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| Leslie and Aunt Helen |
After a great stay with Eric and family we headed West in
our little Prius to Cody Wyoming. On the way we spent the night at Leslie’s
Aunt Helen at Kearney, Nebraska.
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| Leslie's Neices and grandneices |
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| the Cody gunfight begins |
We stayed in Cody at Leslie’s sister Ally’s place and
visited Leslie’s mother each day.
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A chuckwagon demonstration at the
Cody Museam |
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| They blast away in Cody |
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| Carl mets a saloon woman |
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| Leslie gets checked by the "doctor" |
While there we got to see the nightly gun
fight in Cody outside the Irma Hotel. It was a blast! The hotel was built by
Wild Bill Cody for his daughter Irma back in the 1800s and has the “mile long
bar” with the old brass boot rail. Cody is a great place! The museum is awesome
and main street is old west blended with today. We visited the 1st
KOA campground as it was celebrating its 50th anniversary.
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| Ally and Leslie at a fund raiser |
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| there are bears all over Cody |
While there we also visited the Buffalo Bill Dam, the
largest dam in the world at the time, and Buffalo Jump Winery, the only winery
in Wyoming. It was a great visit!
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| Annette and Markus |
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| Main street Ouray from a brewery |
We headed south to Ouray Colorado to meet our friends
Annette and Markus. Ouray is a neat place with several micro-breweries and no
stop lights! It is known for its 4 wheeling in the summer and ice climbing in
the winter.
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| Inside a hot spring cave |
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| Leslie and Annette in a hot spring room |
It also has a number of hot springs including a huge municipal hot
springs pool and water park. There is also great climbing around the town including
a trail all the way around the town Taking advantage of all these activities
left us fully in awe of CO.
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| We hike the trail around Ouray |
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| one of the water falls |
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| Typical western building |
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A canyon with a couple of dead deer
at the bottom |
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| moutain view fromTelluride |
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| Sunset in Ouray |
We took the free
gondola at Telluride. Visiting Telluride
was an experience as CO.’s new laws with marijuana made for an interesting
afternoon.
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| Open air music concert in Ouray |
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| A well attended concert |
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the double RL ranch gate of Ralph
Loren |
Marcus is working as a cowboy for the RRL ranch, which is
a huge ranch owned by Ralph Loran. I am so jealous of his job! It is a real
cowboy job, ranching and cattle herding and branding.
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| Carl hangs with the Duke |
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| We visit Silverton |
We crossed Red Mountain pass, a twisting hairpin turn
road to Silverton for a visit before continuing south to Albuquerque.
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Carl's niece Mallisa with husband Steve
and son Tank |
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Carl's cousins Sue and Scott with
their family Deenue and Chris and their
kids Caeden and Makenzie |
At Albuquerque we visited my cousin Scott and I attended
the , Single Action Shooting Society, End of Trail, EOT, shoot. What a great time!
It was so much fun! Everyone reverted
back to being western cowboys.
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| Shooters get ready! |
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| The custumes and gun carts were unique |
There was music, dancing, raffles, shops and of course
shooting. It was a great time! While Carl participated in the shooting events,
Leslie ran a Victorian Tea House with Sunshine Belle .
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| everyone particapates |
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| Leslie and Sunshine Bell |
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| The Duke and Leslie |
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Hot Tomale not only built a stage but
had a magareta party as well |
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| Us in our cowboy gear |
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The Long horns reminded me of the
Movie Blazing Saddles |
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| They had stage coach rides |
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More of Sue and Scott's family
Chris with Hynlee and Sydnee |
At the end we spent the weekend with my cousin Scott and
his family before heading back to St. Louis for 4th of July with
Eric and Aron’s families. It was good to have everyone together. Then it was
off East to visit family and friends.
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Carl's uncle George and his friend
Loretta |
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| More family Joel and Katie |
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| More family Hailee with Piper and Hynlee |
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| We are all together 4th of July |
