Black and white and dead all over: Emperor, the penguin of Little America, Wyoming

 Little America is one of those places that put up billboards for miles and miles along the flat landscape before you get there. Love places like that.

 Emperor the penguin greets visitors in the lobby of Little America.

They make the most of the incongruously delightful penguin motif.

Back in 1932, an entrepreneur named S.M. Covey opened a way-station for travelers along the Lincoln Highway 60 miles east of the Wyoming-Utah border, and since the area was rather desolate, he named it Little America, after Little America, Antarctica, Admiral Robert Byrd's barren South Pole outpost. In keeping with the arctic theme, Mr. Covey requisitioned a Mr. Isak Lysad, a member of byrd's expedition, to bring back a genuine living arctic penguin as his business's mascot. Unfortunately, on the trip between the two Little Americas, the bird perished before it could waddle on the Wyoming high plains. Undeterred, Mr. Covey had the bird stuffed, named him Emperor, and put him in a glass case in the main lobby, where he's been residing since the 1940s, as close as anyone can guess. A lot of Little America has changed since the early days: the Lincoln Highway is now Interstate 80, Mr Covey sold L.A. in 1963 to new owners who expanded it into a chain including a 5-star hotel in Salt Lake City, and gas has gotten a lot more expensive. But Emperor still sits in his glass case, as if to say "What are you looking at?" to the tourists who come by, many of whom are adults who saw him back when they were kids. And he's got his formal wear on just for the occasion.

Where the skies are not cloudy all day*: Scenes from Cheyenne, Wyoming

 *except for sometimes.

This was the first site we saw off the highway in Cheyenne, so we just knew the town would be cool.

They know their boots at the Wrangler shop...

...and a thing or two about buckskin, too.

The Visitor's Center is in an awesome old train station...

They're proud of their cowgirls in Cheyenne...

...just ask Jolene, Kay, Kitty or Ma.

We had a nice warm beverage at the Plains Hotel coffee shop with its great western decor...

Eventually, they opened the highway back up and we saw what Wyoming looks like in May.

Last year at this time we were on a wonderful cross-country trip through the west. We were planning on staying on Interstate 80 without any side trips through Wyoming but the weather intervened. Apparently in these parts, it can snow bad enough in mid-May to shut down the Interstate, especially between Cheyenne and Laramie, which is what happened to us. Happily, this gave us an excuse to spend a few hours in the awesome city of Cheyenne, the highlight of which was the Cowgirls of the West Museum, which we've posted about earlier. If we had known how cool this town was, we'd have scheduled a day or two to stop and stay awhile. It's not too big, not too small, and oozes with retro western charm, even on a cold, dank day. We'd love to go back, albeit when the weather's a bit more hospitable, to this friendly town that really knows how to say "Howdy, parders!".

Whoa, Nellie! Cheyenne, Wyoming's Cowgirls of the West Museum

Cowgirl up.

Ben, a museum volunteer, tells of his family's Western cowgirl pride.

How come they don't make TV lamps any more?

Check out the great names on this wallpaper: Jolene, Emmylou, Ginny, Kay, Ruby, Jesse, Red, Grace, Rosa, Nell and Ma.

Berva Dawn Sorenson rocks a pair of Wrangler Blue Bells.

If the definition of a cowboy is guts and a horse, then the definition of a cowgirl should be guts, a horse and a skirt. There's an ace-high spot in the wild and wooly western town of Cheyenne, Wyoming that pays tribute just such a gal that's as fine as cream gravy...the Cowgirls of the West Museum. In it, you'll find a heapin' helping of artifacts that pay tribute to the women of the American west. At a time when a woman simply sitting on a horse could be seen as scandalous, these gals were rootin', tootin', ropin' and shootin'. There's Bonnie Gray and her horse King Tut, jumping over convertible motor cars (with passengers!) in 1925. There's Elouise Fox Hastings, who ran away from home when she was 14 and joined the Irwin Bros. Wild West Show as a trick rider. There's Prairie Rose Henderson, who, in 1911, was awarded the title of world's champion bronc rider and was known as the queen of rodeo fashion. And there's Tad Lucas, the First Lady of Rodeo and the undisputed world trick rider from 1925-33. Not a namby-pamby in the bunch. But wait, pardners, there's more. They've got buckles, saddles, costumes, hats, and spurs that go jingle jangle jingle. And you can get in to see the whole shooting match for free, donations accepted kindly. So the next time you find yourself in Cheyenne, God willing and if the creek don't rise, mosey on over the Cowgirl Museum. Not to do so would be plumb loco.