Cheyenne Daddy of Em All Parade

The Cheyenne Rodeo began in 1890 and in the one hundred and ten ensuing years they have definitely learned how to put on a parade. This parade lasted an hour and, with marching bands ( the girls in blue and white hail from Chicago), historic old vehicles and wagons, clowns, Shriners in miniature cars,vets, army, navy and air force, Wyoming government officials and, of course, the rodeo princesses, queens, cowboys and rough riders, it was spectacular.

From time to time the famous Air Force Thunderbirds forced all eyes skyward with their gasp worthy ariel acrobatics. I couldn't help thinking that these fighter pilots and the bull and bronc riders must be from the same tribe.

Cheyenne Frontier Days

Although one can easily get the impression that Cheyenne is a sleepy little town, during the 9 days of the "daddy of em all" rodeo the place is super charged. As many as 50,000 people attend the rodeo on any given day so every shop, restaurant, bar and motel is ready to welcome the visitors and sell them something. The huge boot above, like the cows in some cities, are exotically decorated and pop up here and there.
I have seen a lot of rodeos and, except for the size of the arena - huge - and the size of the bulls - likewise huge - this one was like the rest. Scary. In the saddle bronc pic above the rider was not trampled to death. The riders all, for the most part, manage to scramble away. When a rider is injured, it appears to be a kind of patch up and go injury. A broken arm is certainly nothing to keep you out for long. One rider who's face was injured by a bull said: he didnt squash my melon, just bruised it a bit. There are, of course, the catastrophic injuries but oddly, given what is taking place, those are not all that frequent.

Ask for " a packet" may be a common sight these days, I don't know, but this howdy partner sign in the ladies room did rather catch my eye.

Cheyenne Frontier Days

The biggest annual event in all of Wyoming is Frontier Days in Cheyenne. It is a 9 day extravaganza centered around a PRCA rodeo where participants compete for points to get them on their way to the finals in Las Vegas AND, of course for money. There is lots of that to be had at this rodeo which claims to be "the daddy of them all". In it's 110th year, it might well have rights to the parental claim.
Each of the nine days has a different major event and entertainer. We were there for the Wind River Reservation Dancers ( above ), a huge, huge parade through the center of town and, of course, the rodeo. More to follow!

A Walk on the Wild (flower) Side

No bears or other wild critters today when Karen and I hiked the Black Mountain trail but, as you see, the wildflowers abound. Once I told my friend, Gitta, who is a fine art photographer of note specializing in photographs of flowers and nudes, about this place. She suggested all that it needed was me running through these flowers en nude. The above, however, is all that is being offered at the moment!

A walk on the Wild Side

There is a beautiful trail in GTNP that takes you to two lakes, Bradley and Taggart. It is not a very difficult hike, only about 5 miles and practically every step of it is in breathtaking scenery by the two lakes and directly below the Grand. See second foto.
Our favorite destination is to a rock on the edge of Bradley where we ususlly have a picnic lunch.
After our picnic we were headed off to Taggert, bopping along a sunny trail, when I surpirsed and was surprised by a huge black bear who had been sleeping in the grass only about 3 feet off the trail. A close enough encounter. The bear jumped up. I calmly turned around to Tom who was behind me and said: Tom. Bear. Without running but definitely honoring the bear's space we got outta there.
The funny thing, while I never looked back, never took a picture ( you are not supposed to look a bear in the eye ), I realized that instead of my bearspray I had grabbed my little point and shoot.
Either on the way to the trail or on the way back we spotted this above moose, a little buck, a large red tail hawk and a doe running across a field with a very small fawn.
A beautiful day.

Living Center Opening

The Living Center exhibit opened last night at Teton Pines. It was a big success and I am quite certain it shed some light on much that is not known or appreciated about these elders. The attendance was quite large and, most delightful of all, a good contingency of the residents came. They seemed to have a grand time too, staying a long time and receiving a lot of loving attention. I had copies of the prints to give to each of them. The above is my dear friend and poster girl, Maxine, with me and her print.

Moon shot?

No, just our neighbor's yard. The park adjacent to Grand Teton National Park is Yellowstone National Par, the nations first National Park. It is about a 60 mile drive from where we live and surely the strangest place on earth.
I always wonder, everytime I go there, if the impact on the first individual who stumbled upon this stretch of strange and boiling area would have been all that different from the impact on the daily tourist. Yes, we, the tourists, have an idea of what to expect but, even so, are ill prepared to encounter firsthand the magnitude and bizarre beauty of Yellowstone. This is one place on earth where the now hackneyed word " awesome" truly can be appropriately applied.

New Directions Chior

The first picture may be a tad hard to make out at this size for you certainly cannot see the tiny monk flower that these former warriors are examining.

New Directions Chior

Doo wop, doo wop.

New Directions Chior

Mixed feelings about vocal spray!