From Sand to Snow 2009/2010

We've made it to 2010. Hope it's been a good year for you so far. Warning: lots of Hunter pictures ahead!!! Same drill as before - most recent pictures at the top so start at the bottom and scroll up. Captions are below the picture. Enjoy!

December 31 - Happy New Year's! 2010 - hard to believe it's 10 years since the Y2K scare. We spent New Year's Eve babysitting Hunter. We couldn't think of a better way to bring in the new year.

December 25 - Merry Christmas, everyone! Hunter's first Christmas! I think he loved the paper more than the gifts but it was such a joy to watch him. Later that morning, Mel, Clayton and Hunter went to Cranbrook to have Christmas dinner with Clayton's parents and Ted, Chris and I went to Cabri to spend Christmas with Ken, Joyce, Brian, Shelly, Murray, Teresa and the kids. Family - that's what Christmas is all about!

December 24 - A quiet moment together for Gramps and Hunter on Christmas Eve.

December 20 -Brandi and Mel went to University together and then Brandi, her husband, Trent, and daughter, Haven, moved from Coaldale to Swift Current. Mel went to visit them to introduce Hunter to Haven. Aren't they cute together?

Chris wasn't too thrilled with his Roughrider shirt (he's a Stampeders fan), but was willing to wear it as long as Hunter wore his. Being a Roughies fan, I enjoyed every minute of it. Just don't mention the 13th man; I may cry.

Poor Teresa. No one wanted to steal her gift from her, but Denille and Ted were willing to share.

Hunter had a great time. Shelly enjoyed holding a little one now that her youngest is entering his teens.

December 19 - Our early "Chinese" Christmas in Cabri where we exchange cheap gifts (often gag gifts). You can steal a gift from someone who has chosen before you if you prefer it to the one you chose which can lead to an exchange of words if the gift is a highly prized one. Kenny and Brian are plotting their strategy and hoping to be one of the last ones to pick their gift.

December 12 - From full moons in the desert to Holiday Trains in the snow. We arrived back in Lethbridge on December 6. Mel, Clayton and Hunter flew back on Dec. 3rd and Chris drove back with us which was a godsend as we drove two vehicles back. I always prefer when the CP Holiday Train comes through at night because it is lit up in holiday colours and is really a sight to see on the High Level Bridge. This time it was a snowy, blustery day and you could hardly tell it was the Holiday Train.

Of course if you're going to have a full moon weiner roast, you have to stick around to watch the moon rise over Fortuna Peak.

We never get tired of eating. That evening we enjoyed a full moon weiner roast on Fortuna with Don, Cathy, Irv, Wilma, John and Doris. No hot dogs for Hunter but he enjoyed his sweet potatoes. Dessert consisted of day-old glazed doughnuts heated over the fire. Tasted just like Krispy Kremes right out of the oven. Mmmmm good!

On our way back we saw a lonely burro in the middle of the desert. No worries about finding food - he's metal! You never know what you're going to find in the desert.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch in a wash close to Signature Hill.

December 2 - Desert run!!!! Our destination today is Signature Hill - also known as Grafitti Mesa. This was started by 3 soldiers in WWII who were bored while on guard duty and decided to collect rocks and write their names. By 1955 there were less than 100 but then the snowbirds discovered it and it now covers just under 1000 acres. This signature is obviously in memory of someone special. None of the original names remain but some date back more than 40 years. It truly is an incredible site.

December 1 - Melanie and Hunter enjoying lunch at El Paraiso in Algodones, Mexico. Algodones is a small border town about 5 miles from the western edge of Yuma. In a four square block area there are more dentists, opticians, pharmacies and liquor stores than you can count. Of course, there are also vendors trying to sell you pottery, jewllery, blankets, T-shirts, leather goods and just about anything you can imagine. The vendors are really friendly. On one trip I actually had one say to me "Hey, lady, let me be the first to rip you off today". It's a lot of fun bargaining with them and we've found a great dentist who saves us anywhere from 50 - 70% on our dental work (and my dentist at home was very impressed with my $200 root canal). The food is awesome, too. Just as we were leaving Tumco we looked up and there was the moon rising above the peak. The people cemetery - simple mounds in the earth and a few crosses are all that remain. Here you can see three stone pillars of a crumbling foundation. Behind it is a trail leading up a ravine, around a hill and along another wash to the dog and people cemeteries.

