Arriving in Wyoming, I had higher hopes. I did enjoy my first weekend - the drive in, the exploring in the snowy park area. And then work began.

The teacher - well - this teacher proved to me that these awards have nothing to do with quality instruction and everything to do with politics. A kindergarten teacher with no warmth? No personality? Who doesn't seem to actually teach anything herself in a 6 hour day? So I'll move on from her.

By Tuesday, a storm had moved in and Cheyenne got about 10" of snow. This was new. I've lived where it snowed, but I didn't have to get up in the morning and drive to work in it. I'm a horrible passenger, control freak that I am, so I chose to do the driving. Anti-lock brakes are scary if you aren't ready for them to engage. Just saying.

It was a beautiful Wednesday morning, pristine snow blanketing the parking lot of the Holiday Inn. Then they plow it up, sand over it, and drive on it and the whole town looks like it's covered in chunky brown shit. Yep, that's my memory of Cheyenne.

The bosses arrived for Thursday, and for our big dinner after the long work day, we went out to Terry Bison Ranch. We were almost alone there. One other party of 8 chose to dine there as well. It's a working bison ranch, with real bison and cows and horses and llamas and chickens and who knows what else. The inside of the restaurant (which serves bison... and rocky mountain oysters) looked like something from an old western movie. And the owner (Terry?) looked exactly like Sam Shepherd in cowboy drag. It was a pleasant enough evening. I'm glad I did it, so I don't have to go back.