Heading West

I left the farm about 11:00 and drove around to some of my favorite places in McCook. I have fond memories of happy family vacations and seeing lots of relatives in this town! The people in my Grandma and Grandpa's old neighborhood probably thought I was crazy taking a picture of their house. I also drove down Norris Avenue - a brick, divided street that goes downtown. McCook is a quaint small city and I'm proud to have been born there!

Grandpa and Grandma's house on East 5th Street.

I drove north to North Platte to travel on I-80 west. I think I figured out why I always drew landscape pictures this way!


The sand hills north of McCook are absolutely stunning!

I should have called a couple of cousins who live in North Platte, but I was determined to get to Cheyenne and camp west of there that night. There wasn't a lot to see west of NP, but the highway steadily climbed to higher elevations and I began to see mountains in the distance! I went through a small thunderstorm, but missed some bigger ones that were in Cheyenne just before I arrived.

Here's a big storm brewing over the high plains. I could see it many miles away.

This storm did some damage in Cheyenne.

Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming. People were friendly and the weather was so cool compared to Oklahoma. I found a shady parking spot and walked around the old town center a bit, visiting their famous train station. Can you believe that women were allowed to vote first in Wyoming?

Cheyenne's Train Station

Baggage claim area and now gift shop.

Little Free Library in the station!

Train switch.

Wyoming capitol building getting a face lift.

Looking toward the train station on Capital Street from the capitol building.

The station was restored and the gift store lady was welcoming and helpful. She gave me the best directions to Curt Gowdy State Park, where I was going to stay that night. I took the Happy Jack highway, which was picturesque and I couldn't help but imagine all the pioneers who took the Overland Trail through there on the way to a better life. I saw an antelope near the fence next to the highway. What a surprise!

Nice entrance gate to the state park.

All set up in the Aspen Glen camp section.

Curt Gowdy State Park is a really nice park. It kind of reminded me of Keystone State Park in Oklahoma, how the campsites are close to the water. I found a quiet spot in a grassy area near a large stand of Aspen trees. The couple next to me helped direct me backing in to my space and were enthralled with Franklin!  Annie is a teacher and she and Max live in Ft. Collins. They were there with some friends to do a mountain bike race the next day. I rode my bike around the camp area a little, trying to get some oxygen! The bathroom was kind of far away, so my bike was helpful. I had a bit of a headache from the altitude (8300 ft.), but it wasn't too bad. I was just thirsty and hungry.


I ended up moving stuff around in the galley and the camper. I just didn't know how everything was going to work, I think I have things arranged just right now. I had my first campfire, enjoyed the antics of the prairie dogs and chipmunks, and toasted a marshmallow this evening.