Busy Weekend in Lander

Hard at work

Town was bustlin’ this weekend. Madisen (my co-worker) and I have had a bad case of cabin fever; the rain and cold, and now snow, has not let up in almost a week. We drove to the next town over, Hudson (pop. 400) to partake in some rowdy western swing and line dancing. The fad among the teens at the El Toro Bar and Restaurant is to dance with your spurs on. Spurs on the dance floor looks about as ridiculous and shocking as a young girl with a can of Skoal in her jeans pocket. However, after learning a few new steps from said girl, it became evident that the reason for the spurs is that when you give the floor a swift kick, you get a jingle to match your step and the beat. Or maybe they just don’t like to take their spurs off.

Brewfest was going on as well: over 20 regional breweries, 20 bucks for a pint glass and all day drinking. But being the morning after the El Toro, my attendance was not physically possible.

My new co-worker, Red, came to the ranch and swooped me up and we went to the Wrangler Team Roping Championships in town. We watched different divisions of ropers work some pretty tough steers. His friends, a nice family of local Quarter Horse breeders and very accomplished headers and heelers, were my company throughout the day. I was surprised to see the high level of competition balanced with the sense of fun and community, beer was plentiful, children played in the dirt below the bleachers and cowdogs were everywhere: it was a really nice scene.

Ropers waiting in the hole

Flooding in Lander, the Little Popo Aggie River, parallel to where the National Guard has set up operations.

To top off all the happenings in town, Fremont County has been dealing with the Wind River and Little Popo Aggie River flooding. The governor of Wyoming has declared it a state disaster, having called in the National Guard. National Guardsmen are all over town, they have set up tents, camps and worksites near the rodeo grounds. I met a young Guardsmen this morning while re-fueling. He knocked into a rack of chips and smirked at me, and quickly glanced over to see if his captain had noticed. “Just don’t tell anyone I knocked things over, ok”, he later choked out from the driver’s seat of the huge Hum-Vee. Turns out he’s from a ranch family in Nebraska, and with all the spare time they have when not filling sandbags, or making a mess in a Lander store, he wishes he could get out to the ranch and do a little work. In all honesty, we could use the help.