Drive to Omaha Day 11

May 29, 2019 Wednesday Day 11

We a woke early and made our own big breakfast at the lodging. Packed up the car and got out by 9:30. After driving through Cheyenne directly to I-80, contrary to Google Maps directions to go out of the way west and south on I-25 to get to I-80, we headed east for the longest drive of the trip.

We had a 350 mile trip ahead of us to Omaha and a one hour time zone change so we did not have the opportunity to make stops in Nebraska if we were to get to my son's house before bedtime. The terrain  leaving Cheyenne continued to be wide open spaces with lots of bluffs and rolling hills. I-80 follows the Outlaw Trail scenic Byway through Nebraska. Initially not much farming, it seemed to be lots of ranches. I guess I was so engrossed in the landscape that I missed the welcome to Nebraska sign. We passed under the Archway spanning I-80 near Kearney. There were several Electrify America fast charging stations strategically located along the freeway, usually in Walmart parking lots, but the Volt is not equipped for that. This network is a product of Deasilgate and Volkswagen's penalty for its fraud.

We stopped in Gothenburg and toured a restored Pony Express station that was set in a pretty and very green park. These stations were set up every 12-15 miles and were basically just horse changing stations. The larger stations were about 90 miles apart and the riders changed at those sites. The riders made $25/week.

The volunteer was very knowledgeable and spent 30 minutes explaining its history. He claimed that for a long time Congress had been deadlocked over a charter for such a service between the north and south, each of whom wanted a route that began in its area. A similar dispute held up the authorization for a transcontinental telegraph line and railroad. All these projects were authorized and moved forward only after the southern representatives left Congress. The service sought , young, light weight and preferably orphans as riders. They wanted speed and riders whose deaths would not cause a stir. In fact only one rider died in service and that was in a snow storm in the Sierra Nevada Mts. The youngest rider was 11 and he lived to be 105 when he died in 1955 in NYC. Buffalo Bill also rode for the service. The service was never profitable. It was started by a group that was already losing money on a stage coach service and thought that it could get financially healthy with US mail contracts. It did not work out even thought the Express received those contracts and others from the government and delivered on its promise to deliver the mail within 10 days. $5 for a letter. It was purchased by Wells Fargo who shut it down after 19 months in operation, 2 days after the telegraph line became operational.

Pony Express station

The town seemed to be a picture postcard version of prosperous, small town, middle America. Mature trees lined its streets and covered nice sized and well maintained homes that were set back from the streets by large front yards. It had a two block commercial center that had no bordered up shops.

We ate dinner at the Nebraska Bar and Grill, in Gothenburg, a large barn like building. Terrific steaks, but way too much food. It had a single level 2 charging station that provided us with 16 miles of charge, as well as a multi port Tesla charging station.

We exited the interstate before Omaha and took some back roads through farm country to get to my son's house in Bellevue, which is south of Omaha. Those 30 minutes at the end of the drive were very dark. So we got to visit with son number 3 and  I got to charge up the car in his garage.

Cheyanne Rain Day 10

May 28, 2019 Tuesday Day 10

I had to get up early (for me now) at 7:00 to move our car out of the driveway so our host could exit the garage. We prepared and ate a large breakfast in the unit. Best breakfast on the trip so far.

Cheyenne is a few miles north f the Colorado border. The Indians used it as a trading site and it was named by the Sioux for one of their trading partners, the Cheyenne. It lies at the eastern foot of Sherman Hill where the Union Pacific's route for the first transcontinental railroad raise from 6,062 to 8,282 ft. in only 30 miles. Not good for rail transport, but it caused the Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific, General Grenville Dodge to create a maintenance and supply station and establish the town of Cheyenne on July 4th. Several months later as the rail line advanced to Cheyenne the town had grown to 4,000 inhabitants and the eastern press began to refer to Cheyenne as the "Magic City of the Plains" because it had sprung up like magic. The town suffered what could have been a devastating blow when near-by Laramie was selected for the Union Pacific's maintenance yards, but the yards were shortly moved to Cheyenne.  The city then became a major rail head for cattle drives and became the second home for English and European cattle barons. By 1885 it became the richest city, per capita, in the world.

