Wyoming Travel

This page shows some of the articles I wrote for The Wyoming Advertiser's Tourism Directory for Hot Springs County, Wyoming. I think they show what happens when the writer really takes the time to learn about the business he's writing about.

HorseWorks Wyoming: The Old West Up Close

http://www.horseworkswyoming.com/
3520 Grass Creek Rd, Grass Creek, WY 82443 USA
Toll free 877-807-2367 or 867-2367

High in the Big Horn Mountains, you are one of a team of seven cowboys searching out cows and calves to round them up. On horseback you weave your way among trees and scrub, up hills and down canyons, pushing cows as you go. This is a working ranch; the cattle will be processed. They'll be vaccinated, tested for pregnancy, given pesticides, and in a few cases dehorned. You will help work them. Later you'll round them up again and put them into another pasture.

This is a real cow camp, not a dude ranch. You sleep in a sheep wagon or a tent, and eat in another tent. The food is good, and there's lots of it. The menu includes local buffalo and other delights. There's no hot tub and life is simple.

Tuesday morning, the day after your first full day working cattle, you'll be sore in places where you didn't know you had places. That's OK. The best way to work it out is to spend another day in the saddle. Along about Friday, you'll have a sense of accomplishment, and your riding will be a lot better.

This is what HorseWorks Wyoming promises, and they deliver. It's the American west, up close, on horseback.

Nate and MaeCile Brown offer five day trips into the mountains surrounding the Big Horn Basin. Some are working cow camp trips, others are trail rides. In spring, their guests help round up cattle and drive them from winter pasture up into the Big Horn mountains for summer pasture. In summer, guests will help work the cattle, and in fall, guests help drive the cattle down to winter pasture in the valleys. The trail rides are one- and half-day expeditions from a fixed camp in the mountains.

If that is too sedate for you, about the end of July Nate and MaeCile bring their remuda into Thermopolis every year for the Outlaw Trail Ride. They and their guests trail horses for three days from Grass Creek into town, riding across rangeland and sagebrush country.

Day rides and short trips are also on offer. Email or call to makes special arrangements. Or if you are really serious about horses, ask about their intern program. Between them, Nate and MaeCile have forgotten more about horses than you or I will ever know, and you will learn horsemanship, shoeing and other skills as they are actually used in the west.

They make a point of carefully assessing each rider's skills and matching the rider to the horse and tack. With Nate's experience as Horse Program Coordinator for the National Girl Scout Center, he is an excellent teacher for the inexperienced rider. And if the horse is such a good match that you want to take it home with you, ask MaeCile. You might just end up owning a horse.

Nate has been riding practically since he was born in 1921. He doesn't remember ever not riding. His family were early settlers near what is now Lander, Wyoming. When they moved to Grass Creek, he helped to drive the family cattle herd over the Owl Creek Mountains. Nate has ranched in Grass Creek, and worked at the National Girl Scout Center West for eleven years. Nate is also a cowboy poet of some renown, an author, and a teller of tales. If you can get him to sit down long enough, ask him about the demise of the Sheepeater Indians.

MaeCile, Nate's wife since 1994, was born in Lexington, Kentucky. She has worked on ranches in Wyoming and lived in China. Both she and Nate have been to Mongolia -- checking up on the horses, no doubt.

The Storyteller Tells a Tale

The Storyteller (528 Broadway, 864-3272)

Literature has its special meeting places, like The White Hart pub, Callahan's Saloon or the Phoenix Inn. Thermopolis has the Storyteller.

Even before you walk into the Storyteller, you know this is not your mother's bookstore. The comfortable chairs and couches visible in the store windows are an invitation to relax and chat with friends or neighbors or travelers. Once you're in, the bright, colorful well lit decor confirms the invitation. No musty old Dickensian bookstore with more cobwebs than customers here!

There are thousands of titles spread across plenty of roomy shelves, so you can scan books to see what tickles your fancy. There's science fiction and mysteries, novels and biography and history. Naturally, there is a Western section, where you can probably find a copy of the granddaddy of all western novels, Owen Wister's The Virginian.

If you are new to Wyoming, you will find that the travel section just inside the door to your left is well stocked with local and national publications. If you are an old Wyoming hand, you can still learn something new. Check out Ralph Reiner's Majestic Big Horn Country for local knowledge you can't get from the big name tour guides.

There is also a Wyoming Authors section for local writers. Look at the Wyoming Writers' annual anthology, or autographed novels about precolumbian Indians by local archaeologists Kathleen and Michael Gear. Then, on your right further in you will find greeting cards and Wyoming postcards to send to the folks back home.

