They had nice facilities so we were able to clean out our RV tanks but they didn't have fresh water available. The park was mostly closed down for the winter. There are several campgrounds in the park so we found some maintenance workers and asked them for a recommendation for a site with electricity. They suggested the Reno Cove Campground so we went there and got parked and settled in.
Well, the campground was empty so we had our choice of sites! What does everyone know that we don't know???
We picked a site with a view of the lake (site # RC-8) and hunkered down for two nights. We kept warm with our heater and fireplace and rode out the winds nice and cozy.
Next we drove to the home of a Boondocker's Welcome host in Cheyenne, Wyoming. A little bit of the ride we drove through snow. Luckily it wasn't sticking to the road so we were okay.
We were not the only RV they were hosting at the time. Luckily the hosts offered electric hookups for a nominal fee so we were able to run our space heater to keep the trailer warm. It was still very windy and cold. The only issue was we had to share a breaker with another RV so we had to be careful not to trip the breaker by overloading the circuit which we did a couple of times before figuring it out.
We planned to spend two nights so we could explore downtown Cheyenne if the weather held up.
The next day was sunny and beautiful so off we went to downtown Cheyenne. Our first stop was the Capital building.
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| Linda's Hammer and his Cousin visited the Capital with us. |
There was no government business going on during our visit so the building was mostly empty and there was also no security check which was very surprising to us. This was back in October and before the US Capital was attacked so maybe it is different now.
The building was closed for a four-year restoration and rehabilitation project and reopened in July 2019. It was absolutely beautiful inside.
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| The Hammer Cousins playing on the giant staircase. |
In 1886, the architect of the Capitol building included in his design, four niches on the third floor level of the rotunda to be filled with four sculptures. These sculptures were never commissioned. At the start of the Capitol restoration project, the decision was made to fill the niches. After an international search, the artist Delissalde was commissioned to create four bronze sculptures.
The artist, Delissalde created a group of four feminine allegories, “The Four Sisters,” which represent key values and attributes of Wyoming and its citizens. The oldest sister, “Truth,” leads the way, illuminating the path for Wyoming’s pioneers.
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| Truth |
Next, “Justice” sets the course for Wyomingites to live freely and peacefully.
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| Justice |
“Courage” allows us to carry on, encouraging and supporting us through hard times.
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| Courage |
The youngest sister, “Hope,” inspires us to continue striving for the future, building the Wyoming we aspire for.
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| Hope |
We were free to roam the building and that we did checking out the various House, Senate, Supreme Court, and Governor's Office.
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| The Rotunda |
In 1869 something remarkable happened in Wyoming Territory. During
its very first legislative session, the territorial government gave
women the right of universal suffrage. But the legislators did not stop
at just suffrage. They passed a number of bills that granted women
several important rights including control of their separate property,
the right to work in a trade or business and to control their own
earnings, and equal pay for equally qualified female school teachers.
A legislature made entirely of men passed a woman suffrage bill in 1869. The territory retained its woman suffrage law even when that law jeopardized Wyoming Territory's application for statehood. In 1890, Wyoming became the first U.S. state allowing its woman citizens to vote.
It was in this Historic Supreme Court Chamber that
representatives enshrined women’s suffrage within the Wyoming State
Constitution, becoming the first state to do so and making this one of
the most historically significant chambers in the country.
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| The Hammer Cousins taking in all the significance of the Historic Wyoming Supreme Court Chamber. |
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| View from the balcony |
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| The Senate Chamber |
Can you believe we were able to walk around this beautiful and significant building with two hammers! (If you don't remember the hammer story, go check out the blog from Mt Rushmore when we visited Rapid City, South Dakota.)
Part of the restoration project included vault doors on the ground floor. They were covered with brown paint for many, many years and the beautiful paintings were unexpectedly uncovered during the restoration.
More interesting info on the vault doors is here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wyoming-capitol-building-restoration-vault-doors
There were two statues in the underground area that connects the Capital to the Herschler (named for a former governor) Building housing offices and meeting rooms.
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| Ester Hobart Morris, nations' first female judge in Wyoming |
Chief Washakie was a Shoshone Indian who performed extraordinary acts of friendship for white settlers while
exhibiting tremendous prowess as a warrior against his people's tribal
enemies.
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| Chief Washakie |
After enjoying the capital, we walked around downtown Cheyenne. I loved all the boot statues painted with various scenes of Wyoming life. Cheyenne is home to more than 25 hand painted, customized 8-foot tall cowboy boots.
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| Cheyenne Depot Plaza |
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| Cheyenne Train Depot |
On the beautiful marble floor of the Depot lobby is a large mosaic that displays the route of the Union Pacific transcontinental track from Omaha to Promontory Summit.
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| "A New Beginning" Sculptor: Veryl Goodnight Gifted to the citizens of Cheyenne, WY in recognition of the role of women in settling the West, and Wyoming being the first state to grant women the right to vote. |
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| Street in downtown Cheyenne |
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| Street in downtown Cheyenne |
After our beautiful day exploring downtown Cheyenne, the weather turned and it got very cold and windy again. The winds were too strong to tow the trailer safely so before we even asked our hosts if we could stay another night, they already emailed us asking if we wanted to stay longer. We took them up on their offer and hunkered down through the storm. The next day the winds died down so we were able to leave Cheyenne, Wyoming and make our way south to Colorado. Check out the price of diesel!
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| $1.90/gallon for diesel! |
We drove to the Elks Lodge in Westminster, Colorado and got set up in a site.
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| Westminster, Colorado |
Uh oh, we have a leak! When we use the water pump we hear water swishing at the back end of the trailer. Al investigated and found the nozzle at the back end of the trailer is cracked at the connector. It probably froze when we were in Wyoming.
Al pulled the underbelly down and found the leak. He was able to crimp the hose to stop the leaking until we can get it fixed. I'm so luck that Al is handy for these types of issues with the RV!
So here was our route from the Custer area of South Dakota through eastern Wyoming and down into Colorado.
