The Wild West

It's been about 2 weeks since I arrived in Wyoming...I've had time to get settled in and explore and get acclimated to my new job.  There are lots of great things about working here: the people I work with, the nurse:patient ratio (so far I haven't had more than 3 patients a night, UNREAL!), the facility is pretty new and has some nice technology, and best of all, I'm back to 12 hour shifts.  That's right, back to working 3 nights a week and having plenty of time to be a tourist. 

Today is my 5th day off in a row...I love being a nurse.  There has been lots of snow in the past few weeks, but yesterday was a lovely day so I decided to take a little trip to Cheyenne.  Cheyenne is a wonderful place that has lots to offer, especially when you're living in a town so small there's not even a Wal-Mart.  I went to Target, Barnes and Noble and Chipotle, but that doesn't make for a very exciting blog post...so I'll tell you about the other fun thing I did.

  

 Cheyenne is known for the Frontier Days Rodeo and Celebration; the museum presents not just the ways of the Old West, but the history of Frontier Days. It's amazing to think that the celebrations have been going on since 1897.  

Before you even go in to the museum, there are some great sculptures.

The museum is small, but it had some really interesting exhibits on the way life used to be.  There were more carriages than I've ever seen in my life and some of them had steps so you could climb up inside and get a feel for the way people used to travel....I think I'll stick with my car.

There were also sections of the museum dedicated strictly to "The Daddy of 'em All."

I really like the wagon below because it reminds me of Toby Tyler, which my sister and I watched a lot growing up.  I wish I had a pet monkey and got to be a trick rider in the circus.  Everyone go watch Toby Tyler.

I am thinking maybe I should stick around for the summer so I can experience Frontier Days for myself. Maybe I'll be crowned Miss Frontier and get to wear this:

J

Just kidding...I'm pretty sure you have to have rodeo skills to get that title. Such is life.  

If you're ever in Wyoming, the museum and I are both worth visiting!