Adventure 257: Ulmen/Pereda Residence/Cheyenne, WY

Fric and Frac nestled nicely in front of the Ulmen/Pereda home.

After a leisurely Sunday morning, normal except for worship (For worship we listened to a streamed recording of our former pastor, David Peterson, preaching the Easter Sermon at his church in Houston). Stumpy thrashed me, cackling gleefully by the way, to win all the Cornhusks in Nebraska. She swept the Nebraska series, which is only right since she was defending her birth right like a pioneer fending off the harshness of life on the plains. We pulled out of North Platte a little before ten to begin our four hour jaunt to Cheyenne. Yesterday, the wind blew at twenty five from the South. Today the backspin of a cold front rattled our rig like a vibrating sub woofer. The wind whistled about us in the mid thirties the whole way. When we made our last stop for gas just outside Cheyenne, the reader board on the freeway was warning light trailers not to travel north on I-25 because the winds were increasing to fifty plus. Luckily for us our destination was in hand. We arrived at Tim and Carissa's house a little after one a bit unnerved, but otherwise unscathed. Carissa, who works ten twelve hour shifts in a row (Then ten off) as a physician at the Cheyenne hospital was at work when we arrived. She managed to swing home for a bit midday (just after we arrived). It was good to see her, and even better, she managed to leave the hospital a little bit early thanks to a light schedule of admitting new patients. We took a couple of bags of Chile Verde out of our freezer, and with ease and joy, Carissa made sweet corn bread from scratch to go with the chile. We enjoyed a nice dinner, some world shaking philosophical discourse, and a few laughs. We're grateful to see them (it's always better to be with people you know and care for rather than spend solitary time with your new neighbors in the RV park). Tomorrow, we'll continue our run across most of Wyoming. We'll hunker down in the sprightly little town of Rock Springs. Hopefully, the  winds will have subsided a bit (The weather man says they will), but if they don't we'll just rush through like we did today. Actually, Fric and Frac managed quite well in the crosswinds. The only unnerving part was making room for the semi trucks to pass, and even that was uneventful albeit more recurrent than a bad habit. But never fear, as always I'm positive that life is good, especially today.

 Art shot of the day (Nebraska wins as most pleasant and plentiful highway rest stops).

 Master Tim Ulmen (In the chair) and Bella in a candid pose.

 Dr. Pereda off to work.

 Tim, who has a flair for aesthetics and accuracy (Inherited from his parents), is a craftsman of considerable skill as witnessed by this 1000 lb. live edged Buringa table and its eight matching (Original design) chairs. 

 Stumpy trying one of the chairs for comfort.

 A chair from the back.

 Tim taking us on a tour of his shop.

 He also took us on a tour of downtown Cheyenne. This is the capital dome.

 Like most plains towns, the railroad had great influence. The train station in Cheyenne is a magnificent example of the grandeur of the era.

 The city fathers don'w seem interested, but the downtown core could easily become a classic representative of frontier architecture.

 Chile Verde is served.

 Our hosts in formal repose.

 Then again, not so formal.

 The lady of the house.

 Perhaps the most endearing part of Cheyenne is the evening (And most likely morning) light.