Exploring Cheyenne, WY: The Capital City Adventure

We decided to leave Colorado Springs a little early and try to break up our large journey to Rawlings, WY. Initially, we had planned a 300 mile drive on Sunday for me. I really like to minimize my time behind the wheel and 300 miles is really kind of pushing it in a day! I have to say I am so happy that we did because the traffic through Denver was atrocious. It took us four hours to go 174 miles!

Camping

So deciding to leave early, we needed a campground that was close to I-25 and was an easy off and on location. We came across A.B. Campground through a Google search and it fit the bill!

While their website does not allow for online reservations, you can email and/or call. Because we were looking for same-day accommodations, I made a call and they were able to get us in! Come to find out they offer discounts for Good Sam, AAA, as well as veterans so we were happy to take advantage of the Good Sam discount. We were put into a pull-through site with full hook ups, 50 amp for just under $53. What was unique about the campsite was the on-site barbecue restaurant. While we didn’t have any barbecue, I’ve got to tell you, the smell was intoxicating so the next time we go through, we will definitely stay there and try some of the pulled pork!

The sites are level and were all gravel so just be prepared as it appears the place is always packed. I think we were lucky enough to get the last spot, so I am grateful to the A.B. campground for allowing us to stay the night!

RATING (1-5 SCALE):

• Location - 5

• Ease of Entry - 4

• Facilities - 4

• Entertainment - N/A

Points of Interest

The Albany

We had dinner right in the heart of downtown at The Albany. It was pretty bustling in that area due to a tattoo festival that was happening right outside the doors with live bands, and all kinds of booths for the locals to enjoy. It was not quite our speed so we stuck to dinner.

The Albany has been around for over 75 years and you can see the history on the walls and even in their main dining room that still has the original 1942 Philippine mahogany booths.

We started our meal with a Mediterranean platter, that featured hummus and a spicy feta dip called “crazy feta” which was a good name because it was crazy good. It was served with vegetables and warm pita. We followed that with a Greek side salad which was served with a homemade Greek vinaigrette. All of their dressings happened to be homemade in-house, and the Greek was quite delicious. For dinner Kevin had a prime rib sandwich served with Ajou and horseradish. He said it was incredibly tender and flavorful. I had a Greek chicken platter with broccoli and olives with feta cheese and I used my portion of the crazy better to dip my Greek chicken in to it. Yum!

The restaurant was very clean, the service was quick, even though a little impersonal. Our waitress was definitely not interested in any extra conversation beyond what we wanted for dinner.

All in all, we enjoyed The Albany, and all that it had to offer from its historic environment to its delicious food.

Wyoming State Capital

The Wyoming State Capital is right in the downtown area of Cheyenne so we couldn’t go without a drive-by. As you can see from my pic, it was late when we left the casino and drove by. It was very quiet downtown. No one was out who was up to any good, that is. My mama says nothing good happens after 12 AM. The capital building was actually modeled after the White House. It is a beautiful building and if we had been around for another day during the week, it is a tour I would’ve appreciated taking.

Cheyenne Big Boots

The eight-foot-tall Cheyenne Big Boots have been carefully painted by local artists to show the history of Cheyenne and Wyoming. We didn’t see them all but quite a few in the area where we had dinner. Location maps are available at the Depot in the Visitors Center.

You can also enjoy a cell phone audio tour of the big boots by calling (307) 316-0067. For each, enter the stop number, followed by the # key (i.e. 1#, 2# - 19#). Listen to the artists reflect on their own contributions to this project.

The Horse Palace

The Horse Palace - oh, there is interesting misnomer. Palace? I think not. More like horse stable! Not because of the smell but rather the size. The casino itself was actually very nice and extremely clean.

In total, they had 68 games, a large bar, and some live music. While the Horse Palace has several locations, we visited the one in Downtown Cheyenne. It is relatively new, just opening last year. It was only three minutes away from The Albany, where we had dinner. It is in the middle of the downtown area and open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. To be honest, we didn’t necessarily feel safe as we were leaving.

We signed up for their players club, and each received several different incentives for signing up. We received money for providing an email address and also for it being our birthday month! All in all, we each came out $25 ahead in free play for the evening.

Overall did we have a good time? Yes, we can have a good time at any casino for that matter. But Shelly got to play a little bit and enjoy some fun, so I was happy for her. In other words, I lost early and had fun watching later!

Bison Train Tours

Departure times are 9:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:30 PM, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, 6:00 PM

We went to the Terry Bison Ranch to take a bison train tour in celebration of my birthday. Kevin knows how to make a girl feel special! LOL Truth is it was my request!

It was actually a fun excursion. The tickets were $20 for adults. The ride was an hour long and we purchased a bag of bison treats for $5 so we could feed the bison along the route. The conductor was great and made the ride enjoyable with his funny banter along the way. We passed, on the ranch property, Clydesdales, an ostrich, some stallions, lots of prairie dogs, and believe it or not a drive-in movie theater. What also made this ranch unique is that it is the only private train that actually crosses a state line. So the ride took us from Wyoming to Colorado and back to Wyoming. They had a really nice gift shop, which also served as their ticket booth. It had a variety of shirts and collectibles.

If you’re looking for a fun, family-friendly stop right past the border of Wyoming from Colorado, this is a great stop that is sure to please.

Until next time, keep spinning the wheel of adventure!