Located just west of Yuma on Ogilby Road in California is the Tumco Gold Mine Site and Ghost Town. Here you can find the remains of old buildings, stamping mill foundations, a large open mining pit and the three circular cyanide tanks you see above. Tumco (an acronym for The Union Mine Company) was a boom town from the 1870s to the early 1900s boasting a population of 3200 with saloons, stores, churches and dance halls. Over 200,000 ozs of gold worth $11 million were taken out of the mine.

November 30 - Clayton and Hunter - all ready to go hiking at the Tumco Gold Mine and Ghost Town!

I have no words; the picture speaks for itself! Clayton's always trying to make Ted the butt of his jokes.

November 26 - Happy American Thanksgiving! The good life - sunshine, beer and Hunter helping Uncle Chris choose the best cards for his Texas Hold 'em hand. Must be a difficult decision - such concentration on their faces.

November 25 - Look who came to visit us (and he brought along his mom, dad and uncle)! Hunter loved his new jeep! Beep, beep, honk, honk!

The Desert Glow takes place at sunset. As the sky darkened, the balloon operators would fire their burners full blast and the balloons would fill, rise and glow in the night sky. It was an incredible sight. The show ended with an amazing fireworks display.

November 21 - The next few weeks were spent going to Algodones for glasses and dental appts, El Centro for a Costco run, the Swap, suppers, happy hours and weiner roasts with friends. Today we took in the annual Desert Glow held at Desert Sun Baseball Stadium. The Desert Glow is held in conjunction with the Colorado River Crossing Hot Air Balloon Festival which runs over 3 days with balloons taking off at sunrise each morning and floating across the desert and the Colorado River.

October 31 - Happy Hallowe'en everyone! My meagre decorations only attracted 3 kids - all the more candy for Ted and me! (Like we need it!!!) We arrived in Yuma on the 18th and spent the next two weeks cleaning the yard, painting the trim on the house and catching up with friends who were trickling down from the "frozen north". The first few days were a bit unsettling as we found our house had been broken into over the summer. Very little was taken (mostly booze and suitcases to carry it in) and the insurance company had a cheque in our mail box in less than week. It was more of a hassle than anything. After replacing the doors, we beefed up the security with solar lights and better locks. Hopefully that will be enough of a deterrent to prevent future break-ins.

Cathedral Rock - another spiritual vortex

The view from the Chapel. Check out the mansion below. In the distance you can see Castle Rock.

Behind the Chapel, rock climbers were making their way to the top. Never in a million years would you get me up there.

Inside the chapel - so quiet and peaceful.

Welcome to Chapel of the Holy Cross. This Catholic church, built into the side of a 1000 foot red wall, was inspired by Marguerite Staude. It stands 250 feet high and was completed in 1956. It is one of the seven man-made wonders of Arizona and you can see why.

We didn't get to see as much of Sedona as I would have liked so Ted humoured me and we drove back to see more. New Agers believe that Sedona's rocks, cliffs and rivers radiate electromagnetic energy. Four specific locations called vortexes are believed to be special places where the spiritual energy is ideal to promote prayer, mediation and healing. These four vortexes are located at Cathedral Rock, Airport Mesa, Boynton Canyon and Bell Rock (seen above).

October 17 - Our first stop of the day was Montezuma Castle. This was home to the Southern Sinagua who lived here from about 700 to 1400 AD. The early people were farmers who lived in pithouses and grew corn, beans, squash and cotton. Around 1100 AD farmers began building this five storey, 20 room dwelling. It stands in a cliff about 100 feet above the valley. The Sinagua were also noted for their stone tools and beautiful reddish-brown pottery.

Along with strangely-shaped towers and large buttes, you will also find flat-topped mesas shimmering at sunset. One of the locals told us the best place to see the sunset was at the airport so we drove up there thinking we were privy to a well-kept secret. Well, it was a secret known to hundreds of people. We could hardly find a place to stand to watch the sun set over the mesas and rock formations known as Capitol Butte, Coffee Pot Rock, Snoopy and Chimney Rock. Despite the crowds, it was an incredible sight!

We drove right through Sedona and followed the Oak Creek Canyon Drive to the northwest. The red, orange and white cliffs were really impressive.

