves everyday. This isn’t cut out for everyone.
 Now you know they don’t all ride their horses in. Various forms of transportation are showcased from current to way back when.
Something that draws me to rodeos is really the simplicity that is at the base of it all. It all comes back to working the land, getting your hands dirty and proving what you’ve got and that you can make it. It gets back to the roots of what this country has to provide. This country wasn’t built on corporations and big businesses, it was built on working with the resources that you have. At the end of the day, it’s about being proud and seeing what you can do with your own two hands. These men and women take the tools they learn on their ranches and farms and put them into the competition to prove that they are the best.
Get on out there!
Enjoy the ride!On my way out I asked the ladies in the Gift Shop the best way to Laramie. They gave me two options, the quicker (highway) way and the more scenic way. Scenic way it is – Happy Jack Highway here I come!

I-25 Road to Cheyenne

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In October 2007, I found myself in Fort Collins, CO visiting a friend from college. Said friend didn’t take work off, so here I was flying solo trying to absorb everything the West had to offer. I had three days to explore, but having been so new to the area (and actually thinking of moving out there) I had no idea where to begin, so I surrendered to going wherever the roads took me. Wyoming. There it was directly north of me. The least populated state in the US seemed like my kinda place. So I hopped on I-25 to head north to Cheyenne. Little did I know that I would find myself in a state that I couldn’t wait to get back to.

The drive up was great. Hitting the highway with these gigantic Rocky Mountains to my west and nothing but prairie to my right. Driving along in my crappy Hyundai rent-a-car, driving with one hand, video taping with the other. Not exactly the ideal thing to be doing when you are driving but as always, I wanted to capture every little moment.

To the east of I-25 I passed a windmill farm. At the time, I had never seen anything like it. These huge windmills stood on the sides of these hills / small mountains all lined up in a row. I can only imagine how big they were up close. They belonged on the land of a, well we’ll call it a “Petting Zoo Ranch” where you could go and take a hay ride and check out the animals. (So the sign said.) I didn’t stop, so you’ll have to take my word for it. I wasn’t interested in touristy ranches, I wanted the real thing.

Soon enough, I entered Wyoming. You know you are in Wyoming, everywhere you look there is the bucking horse and cowboy. It is a perfect fit! My first stop was going to be the land of the cowboys – Cheyenne Frontier Days!