The sky was gray and the clouds forecast a wet and rainy day. I had planned out a walking tour, but in deference to the rain we drove downtown, a 10 minute drive, with a new plan to explore Cheyenne's indoor exhibits. Not much vehicular or pedestrian traffic. We parked near the Capital only to discover that it is nearing the end of a 2 year renovation on the 1913 golden domed building and so it is closed to the public. We then walked a short distance in the rain to the Wyoming State Museum. T his documents the state's history including prehistoric Wyoming and its dinosaurs. Wyoming was the first state to grant women the right to vote when it was a territory.

Yellowstone Stage

We then drove through the rain to the Union Pacific Railroad Depot. On the way there we passed a synagogue advertising a Yiddish food festival. The depot was built in 1886 and was once considered the finest depot between Omaha and San Francisco. It was renovated and reopened in 2004 and now includes a Depot Museum and restaurant. The museum's exhibits focused on the impact that the railroad played in the development of Cheyenne and west. There were fantastic old photographs and model train exhibits.

We ate dinner in the Assent Restaurant in the Depot. It had 14 draft beers that were sold by the ounce. The food was good, but they failed to bring our second food order.

We drove to the Civic Center auditorium and saw The Lighting Thief based on the Percy Jackson books. Lots of teens there who wildly cheered. I was not so well entertained. Then back to our lodging.

Hail Storm Day 9

May 27, 2019 Monday Memorial Day, Day 9

Ate a very mediocre breakfast at the Days Inn, but it was filling. While we were eating we listened to warnings of sever storms on the Weather Channel, but they seemed to be further east. The car was charged up to 80%

As we drove east out of Casper on I-25 we saw glimpses of the "new" Casper, malls megaplexes and the same chain stores that are present throughout America. They came to an abrupt end and then we commenced a long drive through lots of seemingly empty land. I suspect that based on the exhibits we have seen that the land is not really empty, but rather there are lots of small mammals, snakes and birds hidden in the brush, along with the cattle that seem to dominate the ranching. However we did periodically see deer and buffalo I fenced in areas which I assumed were ranches.

About 50 miles east of Casper we turned off to see the Ayers Natural Bridge. This is a 100 ft long  50 ft high natural arch spanning the LaPrele Creek which over the many years carved out a canyon and the arch. The Native Americans of the region thought the bridge was a sinister place because a brave was struck by lighting in the canyon. The Mormon Trail passes two miles north of the site and travelers would flee to the site if they felt threatened by the Native Americans.

As we were hiking around the park, which had lots of well maintained picnic areas and trails we encountered a heavy-set woman. She was turning around as the trail to the top of the Bridge was too much for her. She had driven down with her three grandkids (she didn't look old enough) from Montana and had not planned to come to this site. Actually she said, that she had not planned anything and was just driving around and stopping at seemingly interesting sites during the three day holiday weekend.  She said that she was largely raising the grandkids and had some not so nice things to say about her daughter. But she was very fond of Trump!

As we approached Cheyanne and passing the Warren AFB and golf club (I was told by a Navy veteran that the Air Force has more golf courses than any other service.), suddenly, without warning we experienced a ferocious hailstorm while on I-25. Within seconds we were being pelted by hailstones 1/2 inches in diameter that were pounding on the car and quickly covered the roadway in an inch of ice balls. It was noisier than being in the NYC subway and I was certain that the car would be pock marked. Surprisingly, it was unharmed. I pulled under an overpass, along with other cars and waited about 10 minutes for the hailstorm to pass. Most of the ice balls quickly melted. I was later told that this was not an uncommon occurrence in Wyoming.

In the excitement I missed the exit for our Airbnb so we entered Cheyanne closer to downtown. Another hailstorm arrived and I pulled into a gasoline station, both to purchase gasoline, but also to park under the awning to get out of the hail barrage. As I got out of the car the pelting from the hailstones was painful. I notice that the well between the windshield and the hood was filled with lots of the ice balls..

As the storm turned to rain we headed downtown. The place was a complete ghost town. I saw less than a handful of cars and only one pedestrian. Not one business or cultural attraction was open. After one more hail attack which we weathered under a pedestrian bridge, we headed out of downtown to check into our Airbnb. Although it is the largest city in Wyoming and the state capital, the town is pretty small and it was easy to navigate. We passed the airport and then found an open supermarket where we purchased some items for dinner and breakfast. No ice cream.

