Each July, the inhabitants of Cheyenne Wyoming and neighboring towns gather together to celebrate their Frontier roots and traditions. Many towns in Wyoming (and the West in general) have a version of Frontier Days, but none do it up as extravagantly as Cheyenne!

The 2012 lineup for Cheyenne Frontier Days will blow your mind. From July 20th through the 29th, there is an ENORMOUS schedule of events with everything you could possibly think of to entertain yourself and your family: concerts, rodeos, demonstrations, exhibitions, museums, rides, carnival games, and lots and LOTS of food. The FREE pancake breakfast comes highly recommended by the vast network of my husband’s cousins that live in Cheyenne and Laramie. They tell me it is the town of Cheyenne’s chance to practice their emergency response and disaster recovery skills, by feeding a vast amount of people in record time.

The concert lineup includes the Zac Brown Band, Journey, Hank Williams Jr., Blake Shelton, and Brad Paisley. Make sure you buy your tickets early!

If you’re coming in from out of town, I recommend the Little America Cheyenne or the Hampton Inn – they’re elegant yet reasonably priced. And if the whole frontier/western/cowboy thing isn’t for you… well, first visit during some other time – they’re ALL FRONTIER ALL THE TIME during this stretch of July. Second, check out the Historic Governor’s Mansion, the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, or the Wyoming State Museum.

Photo by Tiffany Joyce.

I’m sure you’ve seen the “Ask Friends Who Know” query box on Uptake’s main page. I thought I’d share with you my experience with using this feature. Yes! Not only do I WORK for Uptake, I’m also a customer!

My husband’s father passed away in early December, which prompted a last-minute road trip to Wyoming from our home in Arizona. Concerned about snowfall and road closures, I posted the following question in the “Ask Friends” query box at 9:22 a.m. on December 21st:

“What is the best winter driving route from Phoenix to Cheyenne? We’re trying to avoid treacherous routes and road closures!”

At 10:14 a.m. on the same day (less than an hour later!) I received this response from John Johnson:

“This time of year its best to avoid the mountains if it all possible. With this in mind, from Phoenix I would take Highway 89 North to Salt Lake City, then merge onto Northbound Interstate 15 towards Beaver.

Take exit 298 and merge onto Interstate 215 West (Belt Route), from there take exit 20A and merge onto Utah 201 East.

Continue on until you see the signs to merge onto Interstate 80 East. Take exit 358 (W. Lincolnway) off Interstate 80 and this will put you in downtown Cheyenne.”

We followed John’s recommended route EXACTLY and had precisely ZERO issues. We drove straight through to Salt Lake City (nearly 12 hours!) and stayed overnight at the Little America Hotel, which was just lovely. Then we drove the remaining way to our relative’s home in Wyoming.

John’s advice gave us considerable peace of mind in a trying time, and for that we were grateful. I had faith and confidence in his recommendations because of my faith and confidence in the Uptake community.

So. My advice to you all is to take advantage of that lovely feature the next time you find yourself traveling!

Photo credit: Tiffany Joyce

It’s been a busy week in the world of travel and internet musings, how could you possibly follow it all? That’s where we come in. We, meaning the too attractive for radio people at UpTake, collect the links and pitches that fill up our respective inboxes and then we share them with you, the reader. It’s like a service. You’re welcome.

If you would like to have your stories and information included here please email me at the address listed in the sidebar. I’m the editor. You can’t miss it.

And now, for your perusing pleasure, here are some of the headlines and stories from the past week in travel. Enjoy.

What’s happening at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort? (Jackson Hole)

National Geographic waxes fondly about NASA and the shuttle program. (NatGeo)

Like a good garage sale? How about one that is 50 miles long? The Finger Lakes region of New York state has what you need. (Cayuga County)

The Ritz-Carlton in Marana, AZ (where my dad is mayor!) lets you pick your own juice right off the tree. True story. (Ritz-Carlton)

British Airways has a great sale going on — it ends at midnight tomorrow! (BA.com)

It’s not too early to start thinking about Colorado’s fall foliage, and Box Canyon Lodge has some discounts. (Box Canyon Lodge)

Cave of the Mounds just outside of Madison, WI has some great family fun on the horizon! (Cave of the Mounds)

HotelBPM will soon be putting a spin on New York boutique hotels. (HotelBPM)

Going to Chicago? Feeling presidential? The Fairmont knows how to help. (Chicago Fairmont)

Tour the Disney Wonder cruise ship. (510 Families)

What to do on a family vacation to Copenhagen. (RookieMoms)

And there you have it. Travel well, friends.

Continuing where I left off…

Four – The folks who live in the places where you visit and vacation want you to love their home town. So, while travel guides and vacation packets from the local tourism bureau are all well and good, make sure that you ask around for the best things to see, places to stay, restaurants, clubs, shops, and the like. For example, my husband and I never would have experienced the Snake River Brewing Company in Jackson, Wyoming (and THE BEST wild game chili I have ever had IN MY LIFE), had we not asked a waitress to tell us where the locals like to hang out.

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