Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming and I have to say, it's a beautiful city, especially in the autumn. It's a very clean city and everyone we encountered was friendly. First up on our list of things to do that day was go for a horseback ride. That's one of our favorite things to do whenever we visit someplace new. It's a great way to enjoy nature and get a slow view of the countryside.
We chose Terry Bison Ranch for our ride, which was right over the border in Wyoming and very easy to find. They have lots of fun activities there like horseback riding, but also train rides, fishing, a kids corral, a cafe and a gift shop. If you're in this area, be sure to stop. There is plenty to do here and I think kids would love it.
We did an hour long ride and the trail took us from Wyoming into Colorado and then looped back into Wyoming. It was a perfect day to be on the trail and we had clear views for miles in the distance...
After our ride we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for a delicious lunch. The name of the restaurant is Guadalajara, and take my word for it, the food was really good. We both had cheese enchilada's, re-fried beans and Spanish rice...
Look at all that food! Neither of us could finish it all.
After lunch we walked next door to the Boot Barn and Chablis got a pair of cowboy boots. Wow - what a great selection they had and their prices were really good. Much better prices than what we found in Nashville and I was glad she waited to get them here. I had told her that for her birthday I'd buy her a pair of boots and she wanted to wait until we got to Wyoming to buy them. I think she picked up a really nice pair....
Our next stop was the Capital building. It's a gorgeous building and the grounds were well manicured and spotless. It was such a clear blue day and the trees were exploding with color.
Since it was a Saturday we couldn't go inside but we walked around outside and checked out all the statues....
This was by far my favorite statue of a pony and rider.....
Scattered around the city is a series of 18 over sized boots that are part of an audio tour. Each boot was painted by an area artist. For more information on the tours, visit this link.
We were really happy to see that the Wyoming State Museum was open. It's one of the best museum's I've been to and it's free.
The museum is quite large and has 2 floors of exhibits on the history of the state....
And guess what? There was a geocache hidden inside the outhouse exhibit. That was an extra bonus for me!
Around the corner from the museum is a marker for the start of the original Cheyenne-Ft. Laramie-Deadwood stagecoach trail. Just standing on that spot conjures up images of days of old. I like to think about the people who stood there, ready to embark on their overland trip across the plains. Very cool if you ask me. It also happens to be the location of a geocache. See, this is what I love about geocaching - because of it I can always find really interesting places to visit....
Another geocache spot was near this steam engine It's called a Big Boy and was built for the Union Pacific railroad. Imagine the miles and the scenery this Big Boy saw in its day.
Our final historic stop for the day was at this Sandstone Depot that was made from sandstone quarried near Ft. Collins, Colorado. The colors are tan and a sort of orange. It was quite pretty. The building is the old Union Pacific Depot and now houses a museum. Be sure to check out that clock tower!
We had to gather information off the cache page and from around the building in order to log the cache....
That concludes our day in Wyoming. I wish we would have had more time to spend there because I'd like to go to Ft. Laramie and to Medicine Bow National Forest. I guess we'll just have to go back another time, which would be my pleasure because I loved it there! Definitely one of my favorite places.
If you want to visit a town that is all buffed up like a shiny penny, Cheyenne is that town! For more information, visit their Chamber of Commerce page.
Next up is our last full day in Colorado, so be sure to come back next week.