Our  Airbnb was only a few minutes away from the market. We have the upper floor of a townhouse with a full kitchen and living room. Our host is an older, but vibrant woman. A kindergarten teacher. She said that she doesn't understand computers or how Airbnb works, her daughter-in-law who is the face of the lodging and lives in Gilette, set it up. We spoke at length about our lives and children and she facilitated an arrangement to charge up the car from an outlet in the garage.

After unpacking we took a walk through the residential neighborhood. It seemed solidly middle class with lots of small developments. We came upon a large pasture with a heard of cattle that seemed to mark an abrupt edge between residential and agriculture.

Made dinner and watched a bit of TV. Very slow news day with Trump out of the country and it being Memorial Day. 

Casper

May 26, 2019 Sunday Day 8

After another mediocre breakfast at the hotel, but enlivened by a conversation with a couple of women who were traveling west, we opted to skip the Legend Rock Petroglyph site because it would have required us to backtrack and continuing south we left Thermopolis we quickly entered the Wind River Gorge. That was a speculator 45 minute ride. The canyon walls rise over 2500 ft. and have beautiful colors. We spotted some wildlife scampering around the canyon walls.The Wind and Big Horn Rivers surged along us and would have made for a great river run. Perhaps next trip.

Wind River Canyon

The remainder of the 2 hour trip to Casper was uneventful. We passed by Boysen State Park which has a large reservoir and through Shoshoni, but we did not stop as we were on our way to the  National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. This is a wonderful museum that is operated by the BLM and tells the story of Manifest Destiny and westward expansion over the four pioneer trails, Oregon, California, Mormon and Bozeman, in the mid 19th century. Over 400,000 pioneers trekked west in what was the largest voluntary mass migration in history. There were lots of interactive exhibits, a very helpful staff and an interesting multi-media show.
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The exhibits highlighted the hardships of the early pioneer travels. The first group of 69 pioneers, the Bidwell-Bartleson Party left Independence Missouri with no road to follow, no guide, a wildly inaccurate map, no experience with overland long distance travel and no guide.  They subsequently were joined by a mountain man, Thomas "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick, who lead them over the plains and into the mountains in present day Idaho. There he abandoned them and by themselves they finally made their way to Oregon after blazing a trail that in part was later used for the trans-continental railroad.  Subsequent groups created the Hastings Cutoff Trail, but that went through the Great Salt Desert and killed off many of the livestock. Salt Lake City became the half way house on the California Trail in 1849 and afforded the Mormons the opportunity to profit, many said to a larcenous degree, off the gold rushers.

The Pony Express arose indirectly out of the Utah War. Russell, Majors &Waddell contracted with the War Department to haul military freight to Utah. That firm lost scores of wagons and hundreds of livestock to the Mormons who "liberated" them. Seeking a government mail contract to ward off bankruptcy they organized a horse and rider relay to carry mail between St. Joseph Missouri and San Francisco.  The service worked well, deliveries were regularly made within 10 days, but it was not sufficient to rescue the firm and it had to sell the service to Wells Fargo. Two days after the telegraph line across the continent opened, the Pony Express shut down. We spent most of the afternoon there.

Pony Express Recruiting Poster seeking young, light weight, orphans

Pioneer covered wagon

Birds eye view of Casper

We the drove into town to check in at the Days Inn. Easy to find off the freeway and they permitted me to use an outside outlet to charge up the car. We were given a large room and the bed was good. Hot cookies and lemonade at check-in was a nice touch.

After unpacking we walked to the Platte River. The neighborhood that we walked through was pretty run down. A large trailer park and the free standing homes were not well cared for. This belied what we had read about Casper as a prosperous town built on energy. The river view was nice, but it appeared that the river walk was on the other side of the river. So we turned back and picked up the car for a drive through town. We drove south toward Casper College and this tour revealed a more prosperous looking Casper. Tree lined streets with medium sized, well maintained older homes. The two renowned museums on and near the campus were closed and the campus looked deserted.

Platte River

We then drove into downtown. It was easy to park as there was very little activity and most of the businesses were closed. Memorial day weekend. Most of the buildings were old, built in the early 1900s, the tallest being the 10 story Petroleum Building, but there were no boarded up storefronts, the place was clean and we saw no homeless. I was struck by the presence of three active movie theatres downtown. There were very few restaurants open, but we soon found the Branding Iron that had been recommended to us during our walk to the river. Primarily a brew and burger place, but they also served pork belly mac and cheese. The first two were good.

