Day 8 - Let's go to a rodeo!

Saturday, July 19, 2014
Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States
Another long drive starts our day. From Rapid City to Cheyenne via way of Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

The journey starts with good road and rolling hills of grazing cattle and fields of hay . As we continue the terrain changes several times along the way. At one point we are driving on a ridge with view of valleys one each side. Northwest Nebraska had more hills and trees than we anticipated but it wasn't long before we found the flat land that we expected of Nebraska.

We made a pit stop in the town of Crawford and a lunch stop in Scottsbluff. We ate lunch at Emporium Cafe & Coffee, where the food and service were both outstanding. It was a very nice surprise to find such good food in a small town.

Back on the road and headed for I-80. We traveled I-80 all the way to Cheyenne, enjoying the 75 and 80 MPH speed limits. The terrain is pretty flat and arid here. We have seen natural gas wells and oil wells periodically along our journey today. There is a slight hill with a few pine trees just east of Cheyenne that is aptly named "Pine Bluff". Arriving into Cheyenne we see an oil refinery and lots of train tracks . The Wyoming state capital also stands out among the downtown buildings with its gold dome.

We arrive at our hotel to check in before we head to the famous Cheyenne Frontier Days fair and rodeo. The hotel is sold out and house keeping is moving slow. We had to wait a few minutes for our room to be finished being cleaned.

Just a few miles and we are searching for a parking place. People who live near the fair grounds are selling parking in their driveways for $10-25 per vehicle, but they are all full. We finally find an open spot about seven or eight blocks away that will fit our long, white van.

Cheyenne Frontier Days is much like a state or county fair, although it does not have the exhibition of animals, arts, crafts, produce, and baked goods like many fairs we have experienced. There is a vendors building filled with salespeople trying to get you to pay $99 (a "discount" from the "normal" price of $149) for a wireless speaker for your cell phone that is not worth $10 . So Mark bought three of them.

Knives, kitchen ware, rugs, blankets, flag poles, irons, hot tubs, leather belts, boots, hats, jewelry, artwork, candles and more. In full disclosure I did buy a flag pole and flag at the Wisconsin State Fair last summer. It is American made and has been a great addition to our front yard. This year I bought a couple AR magazines from MagPul and Grace bought a new cowboy hat.

It was blazing hot on the asphalt of the fair grounds. Occasionally a passing cloud would give us a couple minutes of relief from the sun. We ate dinner at the fair with everyone sampling their own selection of fair food. Buffalo burgers, grilled chicken and veggie wraps, grilled turkey legs, roasted ears of corn, ice cream, kettle corn - all of it way overpriced.

We had tickets to the evening concert featuring Clay Walker and Lady Antebellum. We waited in line for the gates to open for the grandstands with some 16,000 other people . It was good people watching. Many people dressed for the concert in clothes they apparently washed on hot when they should have washed them on cold. Clay Walker did a great job singing many of his number one country hits as well as a couple of new songs from his upcoming album. After a thirty minute intermission to reset the stage, Lady Antebellum performed an amazing show. Singing hits and new songs as well as a great cover of Wake Me Up at the end. Lady Antebellum is a group with Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood. They sound better in concert than on their recordings. After the show we walked back to our van and drove a couple mile to our hotel. Everyone is tired and tomorrow we get to sleep in before we pack and head for the airport in Denver.

It has been a great trip. We have seen and experienced a lot! The Dickinson family have been great travel partners and have survived a crazy Ammon family sees America road trip. While the original estimate of mileage covered was 1,700 miles, we are now over 2,100 miles and still have another 150 miles to Denver. So this trip breaks many Ammon family records. Most miles in a one week trip, most people on a one week trip, and most hotel reservations canceled on a one week trip.

Final update tomorrow. Thanks for following us on our adventure.

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2025-02-15

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