What's In Gillette, Wyoming?

A better question.  What is in Wyoming?  Not as many people as live in the Capital Region!  It is a sparsely populated state.  Even its largest cities would barely fill an NFL football stadium.  There are practically no taxes.  Yes.  Everyone pays federal taxes.  After that I suspect the largest, out of pocket expense might be meeting the deductible on automobile insurance.  There are many hail storms in Wyoming, especially in Cheyenne.

In Boston terminology, that is a wicked powerful storm.  The body damage is enormous.  It's a rental with Nevada plates.  I wonder if the renter took the collision damage waiver.  It's parked out front of our hotel.

What else happens in Wyoming?  Fracking.  Big time.  As we journeyed from Cheyenne to Gillette we kept seeing large Halliburton trucks with drilling equipment or hoses and tanks.  We drove by countless numbers of fracking wells in the middle of pasture where cattle were grazing.  I hope those farmers are keeping an eye on their water tables.

And what about Gillette.  What does it offer?  A Wingate Hotel.  Why go there?  So we can get to see this:

Not my photo.  Mine will be here tomorrow.

It is a bit of a haul to get from Estes Park to Gillette.  And it is further still to Devil's Tower, The Badlands, Theodore Roosevelt NP and Mount Rushmore.  Gillette happens to be along the way.

So does Cheyenne, Wyoming, the state Capital and Capitol.  The Capitol is closed and will be until sometime in 2020 for major restoration and repairs.  However, the railroad museum is open and there are some interesting pieces of art out front.

Check out the name of the bar over the lady's shoulder.

There are quaint customs here.  The businesses like to remind visitors that we aren't that far removed from the wild west, especially in Wyoming.