Casper got its start as a hub of the four major pioneer overland trails in the mid 1800s. Independence Rock which is where the trails start to diverge is about an hour west of the city. An oil boom beginning in 1910 sparked development of the town and notoriety followed in the wake of the Teapot Dome scandal that lead to the imprisonment of two Cabinet Secretaries for bribery. It was a military hub during WWII and now it is a center for a coal mining industry which produces 24% of the nation's coal.

We drove back to the hotel through the east part of town and charged up the car.

Hot Springs Day 7

May 25, 2019 Day 7

Thermopolis is located at the southern end of the Big Horn Basin. It is not much of a town with a population of slightly over 3,000, but it has significant mineral resources in the area and a surprising number of fantastic attractions. Teddy Roosevelt and Butch Cassidy and his gang have been among its visitors.

We ate breakfast at the motel. Cold items only, but adequate to get going.

I was very confused about the locations, costs and amenities at the various hot springs. The travel books and the hotel clerk offered differing information. So as we drove out to the hot springs area I stopped at the town information office. It was shocking that it was very hard to park in this little town, but there was a 3 on 3 basketball tournament was going on at the high school across the street. As we learned people from all over the region had come to attend that event.

The information clerk sent us off to Hot Springs State Park. Originally part of the Wind River Reservation, the hot springs were believed by the Shoshone to be a gift from the Great Spirit. The US Government purchased the Big Springs and surrounding territory from the Arapaho and Shoshone tribes (They have shared the reservation since 1877 after a shotgun marriage arranged by the US Government. It was not until the 1930s that the Government compensated the Shoshone for this arrangement.) in 1896.
 
Chief Washakie negotiated on behalf of the Indians. He was born to a Flathead father and Shoshone mother. He grew up with the Shoshone in the Wind River Valley and in his twenties he met and befriended Jim Bridger, who became a legendary trapper and mountain man. Their friendship was so great that one of Washakie's daughters became Bridger's third wife. Washakie became the leader, chief, of the Shoshone at an early age. The skills Washakie acquired through his association with Bridger and other trappers and traders took him in a different direction from other Indian leaders in advocating for the rights and needs of his people. The Shoshone were one of the few tribes which never fought a war against the US Government and indeed fought alongside the US Calvary against other tribes. He made several trips to Washington DC and became convinced that the Indians could not stop the tide of white immigrants into the plains. Instead in 1863 at Fort Bridger he negotiated a treaty that created the Wind River Reservation. He was baptized twice, first as a Mormon by Brigham Young and shortly before his death in 1900as an Episcopalian. He was buried with full military honors and we saw many public places in Wyoming that were named for him.

In negotiating the sale of the Big Springs Chief Washakie stipulated that the hot springs should be freely available to all so that anyone could receive the great health and healing benefits from the waters. That is one of the few Indian treaty promises that the US has honored. As a result, Wyoming's first state park was created along with the Bath House.      

The State Bath House

The outdoor hot springs

They remain free and open to the public, although there are several commercial establishments that also draw upon the hot waters. Several are essentially water parks and others are park of RV parks.

The springs are the largest hot springs in the world and the waters coming out of them are 135 degrees and discharge about 8000 gallons per day. In the park's hot springs the temperature is kept at about 104 degrees. The bathhouse was clean and had an indoor pool. We opted for the outdoor pool. It was wonderful. Very calm and relaxing and made your body feel very clean. No kids, whom I assumed go to the commercial pools. You are supposed to stay in up to 20 minutes, but it was not crowded and we stayed in30 minutes. I spoke with an older fellow bather who said that he had retired to Thermopolis a few years ago from Montana and said he came to the baths daily. He said that the hunting was very good in the area, but that quotas and hunters from all over the country had cut down on his meat gathering. He recounted that Thermopolis did not get too cold, but that like most places the temperature goes down to zero a few times each winter.

After a good soak and shower we drove over to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center and Dig Site. It was less than two miles away on the outskirts of town on a ranch where dinosaur fossils have been found, housed in 12,000 sq. ft. in what appears to be an old warehouse. (It is moving to larger and presumably more appropriate quarters in the near future 6 miles out of town.) It bills itself as the 6th best dinosaur museum in the world. It had over 20 full sized dinosaur skeletons and casts from around the world, as well as lots of exhibits about geology. We spent most of the afternoon there.

