Denver/Cheyenne/North Platte

Leaving the Rockies behind was sad, but inevitable. With all the roads leading in and out of Denver, we were surprised by how heavy the traffic was -- not rush hour -- for 50 miles or more going north to Cheyenne.

We arrived in Cheyenne later than usual (6ish) and woke up in a nice little city (70,000 or so), the capital of Wyoming. It was very easy to get to everywhere we wanted to go (except the one way streets were not marked well -- so much so that it seemed that the local drivers anticipate wrong way people like me and allowed me to correct myself ... although I must say that my recognizing my error was more from instinct than observation).

The highlight of Cheyenne was no doubt the Nelson Museum of the West and its curator, Dale. I hope to be in touch with him again after I get home. The man knew the answer to or had a reasoned opinion on every question I asked him for about an hour. Cheyenne questions. Western history questions. Outlaw questions. Ma Barker Gang questions. Tom Horn questions. Cattle Kate questions.

[Barker and Horn can be Googled. Barker's history is mostly not so good. Horn is a complex figure in the history of the Old West. Steve McQueen starred in a pretty darn accurate portrayal of Horn: well worth seeing. Cattle Kate was one of the handful of women ever hung in that period of our history. Dale said she and her partner were caught red-handed rustling cattle and hung on the spot. Interesting to me was that she owned a saloon in town and was therefore well known to all the posse. I think there may be more to this story.]

The museum has three floors of displays of everything from silver and gold saddles to Native American art to a large history board of outlaws of the west to several extensive taxidermy displays. Lots more. Just thought I should warn you about the latter should you ever end up in Cheyenne.

I did not include any pictures of the animals in the following:

Painted boots are found throughout the streets of Cheyenne, similar to painted cows in Burlington.

It's a long flat ride from Cheyenne, Wyoming to North Platte, Nebraska.

Later we drove to North Platte, Nebraska, where we are now. We're going to see the largest railroad yard in the world this morning.