Sedona - Red Rock Country. Sedona is surrounded by towering red rock formations made of sandstone. It is home to over 40 gallerys, dozens of artists and writers, unique shops, gourmet restaurants and relaxing spas. This is one of the first monoliths we saw as we entered Sedona.

View from the highway between Prescott and Jerome. The scenery was incredible as were the colours.

October 16 - The Palace Bar on Whiskey Row in Prescott, AZ. It was built in 1877 and served as a "watering hole" for patrons such as Wyatt and Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday. The original Palace burnt in the Whiskey Row fire of 1900 but the 1880s Brunswick Bar was carried to safety and was installed in the new hotel built in 1901. It is the oldest frontier bar in Arizona.

The Holsinger Meteorite, a 1406 lb. meteorite, is the largest fragment discovered in what was originally known as the Canyon Diablo crater and is known scientifically as the Barrington Crater. Meteor Crater is touted as the best-preserved meteorite crater on Earth.

A close-up of the bottom of the crater shows the mine shaft and the remants of some of the drilling equipment. In the bottom left-hand corner is an American flag and a cut-out of an American astronaut on the fence. In the 1960s, NASA astronauts trained in the crater to prepare for the Apollo missions to the moon. The Visitor Centre is home to the American Astronaut Wall of Fame.

In 1902 Daniel Barringer, a Philadelphia mining engineer, became convinced that the crater was formed by the impact of a large iron meteorite and assumed that the meteorite was buried beneath the crater. Prior to that it was believed to have been caused by a volcano. He formed the Standard Iron Company and became the owner of the two square miles containing the crater. He spent the next 27 years trying to find the huge meteorite, not realizing that it had vapourized upon impact. He drilled to a depth of 1376 feet where the rotary drill bit jammed. He thought this was caused by hitting the meteorite. The bit was permanently stuck, the drill cable broke and he was out of funds so he abandoned the project in 1929, dying just a few months later. These are the remains of a few of the buildings constructed during the mining years. The Barrington family still owns the land.

Our tour guide was great. He explained the history and geology and the impact the crater had on the area (small pun there). The bottom of the crater could hold 20 football fields and from bottom to top is the equivalent of a 60 storey building.

Approximately 50,000 years ago a huge iron-nickel meteorite struck the desert just west of Winslow with a force greater than 20 million tons of TNT. In less than a few seconds, a crater over 550 feet deep, 4000 feet across and 2.4 miles in circumference was carved into the desert floor. Over 175 million tons of limestone and sandstone were blasted out by the impact extending over a mile in every direction.

October 15 - Meteor Crater, AZ - An opening in a brick wall made a perfect frame for the Arizona desert and the mountain range to the east.

October 14 - Following in the footsteps of the Eagles' song "Take It Easy" - "Well, I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see; It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me."

Rocky Mountain High 2009

We are slowly catching up. Same drill as before - older pictures at the bottom, newer ones at the top. We recommend starting at the bottom and working your way up. Hope you enjoy your trip through Colorado as much as we did!

October 14 - On our way to Arizona, we passed by Shiprock, NM, a 1700 foot high volcanic plug that stands tall above the desert floor. It served as a landmark for early pioneers and as a sacred site to the Navajo.

October 13 - On our way to Vallecito Lake, one of the largest lakes in Colorado, we discovered the Carvings Project. During the summer of 2002, over 70,000 acres burned at a cost of $40.8 million. Over 4,000 firefighters and support personnel fought the blaze and only one man's life was lost when a tree fell on him. The community went on a mission to pay tribute to the firefighters and restore tourism to the area so they hired a local wood carver who used actual photos taken during the fire to carve images of firefighters, animals and equipment. This was Carving #1 - Fireman with Shovel. There are 14 carvings in total found in various locations around the lake.

Riverside Resort and RV Park just north of Durango where we spent nearly a week. It was a really nice campground with the Animas River running through it and of course, being October, it wasn't very busy. It was a beautiful place to stay and close to so many places to go and things to do.

Ancient wood lying amidst the ruins of a large kiva.

One of the hallways connecting several rooms together in the north wall of the West Ruin. The West Ruin was the largest of the great houses with at least 400 rooms rising to 3 stories.

