Jeff's Blahg

Kristie and I decided it was time for a vacation… with no kids. So here we are, in Cheyenne, WY. You might wonder why we would choose here of all places. Well, it turns out that there is quite a bit going on here for the next week or so with the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days.

First of all, the Rodeo is the main draw… it is the largest outdoor rodeo there is. I had no idea they even had rodeo grounds so big… I am not sure the exact capacity, but it is over 25 thousand. We went to the rodeo yesterday – there were 16 events. They cycle through the events, doing most of them at least 2 times. A cool thing is that they keep the thing moving… its not like a track meet .

They have concerts every night. So, here is where the nice bonuses come in. The night we got here we went to the Bon Jovi concert. I have always wanted to see them in concert, I even had tickets once when I lived in Tucson, AZ - but wasn’t able to go in the end. You have to understand, the Slippery When Wet album was the FIRST cassette tape I ever purchased. I remember getting home and having my Dad looking it up and down and sitting and listening to every song with me to make sure it was OK for me to have. It passed the test for the most part… besides that suggestive beginning to ‘Social Disease’. Anyway, from that point on, they were my favorite band for long time… until Def Leppard took the title away some years later (they have since lost it). I even had the poster to the right hanging in my room for while… until it just disappeared one day (thanks Mom). Well…. onto the concert. I have been to quite a few concerts, everything from Def Leppard (6 times), to Neil Diamond to U2. I must say that Bon Jovi is right there with the best… which I would say is U2. They really know how to work with the fans and get people into the concert and involved. It was a blast. They sang many of the great old songs, and 3 from their new album, Lost Highway (which is actually VERY good). My only complaint at all is that they only played for an hour and a half… a little on the short side.

The next concert we are going to is Reba McEntire. Kristie is a big fan of hers, and I happen to like her music too. So, I’ll give a review of that concert in a coming post.

We have just bummed around and relaxed. There is a huge railroad influence here… Union Pacific. They have a very nice station down town. We also went the ‘Wrangler’ store… now that was funny. Hicks galore. I have taken a number of pictures that might get posted someday… wow… beautiful mullets and lots of drunk cowboys… .