Terry Bison Ranch, Wyoming

Sheriff checking Murray's credentials

Bison welcome to Wyoming

Camel following our train

2 day old Bison calf

Storms looming

Hills behind our campground 'whited-out' - our RV in foreground

Same scene as above, 4 hrs later

Before we left the tiny town of Seibert, Colorado, Murray decided to take a walk around the town taking photos of the derelict buildings that were mere remnants of earlier days. Being a stranger in town, his photo-taking was reported to the local sheriff, who pulled up beside Murray and asked for his ID. It is a very rare occasion that he doesn't have his driver's licence on him, but this was one of them. He was escorted back to our RV so the sheriff could sight & phone in his Aus driving licence - which he did. Within minutes of the sheriff arriving, his deputy pulled up in front of our RV as well. He didn't want to miss the excitement. Obviously very bored I'd say! Thankfully the credentials checked out - yes, we were valid tourists, but we were left wondering just what is hidden in this tiny town of around 180 people that they have to be so vigilant and wary of strangers. Someone had phoned the 'strangers' presence in to the sheriff. The campground hosts came over to apologise, but we just ticked it up to another experience, and I will put an ankle ball & chain on Murray for future forays!

Putting that behind us, we headed west towards Denver, and caught a glimpse of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. Only the loftiest peaks had snow left on them. We were pleased to veer north from the built-up traffic around Denver and enter into the vast 'cowboy' plains of Wyoming. Our chosen campground is right on the Colorado/Wyoming border, and we were glad to pull in, as the snow flurries were increasing. Overnight we had our first-ever experience of the water lines freezing as we woke up to find we had no water coming into the RV from the shore water. We switched to our own water pump and fresh water holding. Murray gently disconnected the hose and found it was frozen where it connected with the RV. After waiting until after sunrise and letting the air temperature warm up, it was all back to normal. However, lesson learnt. Tonight we will disconnect the water hose before we go to bed, and reconnect in the morning. While we are staying at one of our favourite fishing spots in North Dakota we rely on our water pump for weeks at a time, so a few nights here & there are no problem at all.

Our current campground in located within the Terry Bison Ranch Resort. We thought it would offer a different experience as they have train rides out to their bison herd, and have a 'Senators Restaurant' on site where you can order your choice of lean buffalo meat. We took the midday train ride out to see the bison and passed some of their other animals - camels, ostriches, horses and llamas. There was a baby bison only 2 days old - it was born on Easter Sunday. If you are quick you will pick him out in the video below. En route we saw prairie dogs peeping out of their holes, rabbits, canada geese and a whole flock of red-winged blackbirds. They are smaller than our aussie blackbirds, and it is not until they fly off that you see a bright red triangle under each wing. Very pretty. Fortunately it was fine weather when we boarded the little train, but while we were out watching the bison, we could see ominous clouds looming in the distance, and by the time we got back to the campground, the snow flurries had 'whited-out' the distant hills. A few hours later, the sun was out, and everything looked clean & bright. Dinner was very pleasant: Murray had bison ribs and I had bison sirloin. Nice & tender.