We then drove south of Durango to Aztec, New Mexico, where we toured the Aztec Ruins National Monument, the remains of an ancient Puebloan settlement that included a large number of large public buildings, smaller residential pueblos and kivas (ceremonial buldings). Like Mesa Verde, these Puebloans left in the late 1200s. These ruins are part of the West Ruin.

October 12 - After spending a lonely Canadian Thanksgiving (although we did have turkey and all the trimmings), we set off for a day in northern New Mexico. Our first stop was just outside our campground near Durango where Ted investigated this mysterious but beautiful geological phenomena. We learned that it is part of Pinkerton Hot Springs - a geothermal hot springs. The water flowing down the rock is very warm. Aren't the colours incredible?

Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling in the Park. We hiked down to get a closer look. It contains 114 rooms and 8 kivas built into a natural cave. In 1200 AD it was thought to house about 100 people.

The Square Tower House viewpoint

Square Tower House - the tallest structure in the park at 26 feet. The four-storied tower was part of a large dwelling with about 80 rooms and 7 kivas. Most of the other high rooms collapsed after the dwelling was abandoned.

Here is one of the cliff dwellings I mentioned before that you could see from one of the viewpoints.

Here we are climbing up 60 feet of stone steps. At least we had something to hold on to.

Ted can't believe I was willing to put this picture on the blog. I just wanted to prove that I actually crawled through the 12 foot long tunnel. No jokes about my big butt; I'm already well aware of it. At least I didn't get stuck; that would have been humiliating.

Here you can see the length of the cliff dwelling and the various rooms that were built into the cliff side.

Our tour guide gave us a lot of information about the life of the Ancient Puebloans. You can see him standing next to a kiva while the rest of us checked out the rooms and a couple of caves that were found behind the brick rooms. What a job it must have been to build these dwellings.

The climb was worth it. Balcony House is a smaller cliff dwelling but cannot be seen from the road. There were several passages, rooms, kivas and balconies. I just can't imagine living on the side of a cliff; you sure wouldn't want to walk in your sleep.

As I said before, we chose the more "adventurous" tour, Balcony House, and they weren't kidding. We climbed a 32 foot ladder, crawled through a 12 foot long tunnel and then climbed up a 60 foot open cliff face with stone steps and two 10 foot ladders to exit the site. Call me stupid! Here's our group climbing up the 32 foot entrance ladder.

Cliff Palace - Two of the cliff dwellings required tickets for a ranger-guided tour. We chose to do the more "adventurous" tour - Balcony House, but had an excellent view of Cliff Palace from above. There are over 600 cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park. It's amazing to see what the Anasazi accomplished with just a few simple tools. We'd stop at a viewpoint, look across at the cliffs across the valley and see two or three of these dwellings clinging to the side of the cliff. They were architectural geniuses as far as I'm concerned. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde National Park - About 1400 years ago a group of people chose Mesa Verde for their home. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived here building elaborate stone communities in the shelter of the canyon walls. Then in the late 1200s they left their homes and moved south to Arizona and New Mexico leaving no written record as to why. Archaeologists called them Anasazi but they are known as Ancestral Puebloans. The Mesa Top Loop Road is a 6 mile loop which gives you easy access to mesa top dwellings and views of cliff dwellings. This is an example of a pithouse from the 900-1100 AD period. The houses were round with benches and ventilators and included areas for cooking and sleeping. Other round pits were known as kivas and served as gathering places for various activities and religious ceremonies. The purpose of the towers is unknown. They were connected to the kiva by an underground tunnel. They may have served as watchtowers. On the mesa top the Puebloans grew beans, corn and squash and hunted deer, rabbits, squirrels and other small game.

Four Corners Navajo Tribal Park - the only place in the U.S. where four states come together at one point. I have one hand in Arizona and one in New Mexico, one foot in Colorado and the other in Utah. This time I can honestly say I don't know exactly where I am. Glad I didn't have to pay all four state taxes while I was there.

October 9 - Some of the unusual rock formations south of Cortez on our way to Four Corners.

October 8 - One section of the winding road through the San Juan Mountains on the way to Durango. Pulling a trailer through some of these narrow roads can sometimes prove to be a challenge. Good thing Ted's up for it!

