What kind of welcome could I expect in Cheyenne? (Laramie: best town, sale)

[lovethewest]

Wyo2008 sounds like a little girl to be honest. "Ooh, it's too cold and windy!" But whatever, when Wyo2008 leaves, everyone will be happier. My question is, why did you move here to begin with?? You must have heard something about Wyoming. No, there's not too many shopping malls, the wind tends to blow, and yes, it does get cold in the winter (imagine that!).

[LoveBoating]

Well, from a former pro rodeo man, if you move to Cheyenne and like cowboy hats and boots, you will be fine. Actually, moving to anywhere in Wyoming, Montana or Texas and liking those things, you will be accepted very quickly. In other words, you WILL "fit right in" if you "look the part" of the cowboy style that Wyoming is about. Obviously, not everyone will have that look, but many do......heck, it's Wyoming!!
Good Luck in the Cowboy State

[WyoMama]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

Well, from a former pro rodeo man, if you move to Cheyenne and like cowboy hats and boots, you will be fine. Actually, moving to anywhere in Wyoming, Montana or Texas and liking those things, you will be accepted very quickly. In other words, you WILL "fit right in" if you "look the part" of the cowboy style that Wyoming is about. Obviously, not everyone will have that look, but many do......heck, it's Wyoming!!
Good Luck in the Cowboy State

We wear anything we want here in Cody - I wear mostly Harley clothing to "goin' to Sunday meeting clothes". But we are laid back & nobody looks down on ppl normally for not "looking western". yes, there are a lot of "horse ppl" - BIG deal in a lot of areas but they all hang out together - big clique. But they can have it. TOOO expensive - would rather feed gas into my iron horse. But you don't have to be all "western looking" (we call that "drugstore cowboy") to fit in. Just be yourself.

Wyo2008, I'm sure the end of your internship cannot come quick enuff for you & hope you find your perfect place. I did - HERE. I've lived from coast to coast at one time or another & other than Ohio when I was a kid & lived in "mayberry in northwest appalachia" nothing has ever felt like home since until Wyo. It is definitely a place you need to be ready to live & take the good with the bad - and there IS ALWAYS some bad. Aren't you glad there IS Amazon so you can still read? OK, yeah - a telescope in a high rise to look into others' windows (not an accusation but know is a pretty common pasttime in bigger cities - I did live in Denver area for 10 LOOONGGG YEARS) & putting your Ipods, Bose C3's, or bluetooth receivers in your ears to create your own "space" (per the ads...) is a normal thing. And kids will be kids. I listen to my music loud to & I'm 51. I happen to have a great stereo in my truck & yeah - it thumps some & I don't mind any music except jazz. I am happy for you that there is a light at the end of your tunnel. My best to you. But I do feel bad for you that you have found a fear in the unknown - you are losing your sense of adventure.

[Heit]

I don't have to wear cowboy duds to live in Cheyenne. Heck, I wear shorts, tennis shoes and t-shirts and so does most everyone in Cheyenne. Thinking you need to wear cowboy clothing to fit in is stereotyping Cheyenne. Most people in town do not wear "western" clothing. The reality is that no one cares what folks wear in Cheyenne and we all(mostly) get along. Like WyoMama said, "just be yourself".

[Wild Hare]

Originally Posted by Heit

I don't have to wear cowboy duds to live in Cheyenne. Heck, I wear shorts, tennis shoes and t-shirts and so does most everyone in Cheyenne. Thinking you need to wear cowboy clothing to fit in is stereotyping Cheyenne. Most people in town do not wear "western" clothing. The reality is that no one cares what folks wear in Cheyenne and we all(mostly) get along. Like WyoMama said, "just be yourself".

i agree. the majority of the western clothing wearers are the ranching community in the outskirts of cheyenne and you hardly see them because they are working their land. most people in cheyenne are small city people, casual dress and professional and the like.

[LoveBoating]

Ok, ok.......you don't have to. The first time I was in Cheyenne, I did have my cowboy hat, Wranglers and boots on and (to admit it) I was sort of stunned not to see more people dressed that way, but "Oh well" I decided. At that time, I was headed to Montana to look at some horses and spent a weekend in Cheyenne. One thing was for sure, I had a great Friday/Saturday night at The Cowboy nightclub AND what a delicious steak I ate there. The next few times I was in Cheyenne, my wife was with me (I was single the first time). We were there for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Parade and Rodeo. It was too hot for us to wear our Wranglers, so it was shorts, baseball caps and tennis shoes. I did feel a little weird going to Cheyenne dressed this way, but did remember the first time I was in Cheyenne and how I only seen a few folks dressed in cowboy gear.
A lot of the folks watching the parade had on shorts and tennis shoes also.
So, you folks are right. Sorry!
Actually, you are right about the "wanna-be" look. I seen more girls/ladies with cowboy hats on in nightclubs in Southern California than I did in nightclubs in either Wyoming or Montana........quite the surprise to me!!

