A while back you might remember that Dan the Man and I won the KGWN Cutest Couple Contest. If you missed it, go back to
this post.
The prize for the contest was a one nights stay with dinner at the
Vee Bar Guest Ranch, near Centennial, WY.
Well, on Saturday, March 17th, Dan the Man and I jumped in our pickup truck, left our ranch and headed to the Vee Bar Ranch for dinner and a quiet night away. The weather was perfect for this time of year. It was in the 70's here at home, which meant it would be in the high 50's to 60's in Centennial.
So after we finished the chores on Saturday morning, we headed towards Wyoming! Mind you we are only 4 miles from the WY state line... but the road we take to Cheyenne takes us south and we stay in Nebraska for about 20 miles before we hit WY. Our plan was to eat lunch in Cheyenne before we went on to Centennial.
Earlier in the morning, I had asked Dan the Man what he wanted to do in Cheyenne besides eat lunch. He said he didn't care, I could do what ever I wanted! Oh howdy, did that ever give me some ideas! So I said "ANYTHING?" And he said, "Except spend money!" That sure turned my smile into a frown! What fun is shopping if you aren't allowed to spend money? Well, I still wanted to go to BIG LOTS! and see if they had any dishes I could not leave the store without for the newly remodeled kitchen. (Yes, a post will be coming on that.)
By the time we got to Cheyenne, it was lunch time, so we ate first. I had always noticed a little cafe in the shopping center where BIG LOTS! and Hobby Lobby is and thought it sounded like a delightful place to eat lunch, so I suggested it to Dan the Man. He was game because he was hungry. It is called The Pie Lady Restaurant. The restaurant seemed clean and the staff was friendly. Decor was country with several vintage aprons decorating the walls. The menu was simple, nothing extravagant, modestly priced. Several choices for pie. I had spinach quiche and Dan the Man had a sandwich with coleslaw and chips. Food came, quiche was blah and Danny's sandwich wasn't anything special. Looked like one we could have assembled at home. Twenty some dollars later (not including tip) we decided that we probably would just have pie next time we went. If there would be a next time. I am sad to say that I can not recommend The Pie Lady for lunch. I wonder what the pie taste like though?
Anyway, after lunch, we went to BIG LOTS! I did not find any dishes for the kitchen, which was a good thing since I was not allowed to spend money! ;-) Not only am I dying to get new dishes for the kitchen, but I would also like to get a new couch for the livingroom. They had some at BIG LOTS! so Danny and I tried them all. Danny complained about each one since he was not going to spend any money. Some men are just not any fun to shop with... Next time, I'll go with my sister!
After our exhausting shopping spree (not) we headed to Centennial. Cnetennial is about an hour from Cheyenne. When we got to the turn off for the ranch which is before the town of Centennial, we decided to go ahead and drive into town to check it out. We had been there once before when we lived in Laramie, but that was over 13 years ago. We were not surprised to see that town had not changed much. It is very small and very quite. We didn't see any stores or shops that I felt like I just had to go into.
We then continued past town into the Medicine Bow National Forrest. Saw lots of hiking trails and great camping spots for the summer. The ski area,
Snowy Range Ski Area, is only about 6 miles from town. We drove to the base of the ski area and it seemed to be pretty busy. Looked like a nice ski area for a beginning skier or one like me, who has not skied in years. Might have to think about going back so time and actually skiing! Except Dan the Man has only skied once or twice in his life... not sure I could talk him into it or not.
After our trip to the mountain, we turned around and headed back down to the valley and the Vee Bar Guest Ranch. We checked in at the Lodge and then were shown to our cabin on the river, just a short walk (on a boardwalk, now I want a boardwalk from our house to the garage!) from the lodge. I love the sound you make when you walk on a boardwalk. I know... call me weird. The guy who checked us in, sorry that I didn't get his name, I think he might have said Eric, said... "That is your cabin down there, the one with the light on, #5." Awww, how sweet was that? They left the light on for us. Eric, that's what I'll call him, said the cabin was unlocked, they did not lock anything up here. He told us we could lock ourselves in, but to please not lock ourselves out. Hmmm, I thought, I wasn't quite sure what to think about that... especially since I am so use to locking my room when I am not staying at home, especially when I leave the room. Oh well... I guess they must not have a problem with thief here.