Ouray, once a thriving mining community, now the home of Ouray Hot Springs and the Ouray Ice Park, the world's first ice climbing park and host of the Ouray Ice Festival, the premiere ice climbing event internationally. There was no ice there yet, but people were busy setting up sound systems in preparation for the January event.

Statues throughout the Village depict the various outdoor activities and the history of Telluride. Obviously snowboarding is very popular.

Once you reach the end of the second lift at Station Mountain Village you can take the gondola from one end of Mountain Village to the other. Here you're looking at high end condos and chalets instead of the houses you see in town.

From the town you can reach the ski lifts of Mountain Village via two lifts and a gondola. This is the view of the town from Station San Sophia.

Bridal Veil Falls (I think every state and province must have at least one or two Bridal Veil Falls) is a 365 foot two-pronged waterfall situated at the end of box canyon overlooking Telluride. The building at the top of the falls was once a power plant used to supply power to the Smuggler-Union mine and is now a private residence. There is a switchback road up to the house and we made it about 2/3 of the way up but our truck proved to be too long to make it around some of the corners. You can also access the house from the top of the canyon. Quite the home, hey??

October 7 - Telluride, CO. Telluride was once a Ute Indian hunting ground, then a rough and tumble mining town and then a ghost town. Now it's a town known for its outdoor adventures, film and music festivals and laid-back mountain atmosphere.

Dragon Point - I thought the tree was really unusual and worthy of a picture!

The view of the Painted Wall from the Painted Wall Viewpoint (makes sense, doesn't it?). The sun was starting to set so it added a mystical feeling to an already spectacular view.

The view of the canyon from Devils Lookout. It's impossible to capture the depth of the canyon, but trust us, it was deep and narrow!

October 6 - After setting up camp at Ridgeway State Park, we drove to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison State Park. This Park was one of the best surprises we have encountered in all our travels. It was awesome. This canyon is so deep (2000 ft.), so sheer and so narrow that very little sunlight can reach it - hence, the name Black Canyon. Unlike the Grand Canyon, the gorge shows no sign of ever having been inhabited by people, even native Americans, If early settlers thought the Grand Canyon was a deterrent, can you imagine what they said when they saw the Black Canyon??

Further south we stopped for a break at Glenwood Springs Rest Area. As you can see the snow had disappeared and this man was fly fishing in the Colorado River.

October 5 - On the road again. We encountered snow at the Eisenhower Tunnel (Loveland Pass) and stopped for lunch at Vail. People who love to ski were happy to see snow accumulating on the ski runs. October 4 - We spent the day driving around the Golden/Denver area. We took the Lookout Mountain drive west of Golden and saw beautiful homes high in the hills. We saw winding rivers, beautiful fall foliage and ended up in the town of Blackhawk. We then drove back to Denver where we checked out the State Capitol buildings and, of course, Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium where the Denver Broncos were defeating the Dallas Cowboys - final score 17-10. Looks like a packed house!

Back to civilization - Estes Park. I'm not sure how civilized this place is, however. It was the inspiration for Stephen King's novel "The Shining". Staff consider Rooms 217 and 401 and the ballroom to be the most haunted. Although Kubrick's movie was not filmed here, portions of the 1997 mini-series were.

As we continued along the road towards the Continental Divide, the snow got deeper and deeper and the road seemed to get narrower and narrower. On the way back I was on the cliff side and I'm surprised I didn't put a hole through the floorboards of the truck as I kept trying to brake going around the curves. Good thing Ted was driving!

From this height we had an incredible 360 degree unobstructed view of the Rocky Mountains. Wow!!!

At the top of the spires is what appears to be a giant compass. It is actually a large disk that points to various locations around the world. By the time we got there Ted was extremely winded and feeling the effects of the high altitude. The medication he is on contributed to this shortness of breath and light-headedness so while we were in Colorado he quit taking his medication. It was quite pleasant to not be the one panting for air and lagging behind for a change. The temperature here was only about 35F (+2C) so Ted was not only dizzy, but cranky, too!!

The paved Tundra Communities Trail starts at an elevation of 12,110 feet - well over 2 miles above sea level. We climbed another 260 feet to get to the granite spires at the end of the trail. The trail is paved to protect the tiny delicate plants that grow at this elevation.