[Wild Hare]

yep, mostly the ones wearing the cowboy garb are the tourists during frontier DAZE.......

[Heit]

Lots of folks "dress up" for Frontier Days and I think it's cool. It all goes hand-in-hand with the big event. The western wear adds to the overall feel of the rodeo and that's a good thing. For me however, I wore a Hawaiian shirt and shorts last year! Ya never know, I might give it a go one year. It's all good in Cheyenne!

[msdmckee]

Originally Posted by Wyo2008

I hope to move in August. That is when I will be done with my post-graduate school internship. If I were to move beforehand (and I think about it each and every single day), I would quite possibly have to begin it anew. I've been here since last August. I really don't want to start again. I came here with a very open mind. I have never seen more depressing, drab people. I'm hoping to move back to New York, California or Alabama. Wyoming has instilled a fear of the unknown in me. I want familiarity now. I know there are decent people here. I know a few personally, and genuinely kind of pity them. I can't imagine what they like about this godforsaken place, and suspect that they just don't know that there are places where the weather isn't deplorable almost all the time and where there are interesting activities and pleasant surroundings.

I love reading (I think I've become the best customer of both Alibris and Amazon since moving here - there certainly aren't any decent bookstores. There isn't any bookstore period in this town. In New York, I used to read on my balcony a lot. In Auburn, I loved reading outside on my enclosed back patio. Likewise in California, Mexico and Spain. Here, if it isn't freezing, the wind is blowing at hurricane force; and passers by look at one if he/she were a freak anyway. I actually enjoy nature, but found I could enjoy it more even in urban areas. What is the point if it is too freezing and windy to experience it even remotely comfortably? I also get tired of the wannabe thug youths with their stupid thumping base stereo systems. There is nothing quite as pathetic as a country assed hick youth striving for the urban "gangsta" motif, or thinking they can attain it as such.

I am wondering, dear person, if you have ever seen the TV show "Northern Exposure"........the New York Jewish Doctor who is "sentenced" to Alaska to serve 4 years in return for paying off his medical schooling???? He suffered from massive culture shock, as I suspect, you are suffering.

Years ago a friend sent his son out here from Cleveland to spend some time in the summer and gain a different perspective on life. I witnessed first hand the panic of this boy as he looked at short buildings, endless sky and a never-ending prairie where he could not feel safe. I had mocked folks before, but not after I saw the very real fear he felt. Years later, I asked another transplant what they thought when they moved here from an highly populated eastern area..........and the response was........I felt small. No one ever, ever likes to feel small.

I hope over the years you can gain a different perspective on your time in WY. Just like Dr. Fleischmann in Northern Exposure did.

[WyoMama]

I have to agree with you msdmckee - was EXACTLY the opposite with feeling small because of the wide open spaces when my daughter moved to the Grass Valley / Nevada City area of central CA - north of Sacramento in the thick timber. She felt very lost & hidden & frightened by the fact there were too many places for ppl to hide & couldn't STAND not being able to see "forever". So it does work both ways. Is all in what you are accustomed to & your own comfort zone. I grew up in northwest appalachia in south-central ohio until I was 12 & was all timber & hills & I loved it - lots of forts, hiding, etc. But with the humidity there the one thing that TERRIFIED me was fog. And decades later fog still terrifies me. Even when we are parked up on a mountain with nobody for tens of miles around, hidden in the trees. I get in a fetal position as best as I still am able and hide my eyes. If I am in my truck I do the same & lock the doors. Is an ingrained terror from childhood that WILL not go away at this point - yet. Yet, I don't mind particularly driving in fog-like conditions. Go figger!!! I just really hope Wyo2008 finds his niche & can enjoy his(? - not sure if man or woman) again. Think you are a man?? God Bless...I'm sure you have had a positive impact on ppl's lives in Rawlins - or elsewhere - and not even known it. It can hardly be helped at some time or another.