We then returned to the hot springs for a second soak. It was very pleasant soaking in the hot waters as the late afternoon sun was descending behind the mountains. After the soak we walked around the State Park. The terrain had unique rock formations and brilliant hues of red, orange, green and brown from the minerals and various life forms that are deposited on the rocks. The park was well maintained, very green and almost empty. We walked on a suspension bridge that crosses the Bighorn River. It appears to go nowhere, but when it was built in the early 1900s it permitted patients at a now gone hospital and sanitarium to access the springs.

Bridge to Nowhere

Bighorn River and hot springs run-off

   
We then took a drive a drive outside of town to view the Buffalo herds. These are the largest collections of buffaloes outside of Yellowstone. There were a lot of buffalo

We ate dinner at Bangkok Thai restaurant in town on the recommendation of a fellow bather. Other than a cook, the owner was the only one working. It was busy, he said busier than ever due to the basketball tournament. The meal was very good. We walked around town after dinner and purchased some ice cream which we ate while watching the Kill Bill movie in our hotel room as the car slowly charged up.

Cody to Thermopolois Day 6

May 24, 2019 Friday Day 6

We awoke late. I purchased on-line tickets for the Buffalo Bill Center of the Old West. The Museum was a short drive out of town and housed in an attractive building. It had a charging station in the back lot, but the charging rate was .08 cents per minute, which is the highest I have ever seen and more expensive than gasoline, and since I had 37 miles of charge from the overnight charging at the hotel, I passed.

The museum was terrific. It had 5 different sections. We started in the wildlife and geological area which interprets the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem and wound its way down into the basement. At 1:00 we went to a raptor exhibit in which they brought out two large birds, a Golden Eagle and a Turkey Vulture.

Golden Eagle. Bigger and swifter than the Bald Eagle

Turkey Vulture. Defends itself by throwing up on a predator

We had lunch at the museum cafe, $20 for soup and salad, and then went to the William Cody a/k/a Buffalo Bill exhibit. He led a remarkable life public and private life. Orphaned at age 11, he worked as a cowboy and Pony Express rider. Moving on to soldier, to explorer, to US Army scout to performer to finally international entertainer and producer, he apparently became one of the most well known men in the western world. For 30 years he performed and then produced, while also performing in the Wild West show that was seen all over the US (every state except Nevada) and three tours of Europe. He even performed for Queen Victoria of England at Buckingham Palace. He earned his nickname by shooting 4280 bison in a span of 18 months to provide food for construction workers on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. The gun wing was closed, but we ran out of time after touring the western art exhibit. Lots of works by Fredrick Remington.

On the way out of town in the late afternoon we gassed up for the 1.5 hour drive to Thermopolis through empty, (listened to Sirius Radio) but scenic landscape.

We checked into checked in at the Fountain of Youth motel in Thermopolis. Not much positive to say about the motel, except that it had a good bed and an external outlet to charge the car.

We walked around town and ate dinner at the One Eyed Buffalo. Brewery pub. Very loud, but the food was good.

Mud Pots and Buffalos Yellowstone 4 Day 5

May 23, 2019 Thursday Day 5

When we woke up we experienced our first sunny day in Yellowstone. I thought that it might even be relatively warm and after eating breakfast again in the cabin from the cooler I ventured outside without multiple layers. I needed to go back in and put on my vest.

After packing up and checking out we back tracked and drove a few miles to Midway Basin. Midway Geyser Basin contains a small collection of mammoth-sized springs. Midway is part of the Lower Geyser Basin, but because of its isolated location between the main features of Lower and Upper geyser basins it became known as Midway. Rudyard Kipling, who visited Yellowstone in 1889, immortalized this basin by referring to it as "Hell's Half Acre." It warrants that name. Despite its small size Midway possesses two of the largest hot springs in the world. 