Eric also showed us where the John Wayne Saloon was, we were welcome to go there and get a beer, wine, soda or beverage anytime we wanted. The bar was self-serve, so Eric told us just to write down what we had and it would be added to our tab at the end of our stay.
We got our bag out of the truck and went to our cabin. It was so cute, clean and cozy. I loved it! There were three rooms, one bedroom with two twin beds, the bathroom which even had a washer and dryer in it and the main room which was a sitting room with a queen sized bed.
Here is the queen sized bed. It was very comfy!
Dan the Man in the sitting area reading about the ranch and it's activities. In front of him and to his right was a gas wood stove which heats the room. They had it turned on for us. Very cozy!
Sitting on the tree trunk end table was this sweet card. What a nice touch!
Here is the other side of the sitting area, there is the gas stove, and great view of the river.
There is a door just to the left of this chair that takes you out to the covered porch
which has two adirondack chairs facing the river which is just a stones throw away.
Here is the room with the twin beds.
The bathroom, double sink, shower, small refrigerator, washer/dryer, coffee maker (important!).
Cute sign where the extra towels for the hot tub were kept in the bathroom.
Oh and there was even laundry detergent for you to use in this closet.
View of the river from our front porch.
View of our cabin from the lodge. These cabins are duplexes, so this is actually cabin #4 and #5.
Hot tub which is located between the lodge and the cabins on the river.
When we first got to the lodge, there were several people in the hot tub.
I think they had just got back from skiing.
The weather was perfect for the hot tub.
After we got settled in our cabin, we decided to go for a walk around the grounds.
It was way too nice to sit inside the cabin or the lodge.
Oh, did you notice there was NO television in the cabin?
I'm not even sure that I saw one in the lodge.
No wait, I did see one... an old maybe 13 inch one that looked like it was hooked up to a VCR.
Our first stop was the barn area where they do the trail rides.
I actually had Danny talked into going on a trail ride Sunday morning after breakfast,
but unfortunately the wrangler who did the trail rides in the off season was on vacation
so we had to settle for these two horses.
Come to find out, the one horse was a roping horse
and Dan the Man had to impress his Country Chicken Girl
with his roping skills!
After Dan the Man showed the Country Chicken Girl
the stuff he was made of,
she was so impressed that she
immediately fell in love, head or heels... again.
I forgot my tripod so I had to use whatever fence post or stump I could find.
I thought we ended up with some halfway decent pictures of ourselves.
Just past the barn, we found some of the ranch animals.
They were way more interested in their hay than in us. Only the one
little donkey came over to have his backed scratched.
All the others totally ignored us.
The Lodge.
One of the sitting areas in the Lodge.
On the piano.
Made me laugh.
and yes, I had to play the piano, but not during dinner!
PS, the piano needed tuned.
Fireplace and sitting area in the dining room.
Oh! and lookie here...
a ranch cat!
His name is Kitty Boy and he was so very lovey-dovey and well behaved.
He only lingered around the people who wanted him around... and you know me!
Kitty Boy of Vee Bar Guest Ranch
Don't worry about having your cell phone up there...
No service.
Lots of antique decor.
Loved this piece with the dried lavender.
After our walk we went to the John Wayne Saloon to wet our whistle.
I left my camera in the cabin so I didn't get any pictures of the saloon.
There is a bar, several tables, a pool table and several board games.
Danny & I had a beer and played a game of Yahtzee!
There were some other people in the saloon while we were in there and before
we left, we stuck up a conversation. They were there, 3 retired couples, from North Platte and
Kearney, NE enjoying a few days skiing at the ski area and staying at the Ranch.
