September 10, 2020 – Terry Bison Ranch Resort, Cheyenne, Wyoming

OMG, I’m gonna go Insane!!!!!!

We had an interesting 7 hour drive from Ashland to Cheyenne, Wyoming – our next stop.  Our 9-year-old pup, Alice tore her ACL (or CCL as its called in dogs) and had surgery a couple of days before we left.  She is doing very well!  We decided to give both dogs a sedative for the ride, hoping to keep them calm and Alice off her leg during the drive.  Unfortunately, the sedative worked quite differently in our 3-year-old German Shepherd, Rosie and she paced all over the place, including on her sister in the backseat (sigh). (Ed. Note – Yes, I was going batshit crazy!!!!)  After trying several things to get her to lie down, I ended up in the back seat with her and Alice rode like the queen she is in the front!

 

Bison Bill just doesn’t have the same ring, huh?!?!?!?!?!?

We are staying at the Terry Bison Ranch Resort south of Cheyenne and 2 miles over the Colorado border.  It’s so cool!  They have a 27,500 acre working bison ranch with an RV park, cabins, restaurant, café, farm animals, train ride, ATV and horse rides, in addition to the bison.  Since we are here for two weeks, we’ve been taking our time exploring.  The RV sites are fairly close together but it clears out a lot during the week. (Ed. Note – Close is a bit of an understatement!!!!)  The cabin porches overlook a grazing area for some of the bison and the tent sites are around the perimeter.  The best part is everything is within walking distance which has been nice for breakfast at the café and a couple of dinners at the restaurant.

Since we arrived in the late afternoon on Sunday (so no groceries), on Monday, we headed for breakfast at the café.  Its only open in the mornings and had a good-looking menu.  Everything is cooked fresh to order and the hubs and I enjoyed sitting outside on the patio with one of the ranch cats keeping us company while the roosters and turkey babies wandered around!

 

Be safe, folks, outdoor dining if you have to go to a restaurant!!!!

That evening, we went to the Senator’s Steakhouse (obviously, we had not gone grocery shopping yet).  It was a nice walk from our rig and again we sat outside in a breezeway on the back of the restaurant which looked over part of the ranch.  The hubs had Bison Chili and I had the Bison Chicken Fried Steak – it was quite good.  There was a different taste than beef but not a gamey kind of flavor. (Ed. Note – Definitely drier, and not as tough as beef would be!!!)  The portions were a good size and the atmosphere was great!  As we finished our meal and sat relaxing, a couple of the male peacocks walked through the breezeway on what seemed to be their daily pattern.  We saw them the next evening over in the RV section before they headed towards the restaurant breezeway again!  It felt like we were on vacation 😊.

 

The only privately operated train that crosses state lines!!!!!

As we rode the train, our guide told us facts about the ranch.  It was purchased from Charles Terry in 1885 by F.E. Warren, the first Territorial Governor of Wyoming who went on to serve as Governor for one month before resigning to serve as a senator for 35 years. President Theodore Roosevelt stayed as a guest at the ranch in the early 1900’s. There are approximately 2500 head of bison on the ranch today. Apparently, some of the bison in the movie Dances With Wolves were from the Terry Ranch and had to be “enticed” into running across the prairie in some scenes. The enticement was a truck filled with Oreo cookies being thrown out the back to get them going! (Ed. Note – Beats being a chicken wrangler, I guess!!!!) We’ll be heading into Cheyenne for some sight-seeing soon!

 

Feeding the bison – they have long black pointy tongues that feel like sandpaper! (you can see if you zoom in on the pics!)