The scenery was incredible as we drove the winding Trail Ridge Road through the Park. Nearly one third of the Park is above treeline - 11,400 feet of elevation. The Park has 72 peaks above 12,000 feet. Long's Peak rises above 14,000 feet. This is just one of the many lakes and peaks we could see from the road.

Just a few miles past the Rocky Mountain National Park Visitors' Centre near Estes Park, we came across a herd of elk, one of several herds we saw in the Park. When we left the Park at sunset we saw people crowding into the park and setting up lawn chairs (and tripods) so they could watch the entertainment - elks bugling and sparring in the annual fight for the females known as rutting season. Personally I can think of better things to do on a Saturday night.

A few miles south of Estes Park we came across the beautiful Chapel on the Rock. In 1916 Monsignor Joseph Bosetti and two friends saw a meteor fall from the sky. The next morning they found a large rock on the property and Bosetti vowed to some day build a chapel on the site. It took him 20 years to raise the funds, but in 1936 the church was completed and his dream came true. The land was donated by the Malo family and they also paid for the church's maintenance for decades. In the background you can see a giant statue of Christ. It is a beautiful church in an incredibly beautiful setting.

October 3 - On our way to Rocky Mountain National Park we took a short drive off the highway just north of Nederland to check out Red Rock Lake (above) and Brainard Lake. Both lakes are quite shallow and were already starting to freeze over. Brrrrr!

The view of Denver from the top of the Red Rock Amphitheatre.

The view from the top of the amphitheatre looking down at the stage. The girl you can see part way up is actually jogging back and forth across the rows from bottom to top and back again. Now that's exercise! I was exhausted just walking up to the top. I saw an interesting sight on the way up. From a little alcove part way up came the sounds of a piano. I peaked around the corner and there was a man playing a small electronic piano. Rose petals were scattered all over the cement floor and sitting on a ledge were a young couple sharing a bottle of wine! I think I was witnessing a very romantic proposal. Something to tell their grandchildren about!

Look at the size of the amphitheatre! It will hold over 9000 concert-goers. I think I'd bring a pillow though! Not exactly soft cushy seats!

Welcome to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre located a few miles southwest of Denver. I love the Moody Blues album "A Night at Red Rocks" but never realized where it was recorded. Now I know and what an incredible location for a concert! The outdoor theatre is set between 400-foot-high red sandstone rocks and the acoustics are said to be incredible! Other bands playing and recording live concerts at Red Rocks are U2, Neil Young, R.E.M, Coldplay and Phish to name just a few.

The packaging room. Thousands of cases of beers hurtling down the conveyer belt to trucks which distribute the beer to bars, stores and restaurants all over the country. Just watching it was enough to build up a real thirst. The entire tour was quite an experience. We highly recommend it!

Mashing is the final process of converting any remaining starch into fermentable sugar (which means nothing to me). The mashing process takes place in large copper kettles called mash tuns. Rows and rows of these copper kettles was an incredible sight! As Homer Simpson would say - "Beer!!!"

We were surprised at the number of different brands of beer that is made by Coors. We even had a Canadian connection - Molson Canadian that is! The secret of Coors' success is the crystal clear Rocky Mountain water and two-row barley - both of which are readily available in the Golden area.

As soon as we got settled into our campground in Golden, our first stop was the Coors Brewery. I'm sure this isn't a surprise to anyone who knows Ted. Besides the tour we got three free beers each as a bonus! Coors was founded in 1873 by Adolph Coors and Jacob Schueler. In 1880 Coors bought out his partner - a very successful move on his part. In 1959 Coors was the first brewery to use all aluminum beer cans.

October 2 - Our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains as we headed into Colorado.

Cheyenne is home to Warren Air Force base which initially had 200 Minuteman I missiles in 1963. These were replaced by Minuteman IIIs by January, 1975. Warren is now left with 150 Minuteman III missiles which were reduced from 3 warheads to one by 2001. Several missile sites similar to this one can be seen from local highways. I'm not sure if this collection of missiles inspires confidence or fear.

October 1 - Cheyenne, Wyoming - We spent one night in Cheyenne, a city with a colourful history of lawmen and outlaws. Today it is Wyoming's state capitol and largest city. Downtown Rapid City has statues of presidents on its street corners; Cheyenne has 8 foot tall cowboy boots beautifully decorated by local artists.