They had done this trip many times before and always stay at the Ranch.
We told them how we had won the contest!
They made us promise to show them the winning picture at dinner since you could
get wi-fi in the Lodge.
After our game of Yahtzee! we took some time to enjoy the deck and watch the river.
Next thing we knew this energetic door came barreling down the boardwalk from the lodge
with a stick in her mouth. She immediately ran up to Dan the Man and dropped
the stick at his feet. She must have sensed that Danny was a great stick thrower.
All was fun until the dog got a little aggressive and bit Danny's hand off!!!
JUST JOKING!
She really didn't bite his hand off, she didn't even bite him,
but in this picture it sure looks like she is biting his hand off.
Trigger, Vee Bar Guest Ranch dog.
Danny soon tired of playing fetch with her, even though she gave
him a pleading look with her big brown eyes
(don't feel bad Trigger, Dan the Man doesn't fall for my puppy dog look either.)
Danny told her she needed to go find some kid to play with,
so she did!
Dinner was served at 7 pm at the Lodge.
When we showed up our table was not hard to find.
Oh look, another card. Great touch!
We even had a dinner guest...
look carefully past Danny to the left.
Yep, there was Kitty Boy peeking over the back of the couch.
Hee, hee! So stinkin' cute.
And that is where he stayed until we were done with dinner.
Dinner was fantastic!
We started out with a trip to the soup and salad bar
Now I can't remember what the soup was, I want to say potato and cabbage, but what ever it was
it was delicious. We both ordered Ribeye steaks which were huge and grilled perfectly and even branded with a little VeeBar steak branding iron. Asparagus and twiced baked potaotes were the side dishes.
Danny was too full for dessert, but I didn't eat all of my steak so I would have room for dessert.
I chose Irish Creme Cheesecake, heavenly!
After dinner, we waddled back to our cabin.
The gas stove was burning and made for a romantic setting.
Morning came and my internal alarm clock went off at 6 am.
I showered and decided to go for a walk while Danny got ready.
Sunrise at the Vee Bar Guest Ranch
Wildlife I saw on my walk. I also saw four deer, but they were too far off
in the pasture for a decent picture with my camera.
I walked past the donkeys and horses to see if they would be any more sociable in the morning.
The horses we STILL more interested in their hay than in me.
Boo hoo.
On my way back toward the cabin and lodge I was enjoying the peace and quite of my surroundings along with the smells of the river, dirt, composting leaves and pine trees. Awww, inhale deeply and close your eyes... can you smell it? So fresh, clean and beautiful. Wish I could smell that every day.
As I neared the Lodge a different fragrance filled my nose and made my mouth water...
BACON and breakfast.
Awww... someone was up and out of bed making breakfast just for me.
Why does that make me so happy?
When I got back to the cabin, Danny was ready to head to the Lodge.
Breakfast consisted of a buffet which included cinnamon rolls (hot out of the oven and still in the pan), blueberry sweet bread, fresh fruit salad, scrambled eggs, BACON and TONS of it, tater tots, home-made salsa which was delicious, yogurt, bagels and toast. There might have been more, but now I can't remember. Oh and of course there was a couple of kinds of juice, hot coffee and tea.
Kitty Boy was in his usual spot on the couch and the fire was going making for a beautiful Sunday breakfast.
Too bad our stay was so short. I could have stayed for several days and had a relaxing time fishing, hiking, sleeping, watching the river from the porch, playing board games and pool, hot tubing, reading by the fire place or by the river, eating delicious meals and enjoying a laid back lifestyle.
I hope we can go back again some day.
I highly recommend the Vee Bar Guest Ranch for any one.
So, from the bottom of our hearts, Dan the Man and his Country Chicken Girl want to thank each and everyone of you who voted for us. We could have never won the contest without such great friends!
Thank you!
... and they lived happily ever after.
THE END
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