Girls Trip to Cheyenne! (Days 3 & 4)

Sunday, September 20

I repeated my morning Zumba and yoga workout, and A took advantage of the empty pool to swim laps. I had picked up some breakfast stuff at Safeway, so we didn't need to make a Starbucks run before we headed off to explore Curt Gowdy State Park, which is about 30 minutes to the northwest of downtown Cheyenne. The very friendly and helpful park guide recommended that we hike the Crow Creek trail to the hidden waterfall, so we followed her advice and were extremely pleased with the scenery and experience. The trail was mostly shaded, and we had fabulous views of the creek as we started off as well as some interesting rock formations throughout the entire hike.

We successfully found the hidden waterfall, which required a short and VERY cold water crossing in order to get a glimpse of the tumbling water.

Another of my favorite sites from the hike was the tiny chipmunks that scampered around and in and among the rocks and woodsy areas.

Although the weather was relatively cool and the trail was shady, I still felt in need of a change of clothes before we figured out what our afternoon activities would be. We picked up lunch at the Subway across from Walgreen's and ate in our room before heading to the Putt Hutt mini-golf course in Lion's Park, just behind the Botanic Gardens. Neither of us came close to making par, but A beat me by a good handful of strokes! After our game, we explored more of the Botanic Gardens grounds, including a lovely labyrinth, and then sat on a bench in the shade near the Kiwanis Community House to gaze out at the lake and watch folks enjoying the lovely day.

On the way back to the hotel, we got our takeout dinner at Bejo. I ordered the seaweed salad, which was much larger than I expected, and a salmon lover's roll. A had the seafood pho, and we shared the plain edamame. Everything was fresh and delicious! I had bought some more wine at Provisions Wine & Spirits in downtown Cheyenne, so that plus our takeout food comprised our in-room dinner for the evening.

Monday, September 21

Another round of Zumba and yoga for me for the final morning of our trip. I finished up the mixed fruit from Safeway for breakfast, and we placed a mobile order at Starbucks for coffee to pick up on our way to tour the Capitol building. We strolled the perimeter as we finished our beverages and then tried to find the main visitor entrance, since none of the doors was clearly marked nor was there any sign of security to control entry and exit of the building. 

We entered an open door on the lower Garden level and found ourselves practically alone, only encountering a handful of staff during the entire time that we strolled around, admiring the architecture, stained glass ceilings, and statues.

Eventually, we made our way to the underground connector that leads to the Herschler building, which houses lots of office space and was part of the renovation project as well.

Both A and I were impressed by the amount of natural light that infuses the historic building. I learned later, after reading the informational brochure about the renovation project, that previous alterations to the interior had significantly covered over many of the historic details and impeded the abundant natural light sources. I'm so glad we got to visit after the renovations! One striking element still missing, however, is all of the necessary furniture for the offices in the Capitol. Each office we saw contained temporary folding tables for computer workstations, and the one staff person with whom we chatted told us that there were challenges with the original order and vendor, so they're now hoping to finally get furnishing by December (more than a year after the renovation work was complete!).

Our final stop was at the Wyoming State Museum, which is diagonally across from the Capitol. We browsed in the gift shop, where I picked up some locally roasted coffee beans and a set of jackalope note cards, and then we toured through the Museum exhibits. On our way back to the car, I got a protein box from Starbucks to eat for lunch on the way to the airport. Then we headed back to the hotel to finish up our packing and complete our checkout. A dropped me at the Denver airport just after 1:30pm, so I had plenty of time to give Mom a call while waiting for my 3:15pm return flight to Sacramento.

Such a fun trip! And I'm looking forward to returning to Denver over Halloween to see A and the rest of her family (hoping Mr. E will join us, too).