Wyoming 2014

 We recently arrived home to the Bluegrass State from visiting Wyoming. No, we were not visiting family. We were actually making the dreams of a little cowgirl. Curtis has been to Wyoming a few times and visited te area of Cheyenne during Cheyenne Frointer Days. As a former bull rider and bullfighter saying that he loves CFD is an understatement. 

We really wanted to travel somewhere new this year but knew that taking off with a two year boy who gets car sick was not the greatest option. After our sweet parents decided to help out we finalized our trip to the west. We were not to keen on the idea of driving 16- 18 1/2 hours away but airline tickets are crazy high into Denver. 

We routed our trip to spend 2-3 days in Cheyenne, Wyoming then move onto Centennial. You have probably never heard of Centennial and I would not have either if it were not for laying in the floor and using Pinterest to find the prettiest places close to Cheyenne. My dream trip is Yellowstone but I could not push my family into another 8 hours of driving this time. So the town with a population of 270 was it, and we were ready to see centennial after our short stay in Ft Collins, Colorado. 

CFD is such a neat experience for anyone who loves the cowboy way of life. They host pancake breakfasts 3 days out of their week, a parade on 3 days as well and not to mention the Daddy of em' all rodeo! It was by far the best rodeo I've ever laid eyes on. Charli was in complete Heaven watching all of the dandies and rodeo queens. She now has goals to be the first ever Miss Kentucky Rodeo. 

In CFD they have a frointer village and a Native American village. The Native American village was one of my favorite parts. History and culture is such an interesting topic to me and watching these individuals talk abou their heritage was pretty amazing to me. I purchased a few wood wick candles and pottery pieces in this area that I was so very fond of. I am now regretting my decision on not purchasing more. 

We visited the rodeo on Monday as well as the behind the chutes tour. It was almost mind boggling being in the same arena where the world famous Lane Fost was killed. It was the 25th anniversary since his death and I was actually stunned that they did not honor this anymore than they did. My favorite part of the rodeo was the wild horse race. Watching the teams try to tame a horse that had never been riden before was crazily amazing to me. Brave souls they are. Especially to not get much earnings out of the pot. One of my favorite bull riders was also there to ride and although he has been on the downward slopes lately Curtis said he actually pulled out the win for CFD - yay Austin! 

We watched the parade on Tuesday morning before heading towards the mountains. It was truly the longest parade I have ever been to. Adorable to say the least. No candy throwing everywhere just true western class. 

As we headed to Centennial we made the stop in Laramie, WY. Which is an adorable town if they would not have been doing roadwork through their Main Street at the time. Speaking of that I swear all of the western states are doing roadwork right now or else they just throw out roadwork signs every two miles. 

When we arrived into centennial I could not help but to smile at just how cute it was. There is one gastion, a mercantile, post office and 4-5 restaurants. We became quiet the little regulars at one place. Our hotel was The Old Corral Hotel & Steakhouse. It's cuteness was so  just our style - minus the fact that it did not have air conditioning. Yes! Apparently this area only has around two weeks of warm weather. We just so happened to be there at one of those times. The sweetest family owns this hotel and made our stay manageable by purchasing an air unit for our room since we were opposite sides of the mountain breeze. 

We spent our days traveling the mountain and fishing thanks to a local waitress who graciously let us borrow rods. The view was absolutely breathtaking. I will never forget just walking the trails and smiling due to the beauty of Gods creation. It was a perfect time to reflect on how amazing our Lord is. I may never be able to live in an area that shows that type of beauty but I truly hope that I am able to visit again. 

On the last day we made arrangements to go horseback riding through the mountains. Thankfully we found a place that let us do our own thing and take in as much time as we wanted. Of course this was Charli's favorite part of the trip. She is such the little cowgirl and adapted to her horse quickly. It was pretty neat to see her in action even out in the west. 

When it was time to leave, we were all ready to get home fast as possible as we were missing our little guy. I cannot even begin to explain how long that 18 1/2 hour drive was. Was it worth it though? Yes! Next time I just hope to be able to take Bryar so he can enjoy the area as much as we did!