Day 35 - Terry's Bison Ranch & The Rattlesnake !!

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Well, I don't really know what I expected but I don't feel a day over 39 this morning !! Maybe turning 40 isn't going to be so bad after all. We woke up in Cheyenne, Wyoming and it was kinda chilly. I put on long pants because we had planned on going ice skating today and I didn't want to freeze when I fell down on the ice. Tim got dressed wearing his shorts and flip-lops as usual and we were off to try something new. We have never been ice skating together and it had been a while for both of us so we were excited. Tim programmed in the Taco John's Civic Center and off we went to do a little skating. Well, we just thought we were going to ice skate this morning. We arrived at the complex only to find that the skating rink had recently been shut down. I was so heartbroken because we were looking forward to trying something new together plus I just wanted to see if I could still do it ! Oh well, this kind of stuff happens every so often. People don't update the internet and old brochures are still out there floating around town but we were not going to let it get us down. We just made our way back out to the highway and off to our next destination. We had seen a few billboards on the road and read about a place called Terry's Bison Ranch on the internet so we headed over to check it out. Immediately upon arriving at the ranch we saw a few camels out in the field grazing alongside a huge herd of bison. We thought that was pretty cool since you don't really get to see camels everyday. The ranch was set up like a little old western town and it was really cute. We headed for the gift shop and main office to see what all there was to do. They offered bus rides through the bison fields so you could get up close and personal with the animals but we opted not to do that ride because we had just spent some time with the bison at Yellowstone. Plus, the one that was standing in the middle of the road in front of us was about as up close and personal as we wanted to get ! We did however choose to go on another horseback ride. This time we were going into the Wyoming backcountry and I was so excited. Tim paid the ranch hand and we made our way to the stables to pick out our horses. Tim ended up on a beautiful paint horse named Sammy. You should have seen him mount that horse like he was an old pro. I was actually very impressed at his cowboy skills. It was my turn next and although I did eventually get on Big Red, my mounting abilities are not quite as graceful as Tim's are. Of course I am at a small disadvantage since my legs are half as long as his !! We were both mounted on our horses and ready to hit the trail. We had a really sweet but very young trail guide named Ashley. She was from North Carolina and ended up at Terry's Bison Ranch in Wyoming through a help wanted add in the newspaper. Although she was very young and I was very aprehensive it all worked out great in the end. She took us through fields and mountains and across little streams and it was just beautiful. There's just something about being on a horse out in the country...........it's so peaceful and relaxing. By the time we finished up our two hour ride my bottom was hurting and we were both starving. We did a little exploring around the ranch and then made our way back to the motorhome. It was about 4:30 now so we decided to go ahead and eat a late lunch/early dinner. We headed on over to the local Olive Garden in downtown Cheyenne where we enjoyed a delicious meal. Olive Garden never lets me down !! It was time to get back on the road so Tim followed the signs to Interstate 80 South and we were headed straight for Nebraska. As we were driving down the highway, just before crossing the state line, we looked over and saw the biggest statue of Mother Mary I have ever seen in my life. Tim pulled off the next exit and went back for us to check it out. There were no signs anywhere but what we found was an amazing religious park with some of the most beautiful statues I have ever seen. It was an outdoor area that was somewhat overgrown but you could tell it was once a very nice place. There were a couple of kneeling benches so I took the opportunity to say a few prayers. It looks as if maybe at sometime someone held the occasional mass out there. To the right of the enormous Mother Mary statue was a open overgrown field with a concrete sidewalk that took you through the fourteen stations of the cross statues. It had been a while since I'd seen the stations of the cross so I really wanted to take the time to go through them and refresh my memory. Tim was standing beside me and said "I don't know about all that Catholic stuff so I'm gonna go inside and take a poo while you have a little alone time". That was fine with me so he went on over to the motorhome while I began at station number one. I walked through the stations capturing pictures of each one and reflecting on their meanings. As I approached station number eleven, I was reading about how Jesus was nailed to the cross and was in deep reflection but that soon came to a screeching halt. Just as I snapped the picture of the statue, I heard a rattling noise right by my foot. I looked down and much to my surprise there was a rattlesnake staring me right in the eyes !!!! I have NEVER been so terrified in all my life. He went back to strike at me just as I took off running and screaming for dear life. I had my cute little shiny pink filp-flops on and he was only a few inches away from my toes. I guess you could say that Jesus was literally watching over me at that moment because I narrowly escaped a potentially deadly rattlesnake snakebite today. I ran all the way back to the motorhome screaming for Tim the entire way and not stopping until I made it to the door. He came running from the bathroom but he couldn't understand a word I was saying. Honestly, I don't really remember what I was doing at that point but he said I was hysterical, and babbling and holding my chest so he thought I was having a heart attack. I eventually got the word "snake" out of my mouth and he calmed me down enough for me to tell him what happened. The first thing out of his mouth was "did you get a picture of it ?". I couldn't believe it !! Then he wanted to know where the snake was so he could go look for it. I pointed across the field and told him it was right beside station number eleven so that crazy fool headed out there, in flip-flops and shorts, looking for a dang rattlesnake. I jumped in the motorhome and grabbed the binoculars and watched as he slowly made his way around the walkway in search of the snake. He had the camera around his neck and he was determined to find that rattlesnake and get a picture of him. As if my heart wasn't beating fast enough, I had to sit there and watch my husband hunt down a poisonous snake. I was hoping that I had scared the snake more than he scared me and Tim would not encounter him. I kept telling him not to go after it because I had no earthly idea what to do if he got bit. At the time, I didn't even know what state we were in !! Luckily, the rattlesnake did not come out to play with Tim and he wore tired of looking and finally made his way back to the motorhome. I was still shaking and panting and trying to get myself together but Tim comforted me and assured me I was going to be okay. I am telling you it was CRAZY !! Well, I wanted to experience a "first" with Tim today so I guess we accomplished that little wish..............I would have much rather done the ice skating ! That was enough excitement to last me a lifetime and you better believe I won't be leaving Tim in the motorhome to take a poo ever again ! Once Tim gave up on finding the rattler, we made our way back out to Interstate 80 and crossed the Nebraska border within a few minutes. He continued to drive as I continued to re-gain my composure and we soon found ourselves at the Wal-Mart in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. I watched the sunset from the dining room table while Tim changed the oil in the generator. I had to take two Advil to calm my nerves and after watching a little TV, I quickly fell asleep. Tim soon followed and all was well. We have a few things on our agenda for tomorrow along with a ton of driving so I pray that we don't have another blow-out and tomorrow will bring us lots of great memories to share. Until then..........night night and sleep tight !

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