Once past those wonders, you will find a large, well stocked espresso stand. There you are likely to meet the owners, JoAnn and Gerald Gerber, serving up lattes, ice rages and other liquid delights both hot and cold. There is more solid fare in the form of biscotti and other cakes and candies. You will also find chocolate squirrel bars and other confections from Thermopolis' own Upper Crust bakery (517 Broadway, 864-3665). Get yours now, before they're world famous.

Next to the espresso bar you will find tables and comfortable chairs. Sit, relax and enjoy your drink. You are welcome to browse the statewide and local newspapers out on the table. Or visit with colorful locals and interesting travelers. Or watch JoAnn and Gerald serve espressos and help customers find books. Or mosey on over to the Internet Cafe, latte in hand, to check your email and stock prices, weather and road conditions. Or relax with a game of checkers or chess. There is even a copy of Chess For Dummies handy in case your opponent doesn't quite remember how to castle.

JoAnn and Gerald are long-time Wyoming residents. After living in Shoshoni and Wamsutter, they think of Thermopolis as "the big city", which goes to show that Wyoming will give you a unique perspective on just about anything. The Storyteller is their story. A long time teacher, JoAnn's love of learning is evident in her selection of books, and especially in the warm kid-friendly children's section in the back of the store. Her love of antiques and interior decor shows up in the comfortable furniture in the store. After almost 30 years of working on pipelines, no-one is better qualified that Gerald to keep those espresso machines in top form.

They are active in the Thermopolis community as well. JoAnn is an officer in the Thermopolis Chamber of Commerce. The store often sponsors special events, too, like book signings, a book club and concerts.

It's a family operation, with one son, Kevin, on staff and other family members in and out from time to time. Youngest of the clan is year old Michael Gerber. You can tell when he's in the store because everything comes to a halt while family and customers surround him, oohhing and aahhing away.

Come on in, pull up a couch and join the Storyteller's ongoing tale.

Local Web Sites

One of the innovations I brought to the Tourism Directory was a list of local web sites, shown in the last article below. Of course, it's hard to do hyperlinks in print.

Chambers of Commerce
- Thermopolis Chamber of Commerce: http://www.thermopolis.com
Government
- Economic Development Council: http://www.thermopedc.com
- Hot Springs County High Schools: http://www.hotsprings.k12.wy.us/
- Hot Springs County: http://www.hscounty.com/
- State of Wyoming: http://wyoming.gov/
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department: http://gf.state.wy.us/
Hotels and Motels
- Holiday Inn of the Waters: http://www.thermopolis-hi.com/
Miscellaneous
- Bison Central: http://www.bisoncentral.com/
- Gottsche Rehabilitation Center: http://www.gottsche-rehab.com/
- High Country Traders: http://www.hctraders.com/
- Hot Springs County High School alumni web page: http://www.thermopolis.org/
- RT Communications: http://www.rtcom.net/
- Thermopolis Net: http://thermopwy.net/index.htm
- Weather in Thermopolis: http://www.hotsprings.k12.wy.us/weather/
- Wyoming Advertiser: http://www.wyomingadvertiseronline.com/
- Wyoming Cultural Guide: http://www.wyomingculturalguide.org/
- Wyoming Links: http://www.wyolinks.com/
Museums
- Dancing Bear Folk Art Center: http://www.dancingbear.org
- Hot Springs Historical Museum: http://w3.trib.com/~history/
- Old West Wax Museum: http://www.westwaxmuseum.com
- Wyoming Dinosaur Center: http://wyodino.org/
Parks
- Boysen State Park: http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/Site/SiteInfo.asp?siteID=2
- Hot Springs State Park: http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/Site/SiteInfo.asp?siteID=9
RV Parks and Campgrounds
- Country Campin: http://www.countrycamp.net/
- Eagle RV Park: http://www.eaglervpark.com
- Fountain of Youth Recreational Vehicle Park: http://www.fountainofyouthrvpark.com/
- Wyoming Waltz RV Park: deanwal@trib.com
Telephone Directories
- US West Dex: http://www.dexknows.com/
Trail and Horse Rides
- HorseWorks Wyoming: http://www.horseworkswyoming.com/
- LZ Ranch: lzweisbeck@tctwest.net
- Outlaw Trail Ride: http://www.rideoutlawtrail.com/
White Water Rafting
- Wind River Canyon Whitewater: http://www.windrivercanyonraft.com/