Rocky Mtn West

Ft Laramie & Oregon Trail Ruts

Published April 5, 2014

Woke early, dropped the dogs at Windstar Kennel & drove I-25 North for an ‘Oregon Trail revisited’ road trip.

First stop, the Wyoming state border where Ash & Tom recorded their first Wyoming geocache.

Quick junk food fix in Cheyenne, then back on I-25 to Oregon Trail Ruts near Guernsey. AMAZING these wagon wheel ruts left behind from frontier pioneers still exist. Tucked away in rural Wyoming, most folks would never know. Lotta sunshine, beautiful rock landscape. Highly recommended!

Next stop – our initial trip destination – Fort Laramie. This frontier fort built just an hour west of Nebraska originated to protect travelers from Native American attacks on the prairie. After the Visitors Center, explored the fort – visiting the barracks, officers quarters, arsenal & hospital ruins. LOVED it!

Viewed the general store, a near replica of the store used in our Oregon Trail PC game – a family fave for me & Ashton (and today’s road trip inspiration). Problem? Yeah, completely ran outta time. If you love history (which I do), you’ll be back.

Still one more stop on today’s Oregon Trail itinerary – Scotts Bluff in Western Nebraska.

: Ash & Tom’s 1st Wyoming geocache

: the Oregon Trail

: land of many, many, many trains

: built to protect settlers from American Natives

: Fort Laramie Barracks

: village life inside the Fort

: Hospital ruins – $1/day stay

: window to the West

: contemplating life, liberty & the Oregon Trail

: check out that sky, those clouds – WOW!

: Unknown Soldier – Indian Wars

: Wyoming’s Bucking Horse & Rider

Cheyenne Frontier Days

Published July 27, 2013

Ran 26.2 miles in Anchorage, kayaked to the extreme tip of Cape Cod, summited 2 Colorado 14ers & hosted a family reunion (which included Ash & Tom’s engagement on top of Pikes Peak) – lovin’ Summer 2013 thus far!

End of July is Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming – an hour half to the North. I’ve always been a huge fan of county fairs – and this one came with a rodeo. FAAAANNNNTASTIC!

Fell hard off my ‘vegetarian diet’ within 15 minutes inside the park. Elk, beef, bison & wild boar – lotta choices all grilled & served with a side of chuckwagon beans. 20 minutes ‘til rodeo time. Grabbed a pitcher of lemonade to wash down my bison burger topped with elk bratwurst and paraded into Wyoming’s largest outdoor stadium. Took a quick look around. Only a quarter of us weren’t wearing cowboy hats – and that included the women 🙂

Next life, I’m coming back as a Cowboy!

Fireworks, smoke & 3 World Champions with hats tipped low, walked into the large dirt arena. An announcer trilled their names and achievements. Folks on their feet, clapping, cheering. I’m thinking – who are these guys? Like superstars from a parallel planet. Who wouldn’t want to be a cowboy? WOW!

Each sport had its own unique rules: 8 seconds on a bull to qualify the ride, calf roping in under 30 seconds and the calf must stay tied/immobile for 6 seconds or the score doesn’t count. Some sports targeted a low score, others a high score, certain events combined scores over 3 days. Bull riding, steer wrestling, pistol juggling, buckin’ broncos, steer roping, saddle bronc riding, calf roping – all ending with a wild horse race where teams saddled a wild horse, attempting to ride once around the arena. (Only 2 succeeded.) FANTASTIC fun!

And if cowboys, bulls & horses weren’t enough, our Oklahoma-based announcer came with his own all-rodeo lingo:

There’s a guy not afraid to shake loose and shake his boots
He stuck to him like spots on an Appaloosa horse
More moves than my city cousin peeing on an electric fence
He stepped off that broncing horse like he was stepping out of a barber shop
That lasted as long as a Hollywood husband
He rodeos in the summer time (‘rodeo’ used as a verb)

Took a quick stroll through Indian Village & checked out the Chuckwagon Cookoff before heading home.

Thinkin’ this is gonna be an annual tradition. LOVED it!

: Cheyenne Frontier Days

: carnival food & cowboy hats

: bison, beef, elk , boar — so many choices

: bison burger topped w/ elk bratwurst

: World’s Largest Outdoor Rodeo

: Next life, I’m coming back as a Cowboy!

: bull riding – 8 seconds of fame! LOVE this!

: saddle bronc (on every Wyoming license plate)

: ‘He stuck to him like spots on an Appaloosa horse’

: Rodeo Clown (from Arkansas – he came with a goat)

: steer wrestling

: Wild Horse roundup – AMAZING end to the day!

: Indian Village

: Chuckwagon Cookoff

Posted in Rocky Mtn West | Tagged horses, rodeo | 2 Comments

March race: Canyonlands Half Marathon

Published March 16, 2013

3 months down, 3 months to go. Time for a half-marathon.

Left work early on Friday to get a start on the 6 hour haul to Moab. Surprisingly I didn’t mind the drive as much as I had been dreading. With Ro at Camp Bow Wow in Boulder, I took time to take in the view. Nothing like the drive on I-70, crossing the Continental Divide, followed by the winding curves through Glenwood Canyon to Utah. Beautiful.

Arrived in Moab, found my hotel sold out and was given a voucher to the Ramada – where they had reserved a room for me literally feet from Highway 191. ARGH! Luckily I was super tired; put the TV on low to drown out passing 18-wheelers causing my door to rattle & door to shake 🙁 Wake-up call never happened (double ARGH!) but luckily brought a back-up alarm. Ready to flee my Ramada rental space — looking forward to Saturday race day!

Race packet pick-up at 630am then parked at Swanny City Park where school buses shuttled runners to Canyonlands for the start of my first half marathon. A bit cooler than expected but soon forgot the chill. Gorgeous rock caverns made this race by far my most scenic run to date. Hard to peel the smile from my face.

Half marathon didn’t start ’til 10am – so had a few hours to kill. Could have carried a negative attitude about the wait, but looked around – WOW! – & decided to immerse myself in my geo- surroundings. There was time, I am strong, I could do this. Hiked up the canyon wall – the natural rock providing several easy hand-holds. No worries.

Who hikes before a half marathon? I do! What’s the point of a life journey if you don’t stop and enjoy the ride. AMAZING!

Grabbed a hot chocolate & lined up in time for our race gun start. Was placed in the last wave (no pre-qual time) – but on a positive note, passed more than 2,000 people before crossing the finish line 🙂

Overall pace was slower than expected but finished strong, literally sprinting the last hundred yards.

Devoured post-race oranges & bananas, then caught some zzzz’s in the park…soaking up the day’s sunshine.

Hooray my half is in the past – 13.1 miles to go and I’ll be marathon ready!

Got something even bigger planned for April – before my 25K trail race in Colorado Springs. Sky diving for the first time on April 13^th! How cool (& scary) is that? LOVE LOVE LOVE my Colorado life!

Here are your results for the Canyonlands Half Marathon:

Your final time is 02:05:15 at a 00:09:13 pace.
You finished 1379 out of 3189 in the HALF MARATHON.
You finished 75 out of 129 in your class.

Moab Half Marathon (pre-race clip)