Wyoming State Shoot (Part 1- the ride out)

[straightaway]

Mary’s and my youngest son is in the USAF, stationed at Frances E Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wy.

Anthony has been in for 7 years at this time. Though he has come home every year so that he and I can travel to Pa to play in a memorial golf tournament, I had never been to Wyoming.

During his most recent trip home this past May, he poked me again about my not coming out to be with him, his wife and our two Grandsons. So, I looked at the ATA website and saw that the Wyoming state shoot was being held over the 4th of July in Torrington which is approximately 70ish miles from Cheyenne.

I then looked at the calendar and determined what travel days would work best for me and started firming up plans for a road trip. MapQuest indicated it would take 24 hours for the 1700 mile trip.

I loaded up the Pathfinder with the essentials and on Tuesday June 24, I headed west. The end of day one found me in Ferdinand, In. This little town is located right on the Eastern to Central Time Zone change line. A good night’s sleep and back on the road early the next day.

A quite severe thunderstorm took me off the road a little earlier than planned on day two. Now, I’ve been on this earth a pretty good number of years and have seen a few storms. But. A big thunder bumper on the open plains is a sight to behold! You can see the blessed thing miles and miles away and know yer gonna drive right into it. There is nothing, nothing at all, to buffer the blast. Simply awesome is the only way I can describe it. You don’t just see it, you experience it……

This stop found me in Grand Island, Ne. Grand Island is right across the road from Doniphan, Ne where the Nebraska state shoot was in process. At the continental breakfast in the Comfort Inn the next morning, I listened to a whole herd of AIM shooters comparing notes on the previous day’s activities. General consensus was they were having the time of their lives

I was sorely tempted to hang out and play in Nebraska but ultimately decided to stick with my original plan and got back on the road to finish the drive into Wyoming.

I’ve traveled on the East Coast from Miami, Fl to the Northern regions of New York state. East Coast Interstate travel does not compare to Midwest/Western Interstate driving. Over here it can be 70 mph bumper to bumper at most any time. Hectic and rushed. It seemed almost as soon as I left Missouri and got into Nebraska that things just “stretched out”. Frequently the closest vehicles to me were at least a quarter mile behind or a half mile ahead, in the middle of the day! Rolling along at a conservative 70-80 mph was completely stress free.

As I moved into western Nebraska and was nearing the Wyoming border the landscape definitely changed in character. The bluffs rising from the plains were in stark contrast to the hundreds of thousands of acres of corn and other crops seen in Indiana and Illinois. Each view as wonderful in its own unique way. Man made precision and Mother Nature’s unparalleled sculptures. We are truly blessed to live in such a magnificent country.

I soon crossed from the Central Time Zone to Mountain Time then rolled into Wyoming. The rest of the way to Cheyenne was uneventful. I was able to easily find FE Warren AFB and get hooked up with Anthony, Elisabeth, Trey and Colter Dan for a very, very enjoyable week!

Thanks for coming on the ride with me!

See you next time wherever it is. Travel Safe! Dan