We camped on a bison ranch in Wyoming!

We were more indecisive than ever as we tried to figure out our route east. Should we stop at some favorite destinations, or should we cover more distance faster? In the end, we had to face the fact that our cups were overflowing with all of the grand adventures we had this year. We needed to slow down by speeding up! That means covering some good distance as we head back to New England, but along the way put no pressure on ourselves to do more than we have the energy for.

We jumped on the closest interstate to our campground in Utah, I-80, and headed straight for Wyoming. With our journey being almost entirely main roads and the sun not setting until late in the evening, we saw nothing getting in our way of having a long full-day drive. I-80 is not a typical boring interstate, either. Wyoming landscapes are stunning. We passed through red rocks, mountains, plains, and badlands.

Our goal was to try and tackle 445 miles and end up in Cheyenne, where we would have ample choices of campgrounds, from national forest boondocking to private RV parks. Rain was in the forecast, and so we chose to stay off the rustic forest roads and opt for an RV park. And, since we had chosen to take the pressure to adventure off the table, we brought the adventure to us! We booked 2 nights at Terry Bison Ranch RV Resort. We cancelled plans to go to Yellowstone and the Black Hills this year, so this would be a different way of getting to see bison. Different in that these are ranch bison, not wild bison. But we soon realized, ranch bison have their perks.

Terry Bison Ranch is a working ranch and farm that oozes western vibes. RV sites and cabins are available for camping, and the ranch boasts a vast array of activities for all ages. There are restaurants on-site, a trading post, playgrounds, lawn games, a basketball court, a trout pond, and tons of animals. Visitors are invited to walk among the animal pens, or you can take a horseback or pony ride, but the famous animal activity is a train tour that meanders through the open fields where the buffalo roam.

We were expecting next-level kitsch. One reviewer on RV Life remarked that it seemed like the RV park was "only open to get ready for the rodeo in July," saying that nothing was very well-kept. We figured whatever we found there, we'd only be staying 2 nights anyway. How bad could it be? Well, if our first impression was any indication, we were right about the kitsch.

We got a water and electric site in a grassy area across from the cabins. We had little views of the distant bison between the cabins and were far enough away to not hear too much highway traffic. The full hookup sites were a little closer together, so we were happy to be tucked away on the grass. We also didn't have neighbors for 1 of our 2 nights.

The day after arrival, my morning walk doubled as exploration time, as I tried to orient myself and find all of the amenities. The entire ranch is 27,500 acres, but the resort part is only a small portion of that. Most of that acreage is sprawling land, which made everything feel secluded, despite being only minutes from I-29, I-80, and downtown Cheyenne. I chuckled at all of the quirky decor, but looking more closely, I realized that the RV Life reviewer had it all wrong. The ranch clearly takes pride in their offerings. The playgrounds were a little dated (hello, metal slides with steep drops and curves!) but they were clean and functioning. The "kiddie corral" area with all the lawn games was adorable. The trading post had a large store with tons of artisan crafts and souvenirs. The animal pens were exactly as dirty and smelly as one would expect, but the animals seemed well cared for.

We still wondered about the train tour, though. Would this be a stupid money-grab, or would it actually be fun and educational? Only one way to find out. After work, we headed over to the Trading Post to see what times were available. We booked the 3PM, which was perfect because storms were rolling in but should be letting up right around our start time. We wandered around the farm for a bit until the rain came, then hunkered down in our RV until we needed to go to the Train Depot across the resort.

The farm pens have a catwalk above them, and visitors are allowed to walk on it to get views of the animals from above. It didn't feel unsafe, but we did wonder how disgusting it would be for this thing to collapse and for us to fall into the muddy, poopy pits below.

As an add-on option to the train tour, we were able to purchase feed for the bison. This is no small grain feed like for goats. These are giant pellets about 2 inches long, made of alfalfa, molasses, corn, and vitamins. We didn't exactly know what the train ride – or the bison feeding – would entail, but we were about to find out!

The train was a few cars long and set up like a tram, completely open-air with bench seating. It moved slowly as our engineer and guide pointed out our surroundings and told us information about the ranch, its animals, and its history. The train took us past several of the animal pens and to the outskirts of the resort part of the ranch, where we passed the arena where they hold rodeos. The landscape was beautiful. All the springtime rains have made the grass extra green, and the sky was a deep blue-gray from the earlier thunderstorm. It felt quintessentially Wyoming.

As far as the actual meat-related operations go, they're kept distant from the tourist activities. This was a concern of mine as someone who doesn't eat red meat and typically avoids meat production farms and ranches. This is the 2nd largest bison meat producer in the world, and the largest is also located in Wyoming. So, if you are a meat eater and ever eat bison, chances are you're eating meat from Wyoming. All in all, we could tell that the bison are treated very well. The upside to these types of ranches is that the animals are raised in natural environments and are given appropriate feed and veterinary care.

Speaking of feeding...

