May 28, 2006 - Cody
We arrived in downtown Cody hungry and decided to get lunch and make some phone calls from a Mexican restaurant. Our spirits were getting low because we were leaving a lot of messages for folks but not talking with anyone - we were nervous that we wouldn't talk to many people and weren't certain where our day was heading. Thankfully, toward the end of the meal people began calling back! And they continued calling back into the afternoon, and before we knew it our day was packed with meetings, and we couldn't even fit everyone in.
The consistent theme we heard throughout the day was that Dad has a lot of support in Park County, but it's not clear how vocal people will be in supporting a Democrat. (Park County is about 20 percent Democratic, 80 percent Republican.) Many people were happy with the job he's done as governor. We also heard how much people appreciated his effort to be in Cody. It was nice to know people recognized him as the governor of the whole state, not just Cheyenne. Also, we were pleased to know even though Park is heavily Republican, people aren't really focused on the letter after Dad's name - instead they are looking at what he and the Legislature have accomplished together. We're going to work on getting even more people to be vocal and excited about the race.
For a day that started out so uncertain, we ended up not being able to meet with everyone who called back. We were invited to eat dinner with some folks, but we had to decline and cut our day short in order to keep our promise to eat dinner with our grandparents, Dick and Shirley Castle. That's a promise you just can't break! We had dinner with them and checked out our grandpa's (amazing) garden. Because our mom grew up in Cody, it was like a home away from home. We had a good time in Park County and of course loved spending time with our grandparents.
May 26, 2006 - Sheridan
The drive to Sheridan was beautiful. There were thunderstorms on the horizon to the west, so we got to see the lightning and rain coming down, gradually getting closer to us as the storms moved east.
We stayed with Dick and Tami Davis, who have been friends of the family for a while now. Mom and Dad see them often, but it was nice for us to visit them since we haven't seen them too much lately. And the home-cooked food was much better than our usual fast food fare!
The next day was really busy - we talked to many people, both from the 2002 campaign and people who have been impressed with Dad and want to help him get re-elected. We met with so many folks at the Java Moon that it practically became our impromptu office. For every meeting, we changed our beverages, of course. By the end of the campaign I'm sure we will have rotated through all of the menu items! We had to fight the fact that our eyes wandered to the clothes next door. (No, Mom and Dad, we didn't buy anything, but we'll have to schedule a "meeting" to check out the clothes in Over the Moon.)
We heard good things throughout the day. One thing we heard about was how grateful people were for the coal bed methane impact money. We heard how people recognized Dad as "spearheading" the effort with state Sen. John Schiffer to get that money.
Hearing things that are being discussed in local communities reminds us why we are traveling. We get so much more out of conversations when we are face to face with people. On the phone or in e-mail it is so much less personal, and hearing things like a community's feelings about CBM impact money makes it worth it to travel around Wyoming.
Overall it was very refreshing to be in Sheridan, not only because it was the beginning of spring, but also because of people's kindness in making time for us. They even shared the insider tip for deciding whether to travel to Park County from Sheridan: If you can't see the Big Horn Mountains in the morning, don't leave or you'll face nasty weather!
May 17, 2006 - Casper
Here we go! We're on the road to help Dad ask the voters to extend his employment contract as governor.
In the last few years we have been focusing on our own lives - Hillary has been in law school, and Katie has been in college. Neither of us can believe that it's already been four years since the last campaign, but we're eager to be back at home with Mom and Dad, and to help with the 2006 campaign.
There are two members of our family missing from the campaign: Don, our eldest brother, is busy working as a firefighter, and Bret, who is between us in age, is pursuing his Ph.D in biochemistry - a science program we don't quite understand. We wish they could be with us but understand they are busy with their own lives and they'll help when they can.
We're preparing to do a lot of traveling around the state. Our parents will be focusing on their jobs and so won't be campaigning much until things get busier in the fall. In the meantime, we aren't trying to replace them on the campaign trail. We are only trying to do the similar things they would do if they were able to campaign full time. We're no replacement, but we certainly can talk with people, listen to their concerns for Wyoming and invite them to participate in the campaign.
Our first campaign trip was to Casper. It was convenient because it overlapped with some time Dad had in Casper, our brother Bret's visit home, and an opportunity to eat prime rib and peanut butter pie at Dick Sedar's restaurant before it closed.
Speaking of food, we found a delicious sandwich shop in Casper. After our morning meetings and watching several people walk around with sandwiches, we decided to check out the "Sandwich Bar." It was delicious! You pick your bread and custom-make your sandwich while going through a sandwich bar line. At first we were a little skeptical about the cost because you pay by how much your sandwich weighs, but it wasn't too expensive! We were pretty impressed and are going back on our next trip.
After lunch, Hillary was determined to find some little notebooks to take notes in as we talk with people. She really liked notebooks from the Blue Heron that she used last time, so we went back, but they no longer carry them. The manager was kind and agreed to look into finding them again. So we can't forget to get back there on our next trip, to make our lives a little easier on the campaign trail.
For the rest of the afternoon, we called people or stopped by their offices. In talking with folks, we heard again what we've heard everywhere: "Don't worry, people are really happy with your Dad, he'll definitely win." Although it is nice to hear, we try to remind people that you never know in politics, and we need to take the race seriously.
