Getting Out There: RoadTrip News & Views

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RoadTrip Rendezvous: May, 2005

Young cowboy lassoes a calf Gen, Charlie, Bob, Betty, Megan, Mark, Thurman, & Kathleen George Ziemens Bison along I-70 west of Denver

We began our rendezvous with an evening at the Little Moon Lake Supperclub, a steak house located on the Nebraska/Wyoming border. The next day, we were up with the sun (well, maybe the sun beat us) and were on the road to "assist" with the branding duties at the Hageman ranch just north of Ft. Laramie, Wyoming. Although the calves outweighed Charlie by at least a hundred pounds, he proved to be a capable calf wrestler. The rest of the roadtripping gang kibitzed and took photographs of the branding and gorgeous Western scenery.
Click here for a PowerPoint slide show.
Bob Schaller's field report is online here.

The next morning, archeologist and local historian George Zeimens shared his perspectives about historical preservation and some of the archaeological remains that are currently being analyzed in southern Wyoming. Much of the collection of projectile points and other artifacts displayed in the Western History Center near Lingle, Wyoming, were collected on Jim Hageman's ranch, where he also hosted the after-branding party. Jim went with us as we visited the Ft. Laramie National Historical Park. Ft. Laramie was an important outpost for both Native & European Americans from the 1830s to 1860s. It was the center of the fur trade for the region and was also a critical way-station for the short-lived Pony Express. Before going our separate ways, we visited Register Cliff and saw the remarkable ruts left by the wooden wagon wheels from countless wagons traveling on the old Oregon Trail.

On our way back to Las Vegas, the Megan-Bob-Mark trio drove to Estes Park, Colorado, to check out a couple of the scenic drive routes in the Colorado Front Range Scenic Byways guidebook. We also found a couple of buffalo grazing alongside Interstate 70 just west of Denver. As I write this, Gen is somewhere in southern Arizona after driving around central Nevada for a couple of days before she zooms back across the country to Quebec.

We had a memorable time at our RoadTrip Rendezvous, and we're already looking forward to the next one! If you have a suggestion as to where it might be and what activities it might include, please let us know.

Mark Sedenquist
May 15, 2005

 

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