Once we reached the bison pasture, our guide stopped the train and we were all able to stand up and walk to the sides of the train. We learned how to feed the bison, which is different than most farm animals. Bison don't grab the treats from people's palms. Instead, we hold the treats out and let them approach us. They lack upper teeth, so we don't risk getting bitten. Their tongues feel rough and very slobbery! Even though these are ranch bison, they still have wild temperaments, so we were prohibited from touching them except to feed them, and if they allowed, to give them a quick bop on the nose.

Many of the bison had recently given birth, so we got to see lots of calves. They were too young to eat the treats, but they partook in feeding time with their mamas.

These bison know that, when the train pulls up, it's going to be a good time! So much so, that when we're all done feeding them, the guide needs to throw extra treats to get the bison away from the train tracks! One of them refused to get off the tracks, even when he saw us approaching. That's so typical of bison temperament, always causing traffic jams.

Our guide told us that wildlife is plentiful on the ranch. They've spotted tons of deer, coyotes, foxes, and even a mountain lion that lives over the hill. We only saw one species of wildlife. Now it truly felt like we were in the Plains!

This time of year is when the baby prairie dogs start to come out of the dens, making our sighting extra adorable.

The ranch is located on the border of Wyoming and Colorado, with property in both states. On the train ride, we crossed over into Colorado and then back into Wyoming. There were welcome signs that looked exactly like the official ones you'd see on the highway! It was fun to cross state lines in the middle of a bison field.

The tour was far better than we expected and well worth the $20 price tag. The entire ride, feeding time included, lasted an hour. The pace was perfect. We never felt bored, nor did we feel rushed in our time with the bison. Our guide had been working on the ranch for a long time and knew all the ins and outs. He also shared some interesting anecdotes that we never would have known otherwise. Like, why is there a bison-shaped sculpture sitting on top of one of the distant hills? Turns out, Verizon contacted the ranch asking permission to put up a cell phone tower. They said sure, as long as it was in the shape of a bison. Verizon obliged, and we thank them because we surely appreciated the good cell service at our RV site!

We still wondered, though, if not as a cash grab or quirky attraction, then why the train? We got our answer at the end of the tour. The ranch owners knew that allowing visitors to have up close and personal interactions with the bison would be a unique learning experience. First, they tried horse-drawn wagon tours, but the bison would tip the wagons over. Then they tried bus tours, but during rainy weather when the ground gets wet, the busses would get stuck in the pasture, and it would be really difficult to get them out. And so, the ranch hired someone to construct a little railroad around the property, and the owner Ron Thiel, an engineer, constructed the train cars from scrap metal and old army cars. Problem solved!

We returned to our RV, washed our hands very thoroughly, and in the spirit of enjoying our adventures by going nowhere, ordered DoorDash to our campsite for the first time ever. We've known other RVers who have done this and always wondered if it would actually work. Of course, first we need to be at an RV park that allows people to just drive right in. No problem here, since the ranch is open to the public. We ordered ice cream cookie sandwiches from Mary's Mountain Cookies in downtown Cheyenne. It cost us some extra in fees, but having dessert delivered right to our doorstep was the perfect end to our day. Besides the DoorDasher needing to call us to ensure she found our site, everything went really smoothly. We will definitely try this method again when we're feeling the need to slow down and not leave the rig. Also, Mary's Mountain Cookies boasts quarter-pound cookies, and they're not kidding. Look at the size of this thing!

As for the taste, it wasn't quite our...taste. We've been mostly off refined sugar for 5 years, with the exceptions of desserts like this or traces of cane sugar in some of the foods we eat, but our palates have now become extra sensitive to foods loaded with sugar. They end up tasting like all sweetness and lose a lot of other flavor. That was the case here. They were also very firm. We bought a couple other cookies to save for later, and those were better when heated up to soften them. Still had the sugar problem, though. But if you're not "95% off cane sugar" like we are, you'd probably think differently, so don't let our weirdness deter you from giving them a try. They have several locations around the US.

Speeding up to slow down worked great. We covered a lot of ground in one drive day, but once we got to Terry Bison Ranch, we didn't leave the property. Everything we needed for a fun experience was right there, and it kept with a theme we've noticed quite a bit in this year's travels: Having no pressure or expectations helps us enjoy our time more. Actually, this time, we probably had relatively low expectations, and so it was easy for the ranch to exceed them. We know we can't eliminate expectations for all places, especially the big destinations like national parks. That's why heading out of the Rockies and into the Great Plains worked great for us. We felt we could drive on through without stopping at tons of places, but when we did stop, we had an awesome time. Terry Bison Ranch felt local, but people could still seek it out as a destination and be very satisfied. If you camp here and want a grander bucket-list adventure, you're only an hour and a half from Rocky Mountain National Park and Denver. You're also right next door to Medicine Bow National Forest. But we wanted nothing more than to stay put. During this trip east, slowing down won't mean spending tons of time in once place. Our drive days will be frequent, and they will be long. But that matters a whole lot less when our focus is only on the drives and our little unexpected stops along the way.