Buffalo WY and Dude Ranch

Dave and I drove up to Buffalo, WY yesterday to meet up with Sandy and Phil, a couple we met last winter in Texas and wintered with in McAllen. First, the drive from Casper to Buffalo: The entire drive was lined with wide open raw space with free roaming cattle and sheep and the deer and antelope and pronghorns! Once in awhile you would see a huge area that was so green, different from the sage brush, that we found out was alfalfa hay. Since Texas has literally burned up, most of the ranchers and farmers in Wyoming have not only gotten two cuttings of alfalfa and sent on to Texas, they are hoping for this last crop to come in before the winter comes. Very unheard of. And this explains all the truck loads of hay going south on the interstates - to help out Texas ranchers. The dude ranch - The Ranch at UCross - was not what we were expecting at all. Sandy and Phil have various activities that they perform in exchange for their campsite and a hourly salary. They showed us around, got to pet some of the horses, toured the lodging accommodations, etc. Lovely, lovely place. And not cheap! They said their main business is tour bus coming mid-afternoon, people go for a horse back ride once settled in their rooms, dinner, campfire and singing at night, breakfast in the morning and they are gone by 10am. Then it starts all over again at mid afternoon with the next bus load. I got a chance to be up close to horses again - my childhood was spent with many days at by friend's house and riding her horses. Dave and Sandy kept their distance - I don't think they were comfortable being around an animal that big. The original homestead from early 1800's still stands on the property and the owners, when on premise, stay there. I could live here it was so peaceful! And the wildlife! Deer, antelope, pronghorn, wild turkeys, vultures, hawks, skunks, osprey - so abundant and right by the roads. Little nervous driving around. A haven for hunters this fall.

After our tour they took us into Buffalo to see some of the sights, in particular the Occidental Hotel which has been in continuing operating since 1870's. Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane, President T. Roosevelt are some of the folks who have stayed here. Could have spent hours looking through the hotel, they let you browse and look in each room that is not occupied. Lots of antiques. From there we grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to their RV to exchange our goodbyes until next time. They told us they would not go to Texas this winter either and we will see if our paths will cross again soon. They want to head to Utah then down to Arizona. We still are unsure where we will end up, we do know that in the near future we will be dropping down into New Mexico to see what there is to see. On our ride home down Interstate 25, we saw ALOT of deer, antelopes and pronghorns eating right by the interstate - and didn't even lift their heads as if to say - yeah, so? Close encounters for us - thankfully no hits.

We wanted to thank you who sent out prayers for our friends in Bastrop. They are fine and back in their home. The next street - the fire destroyed everything miles and miles but thankfully missed them. Said the town is gone, the fire had jumped the highway and consumed everything in it's path. Very sad.