Grand Prismatic Spring, nearly 370 feet in diameter, sits upon a large mound surrounded by small step-like terraces. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone, and is considered to be the third largest in the world- New Zealand has the two largest springs. Grand Prismatic sits upon a wide spreading mound where water flows evenly on all sides forming a series of small, step-like terraces. The artist Thomas Moran who traveled out here in 1871 made water-color sketches depicting the rainbow like colors and the wide distribution of his paintings helped to make Yellowstone a National Park. The colors begin with a deep blue center followed by pale green. Green, slippery algae forms beyond the shallow edge. Outside the scalloped rim a band of yellow fades into orange. Red then marks the outer border. Steam shrouded portions of the spring, but aerial pictures when it is clear are spectacular. It releases 560 gallons of hot water into the Firehole River per minute. the combination of the river and hot springs waters creates a designated swimming area where the water temperature is about 80 degrees. No one was swimming.

The other feature, Excelsior Geyser, erupted nearly 300 feet high before the 1900s. It is now a dormant geyser and is considered a hot spring, discharging more than 4050 gallons of boiling water per minute. Other colorful springs include Turquoise and Indigo springs, known for their pale and dark blue colors. Across the Firehole River from Excelsior and Grand Prismatic springs are a series of small isolated, pristine springs and mud pots. The Rabbit Creek drainage possesses some colorful and unusual features and most are unnamed.

We then drove south and turned east over Craig Pass crossing the continental divide twice.

We pulled into the West Thumb Geyser Basin on the west side of Yellowstone Lake. It was very cold. This small basin has a collection of all four geothermal features, geysers, mud pots, hot springs and fumaroles. It has an excellent boardwalk system that takes you right along the lake which was largely frozen, but which had circles of ice free water where hot springs or geysers were bubbling up. The wind blowing off the lake was bitterly cold. Yellowstone lake is the largest freshwater lake in North America above 7000 ft. As recounted in the Lake Yellowstone hotel which was built in 1891 and recently restored, early visitors to the park in the summer would catch cutthroat trout in the lake and then swing them on their line over the hot spring for cooking. The hotel's deck overlooked the lake, but it was too cold to sit out there.

Yellowstone Lake near the center of the Yellowstone Caldera which was created by a gigantic eruption 640,000 years ago. The Caldera covers most of the Park and the magma under it creates geological bulges, or domes which push up the surface of the earth. The Sour Creek Dome on the far side of the lake is rising at a rate of 1.5 inches per year causing the Lake to tip southward.

As we walked the boardwalk we saw: the Abyss Pool which was very deep and many colored; the Black Pool which is no longer black due to the death of the black colored thermophile; the Big Cone and Fishing cone which both sprouted and bubbled in the lake and the Thumb Paint Pots with their miniature reddish mud volcanoes.

Yellowstone Lake with Sour Creek Dome in the background

Intending to continue heading east to exit the Park, instead I missed a turn at Fishing Bridge and was headed north  through Hadyon Valley and to Mud Volcano. In the former we saw many wildlife, and also experienced much delay as cars just stopped on the road to observe. In the latter we saw a large buffalo herd and walked on a loop among many thermal features. Dragon Mouth Spring has steam belching from a cave. Very noisy. The Mud Volcano has a seething, bubbling mass of mud emerging from a back wall. Black Dragon's Caldron has multiple geysers and is fed by Sour Lake, which looks as if you can have a pleasant swim there but whose water would burn ones skin like battery acid.   Mud Geyser has lots of mud pots and sizzling features which have killed the vegetation around it while Mud Caldron has cooled off to the degree that the bubbling is caused by escaping gasses

Finishing with the Mud Volcano I mistakenly continued north until I saw signs for the Upper and Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon and realized where I was. I then turned around, made the correct turn to Fishing Bridge and took the very scenic drive to the Park's east entrance. The extra driving finished off the electrical power in the car. Back to gasoline.

As we exited the Park the land became far less mountainous and we began to see ranches, both real and dude, and farms.

We finally arrived in Cody. This town was the brainchild of Buffalo Bill Cody and we stayed in The Irma hotel he built in 1902 and named for his youngest daughter. Cody is small, less than 10,000 population, but during the summer season, we missed it, there are nightly rodeos and gunfights as it attempts to recreate the wild west.

Cherrywood Bar at the Irma Hotel

Downtown Cody

We checked into the hotel, changed rooms due to unmade beds and walked around town. Everything looks western from the boots to the fringe. We ate dinner at the hotel and had too much prime rib. I was able to charge up the car outside the hotel at the outlets used in the winter for engine heaters